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Martial arts practitioners of delegations were performing at the opening ceremony of the 3rd International Festival of Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts. Photo: L.C. |
As Binh Dinh Department of Culture-Sport & Tourism is going to finalize its plan of organizing the 4th International Festival of Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts – 2012 before submitting to the provincial People’s Committee, Binh Dinh Newspaper interviews Mr. Dinh Khac Dien, Deputy Director of the department, about the plan.
After 3 festivals, Binh Dinh gains a lot of experiences. Could you please tell us what are major differences in the forthcoming festival?
We tried to create an atmosphere of martial arts all over the province in the 3 previous festivals and these efforts were highly appreciated by both Vietnamese and foreign delegations. We will organize the next festival with more typical traits of the martial arts. In two nights of opening and closing ceremonies, there will be more performances of the martial arts and all delegations will have time to introduce the best forms of their schools or styles. We intend to reduce irrelevant performances with light effects. During the festival, there will be a workshop on establishment of International Federation of Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts, which didn’t take place in the 3 previous festivals. Total cost of the 4th festival is expected to be more or less 9 billion VND.
Counteracting competition will be expectedly introduced in the next festival. How will it take place?
It’s true that we will introduce the counteracting competition in the forthcoming festival in order to enrich it. But at first, we have to lobby Vietnam Federation of Traditional Martial Arts for Binh Dinh’s host of the 2012 National Championship of Traditional Martial Arts. As the event ends, we will invite strong delegations to stay in Binh Dinh for sake of performances and competition around the province. To foreign delegations, we will allow them to have one pair of athletes registered each for the counteracting competition, through which quintessence of their schools or styles will show out. If weather conditions are favourable, the competitions will take place outdoors so that public can enjoy.
How about the performances of the delegations? Are there any changes?
The delegations will keep on touring famous martial arts clubs all over Binh Dinh and perform as in previous festivals. But, this time, there will be new places of performance and more outdoor performances. The performances must be divided into 2 parts. In the first parts, the martial arts practitioners or masters will perform slowly each technique. Then, they will perform the whole form with continuous techniques. Thus, the public, not just those with good knowledge of the martial arts, are able to understand about the form.
The Martial Arts Beauty Pageant Contest within framework of the festival usually attracts attention of the public. Is there anything new about the contest?
Basically, registration terms of the contest won’t change much but contestants must be able to perform 3 different martial arts forms during 3 rounds of the contest. Such condition is set to exclude non-martial arts contestants who practice only 1 form of martial arts in a hurry to purposely join the contest. The contest aims to identify beautiful winner who is the real martial arts practitioner, not a woman with good looking face and shape but “learn the martial arts by rote”.
How is the preparation for the festival?
We are going to finalize the plan of the festival organization but continue hearing more ideas before submitting to the provincial People’s Committee. Then, we will send invitation letters with detailed agenda to martial arts clubs at home and abroad so that they can have the best preparation. Relevant branches of the department are assigned some tasks of implementing the preparation. Information about the festival will be published on websites of the Culture-Sport & Tourism authorities. The festival will expectedly take place from 1-4 August 2012.
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