Vietnamese kick-boxers look to 3rd Asian Indoor Games

Nobody knows when Muay Thai came to Vietnam but some senior martial art masters say it appeared in South Vietnam in the early 1950s.

In 1994-1995, HCM City sent kickboxers to some international Muay Thai tournaments, the SEA Games and ASIAD. At that time, Muay Thai was a performance sport.

In October 2004, the Southeast Asian Sports Federation agreed to add Muay Thai to the list of official sports for the 23rd SEA Games in Philippines in late 2005. Vietnam considered the establishment of a national kick-boxing team by taking some members from the national Pencak Silat, boxing, and traditional martial arts teams. However, such a team was not set up.

Muay Thai has become an official sport at the 24th SEA Games. It will be also an official sport at this year’s 3rd Asian Indoor Games and 25th SEA Games.

The HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has decided to have a special training period for its Muay Thai team as of July 2008. The team’s members were previously members of boxing and traditional martial arts teams.

The HCM City Muay Thai team is practicing at the Phu Tho Sports House, under the guidance of coach Giap Trung Thang and Cao Van Tai. Coach Thang won a bronze medal in Muay Thai at the World King Cup 1996 and a silver medal at ASIAD 1998. He is also an international referee of the Southeast Asian Muay Thai Federation.

The team will represent Vietnam at the World Muay Thai Championship 2009 in Pataya, Thailand this March.