Song long qua hai - two dragons crossing the great sea of Quang Tri traditional martial arts

According to Eastern culture, the dragon is the most sacred animal in the four sacred animals (dragon, unicorn, turtle, phoenix), symbolizing perfect beauty, majesty, authority and extraordinary strength. The image of the dragon also appears in many unique martial arts and weapons of traditional Vietnamese martial arts that have been passed down to this day and is considered an indispensable part of the quintessence of national martial arts. Based on the dragon image as the main theme and the acquisition, innovation and creation through many generations, Mai Han Quang Tri martial arts school has built the Song Long Qua Hai form - a unique form that has been performed by many martial artists and achieved high results at the International Festival of Traditional Vietnamese Martial Arts, contributing to raising the position and bringing Quang Tri traditional martial arts far and wide.

Senior martial artist Nguyen Quang Tam is the one who raised the level of the Song Long Qua Hai form for Mai Han martial arts school - Photo: M.D

Grasp the essence

After more than 55 years of establishment and development, Mai Han martial arts school (An Don ward, Quang Tri town) has affirmed its name in Vietnamese martial arts with many unique martial arts forms. Senior martial arts master Nguyen Quang Tam, head of Mai Han martial arts school, said that the martial arts school took the name Mai Han from two major places: Mai mountain and Han river. Mai mountain is Mai Linh mountain, a majestic mountain in Ba Long war zone; Han river is Thach Han river, a river associated with the history of the land and people of Quang Tri. For that reason, in addition to preserving and promoting the quintessence of national martial arts, the martial arts school always focuses on creativity and innovation to build martial arts forms that are imbued with the identity of Mai Han Quang Tri.

Since ancient times, the image of the dragon has been the inspiration for the creation of famous martial arts that have been passed down to this day, such as the martial arts: Long hinh quyen, Long ho quyen, Xa quyen long ho trao, Thang long quyen...; in terms of weapons, there are: Thanh long dao, Long phuong kiem, Do long dao, Doc long kiem phap... Depending on the comprehension ability of the martial arts schools, those martial arts and weapons are applied and disseminated to the disciples. With Mai Han Quang Tri martial arts school, the martial arts masters have fully received and comprehended and have created many more innovations to create unique features from the dragon image to build the martial arts form Song long qua hai.

The Song Long Qua Hai (two brave dragons crossing the sea, in an attacking position) has 19 introductory sentences, including: dragon and phoenix facing the sun; Qian Kun with two hands; Surfing the water and overcoming the lamp; Entering the forest of the leaves; Jade girl with spring hair; Stepping on the horse to investigate; Stepping on the tiger to the head; Monkey and monkey to the back; Immortal old man pointing the way; Stepping on the three rivers; Like the wind closing itself; Five tigers in the clouds; Dragon and tiger joining hands; Wheel with two hands; Eight-tailed tiger and eight-backed tiger; Stepping on the horse to investigate; Returning to the dragon palace; Kinh Than Bai To. To properly express the spirit and bravery of the two dragons crossing the sea, the person performing this form must have a high level of martial arts. Among the generations of martial artists of Mai Han martial arts school, only a few martial artists can perform the Song Long Qua Hai form beautifully and impressively, true to the image of the two dragons, both strong, graceful, flexible, majestic in the attacking position, and highly applicable in real combat.

Song long qua hai - two dragons crossing the great sea of Quang Tri traditional martial arts

Senior martial artist Nguyen Quang Tam and martial artist Truong Ngoc Phuong devote much effort to preserving and promoting the Song Long Qua Hai form - Photo: MD

Mr. Nguyen Quang Tam recalled: “More than 40 years ago, the first time I saw martial artist Tran Van Hoa of Mai Han martial arts school perform the Song Long Qua Hai form, I was fascinated and couldn’t take my eyes off it and expressed my desire to learn this form. Believing in my ability, teacher Tran Van Hoa taught me all the essence of the form along with the message that I must preserve and promote this form to become the strength of the martial arts school.

After about 2 months of practicing and trying hard, I had fully mastered the Song Long Qua Hai form. When performing this form, I actively conveyed the dragon's posture through each movement; creating a unity between the performer's fists and feet with the dragon's characteristic movement, which is flexible from the bottom of the sea to the sky; the eyes had the spirit of a dragon's eyes, the body was supple and flexible like a writhing dragon, the hands were like dragon claws in a powerful attack... Later, I also made many changes, edited each movement and stance according to my own style to elevate the Song Long Qua Hai form.

Affirming position in traditional martial arts

Decades have passed, in the flow of the exchange of many schools, the constant development of modern martial arts, the Song Long Qua Hai form is still preserved, passed down and becomes the pride of generations of martial arts students of Mai Han Quang Tri martial arts school. Thereby, contributing to creating and affirming the name of the martial arts school in the traditional martial arts of the Vietnamese nation.

In 2019, the Song Long Qua Hai form was selected by Mai Han martial arts school to participate in the 7th International Festival of Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts in Binh Dinh province. The festival gathered more than 1,000 martial arts masters and students from 76 martial arts groups from 15 countries. Mai Han Quang Tri martial arts school excellently won 1 gold medal, 4 silver medals, 2 bronze medals, of which martial arts master Ngoc Phuong won 1 gold medal for performing the Lao Mai Quyen form and 1 silver medal for performing the Song Long Qua Hai form.

Martial artist Truong Ngoc Phuong, who successfully performed the Song Long Qua Hai form at many martial arts festivals in and outside the province, said that the highlight of this form is the technique with the dragon claw hand shaped like a dragon's claw to block, catch, and capture the opponent's weak points. The power of the form is to use the hand to attack quickly and effectively like a dragon's claw and the decisive, powerful punches that come with it create a strong destructive force. The main moves such as diagonal elbow and flip elbow are very dangerous combined with the kicking positions of ban long cuoc (kicking horizontally with the edge of the foot, "ban" means roll, "long" means dragon), long thang cuoc (kicking the heel like a dragon flying up), dao son cuoc (kicking a ball with the back of the foot with the power to flip a mountain - implying the destructive power of this kick), vi ho bat hau (kicking to see the power of the dragon's tail - using the foot to kick backwards when the opponent charges) and many other martial arts moves imitating the appearance of a dragon. To properly convey the image of a dragon, the performer must clearly and vividly portray the shape of this animal.

When fighting, one must have a clear demeanor and focus on the face. The eyes of the dragon in one's imagination must be the same as the fighter's; the body must be agile and brave like a dragon wriggling and soaring into the blue sky; advance and retreat steadily, move in the right place, attack and defend rhythmically; each time one strikes, one must have force... To strike in the spirit of the form, in addition to understanding the movements, one must also have a smooth and flexible coordination in the hand and foot attacks so that they are decisive.

Because the image of two dragons crossing the sea is the main theme, the fighter must combine with sophistication in handling each movement, hitting the rhythm sometimes fast, sometimes slow, breathing must be even and light, knowing how to pause until the climax of the attack, then jump out strongly to coordinate with the force of the attack.

Depending on the creativity of each martial artist, coach, and athlete in performing martial arts, they can create powerful, graceful moves in the shape of a dragon that are both brave and majestic, and supple and flexible, as if gliding lightly on the surface of the sea, then somersaulting in the air and launching majestic, beautiful attacks that captivate the audience.

Watching the head of Mai Han martial arts school Nguyen Quang Tam and martial arts master Truong Ngoc Phuong perform the song "Song long qua hai" on the eve of the new year of Giap Thin with the brave and majestic demeanor of the dragon clearly and vividly conveyed, we felt like we saw in each person a stronger vitality, like the aspiration for our homeland to develop, to keep the shape of the dragon flying up forever...

Nguyen Minh Duc

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