Tiếng ViệtWhen it comes to martial arts in Ben Tre today, experts in the province, region and nationwide are no strangers to the name Pham Thi Kieu Giang. She is a prominent face of Ben Tre martial arts village, not only in terms of competition achievements but also in terms of passion and perseverance in practicing “thought impossible to follow, but then could not give up”.
Female Vovinam martial artist Pham Thi Kieu Giang.
Accidentally pursue martial arts career
Born in Tan Phu commune, Chau Thanh district – known as the “martial arts school” of the Ben Tre province, it was not difficult for Kieu Giang to find a career in martial arts. She approached Martial Arts when she was only 8 years old. She is the only daughter in a family of 5 siblings who all study martial arts and she is also the only one in the family to pursue martial arts professionally, for more than 15 years now. Kieu Giang is one of the bright faces in the province’s martial arts community, with many outstanding achievements such as: Gold Medal at the 2006 Mekong Delta Vovinam Tournament, Gold Medal at the 2007 National Youth Tournament…
However, for a long time, Kieu Giang had to put aside her passion due to a serious shoulder injury and had to recuperate after 3 surgeries (time not participating in competitions from 2009 – 2017). However, during her time off to recuperate, Kieu Giang still participated in training for movement classes to both maintain her training rhythm and live her passion for martial arts.
By 2017, when his health had completely recovered and he was ready for the competitions, Kieu Giang decided to return to the ring in the provincial team’s jersey according to the wishes of the professional sector. Right in her first appearance after many years of “absence” in the ring, Kieu Giang showed her outstanding performance and ability when bringing home the gold medal for the Ben Tre province in the women’s 51kg category at the 2017 Mekong Delta Sports Festival. In particular, at the 8th National Sports Congress in 2018 (in Hanoi), Kieu Giang competed with great courage, bringing the gold medal to Ben Tre, contributing significantly to the overall achievements of the Provincial Sports Delegation (winning 6 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 5 bronze medals, ranking in the top 30/64 provinces and cities, achieving the target according to the plan).
Sharing the “secret” to achieving those results, Kieu Giang confided: “In every job, especially sports, each participant must have a great passion and strong determination to pursue it, it can also be said that using willpower to overcome oneself, practicing persistently. One should not be too hasty, but must practice from easy to difficult levels, following the coach’s curriculum to achieve the best results.” Currently, Kieu Giang is both an athlete on the Vovinam team of Ben Tre province and also participates in training classes for children in her hometown.
Advice for girls
Many people think that girls who learn martial arts will become stiff and no longer feminine. Absolutely wrong. Kieu Giang is a proof. Nearly 20 years of practicing martial arts, she has a dynamic, youthful and also very feminine and graceful style. Kieu Giang expressed: “Currently, the martial arts movement in Ben Tre province is developing strongly, attracting many young people and children to practice and study in many places, including many girls. When learning martial arts (maintaining it properly), it will bring many benefits to learners, especially girls. Learning martial arts to equip them with escape skills in dangerous situations, in terms of health, it will help practitioners have a balanced, healthy, youthful and agile body.”
According to Kieu Giang, learning martial arts is very necessary for everyone, especially girls, and depending on their ability, they will learn at an appropriate progress. From personal experience, Kieu Giang advises those who are new to martial arts that when practicing, there is a collision, the practitioner’s body is injured, they must focus on taking care of the wound, recovering well from the injury before starting to practice again. Even if you are passionate, you absolutely should not be subjective about injuries.
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“Kieu Giang is one of the athletes with good competition ability, bringing Ben Tre province many good results in Vovinam competitions at regional and national levels. We appreciate Kieu Giang’s spirit of always striving and persevering in training. She is a shining example for young athletes to follow.” (Mr. Nguyen Thien Chi – Deputy Director of Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ben Tre province) |
According to Anh Nguyet – Dong Khoi Newspaper