HCM City’s Muay Thai team at an international event.

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 23^rd 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 24^th SEA Games. It will be also an official sport at this year’s 3^rd Asian Indoor Games and 25^th 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.

The HCM City Muay Thai team was established three years ago and has participated in many international events. Currently eight kick-boxers are participating in a two-month training course in Bangkok (Thailand).

HCM City plans to send some Muay Thai referees to international referee training courses.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand is number one in Muay Thai. This sport has also developed in Singapore, the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia. However, Vietnam still has a chance to take medals at Asian Indoor Games and SEA Games.

VietNamNet/TP