Hung Ke Quyen (Bravery Cock Fighting Style), a once-famous traditional fighting style originating from Binh Dinh Province, received full attention when being performed at the festival of traditional martial arts held in South Korea in 2004 with the presence of more than 70 martial arts sects. The preservation of Bravery Cock Fighting Style could be credited to veteran martial arts master Ngo Bong.
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Master Ngo Bong performs techniques of the Bravery Cock Fighting Style. Photo IE
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The Bravery Cock Fighting Style originated from the world of fighting cocks. Legend has it that it was Nguyen Lu, the youngest among the three Tay Son brothers, including Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Hue, and Nguyen Lu.
Founder of Hung Ke quyen
In their book on “Binh Dinh’s martial arts men”, Quach Tan and Quach Giao say, “Nguyen Lu is so meek and mild. Unlike his two elder brothers, he doesn’t give much attention to martial arts, but he still learns different martial arts sects. The tutor Hien, who moved to Binh Dinh from Nghe An, also taught him the mien quyen sect (the kind of martial arts which is suitable to those who are meek and mild).”
Practising martial arts was very crucial during the wartime. At that time, the Tay Son uprising required its soldiers to master any types of martial arts which help those who are weak, short, or small could defeat strong, tall, or big people. Nguyen Lu couldn’t ignore this.
It is said that three Tay Son brothers once watched a cock fight in a Tet holiday and they saw the smaller cock defeated the big one by taking advantage of its smallness.
Nguyen Lu then studied the attacking techniques of the big cock and the counter attack as well as defending skills of the small one. As a result, he created the Hung Ke quyen.
At the time, the national hero was also famous for his unique martial arts sects, such as Nghiem thuong, Tu Mon kiem, and Tu Mon con, requiring the use of different kinds of weapons; whilst, the woman general Bui Thi Xuan was well known thanks to her Tuyet Hoa Song kiem and Song Phuong kiem techniques.
Imposing Bravery Cock Fighting style
As soon as being created, the Hung Ke quyen was widely pratised by Tay Son insurgent army owing to its effectiveness. It was much admired by most martial arts practitioners. According to legend, once a Shaolin master came and provoked Nguyen Lu when hearing about Hung Ke quyen while Nguyen Nhac was receiving many heroes in his house. Hence, Nhac said Lu didn’t accept his challenge but the Shaolin master still persisted in challenging Nguyen Lu.
Lu finally had to accept his challenge and they started to fight each other. While the monk master continuously attacked him, Lu still tried to find ways to avoid his attack. After two hours, the Shaolin master did nothing against Nguyen Lu. Suddenly, Lu realized his weakness and he defeated the monk master by using only one technique.
At the festival of traditional martial arts held in South Korea’s Chungji in late September, 2004, the Bravery Cock Fighting Style was performed once again by the 76-year-old veteran martial arts master Ngo Bong.
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