Ho Chi Minh

[HengYu]

I watched a documentary abouthe Vietnam war about 15 years ago, and in it, Ho Chi Minh was filmed practicing what looked like Yang Tai Chi.

Does anyone know if this footage is available? Or any history of Ho Chi Minhs practice?

Thank you

[Danny]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by HengYu:
<B>I watched a documentary abouthe Vietnam war about 15 years ago, and in it, Ho Chi Minh was filmed practicing what looked like Yang Tai Chi.

Does anyone know if this footage is available? Or any history of Ho Chi Minhs practice?

Thank you</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Hello HengYu,

Gu Liuxin was sent by Chou En-lai to teach Ho Chi Minh in 1957/58.

More information can be found here:

http://www.taichi.ca/publications/LuoJiHong.htm

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~taiji/liuxin.html

I hope this is helpful!


In friendship,

Danny Emerick



[This message has been edited by Danny (edited 08-31-2007).]

[Bob Ashmore]

Danny,
Thank you for posting these links.
Luo Ji Hong lead an amazing life. It is hard not to be inspired by his example.

Bob

[HengYu]

Danny - thank you so much for tsking the time and effort to help me in my research! The information you have provided is excellent!

Thank you.

Bob - as always, a pleasure to read your supportive posts.

Thank you also.

[HengYu]

Now, building on that excellent start, does anyone know where I could acquire or access the footage of Ho Chi Minh practicing Tai Chi?

Thank you all.

[Louis Swaim]

Greetings Hengyu,

Here's a YouTube link to some historical footage. Ho Chi Minh demonstrates some taiji applications and a bit of form right near the end, starting about 04:13.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PWVHZu1eT4

--Louis

[Louis Swaim]

Greetings Danny,

Thanks for the introduction to the Luo Jihong materials. Fascinating! The background information on Gu Liuxin is also excellent.

Take care,
Louis

[Bob Ashmore]

The Tai Chi that Ho Chi Minh shows is at the very end of the clip.
Fascinating. His stance is very low, he is bent over quite far at the waist, but what he is doing is clearly Tai Chi Chuan.

Very cool bit of history.

Bob

[Louis Swaim]

Bob,

Re: "Very cool bit of history."

Yes, and strangely makes me hungry for a bowl of pho. Or given the hot weather, maybe a bowl of bun would be even better.

Take care,
Louis

[HengYu]

Thank you for this footage! Excellent!

[HengYu]

Hi There! For some reason, the above link does not seem tobe working, does anyone else have any problems?

Thank you

[HengYu]

Ignore my last post - the link is working fine today!

Thank you

[HengYu]

Yes - the footage was part of what I had seen, and very grateful I am for it.

I have heard it said that ho used the principle of Tai Chi, as a strategy in his war against both the French and the Americans, and perhaps even prior to these two wars, in the war against the Japanese. Yielding, or giving way, to prevail.

The peculiar slanting back, aligned with the back-leg, is common in gungfu. For forward, piercing power. The movements are fluid and rounded, but the exactness of some of the movements appears to be missing. This might be because of the pressure of filming. And according to the articles presented above, it seems that master Gu only stayed in Vietnam for 6 months, teaching Ho Chi Minh in 1957, and I am not sure of the exact date of this footage.

And I presume the set-piece applications were choreographed and practiced before footage - as the neck twist would not have had the dramatic effect it appeared to illicit! Not unless the neck is broken.

On the other hand, Ho Chi Minh did appear very relaxed and had an 'internal' mind-set.

I would be grateful for other insights, or the correction of my own.

Thank you.

[HengYu]

An interesting 'fact' has come to light, regarding this clip of Ho Chi Minh. Firstly, here are Ho's birth and death dates;

[URL=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ho-chi-minh/]

Name: Ho Chi Minh
Birth Date: May 19, 1890
Death Date: September 3, 1969
Place of Birth: Kim Lien, Vietnam
Place of Death: Hanoi, Vietnam
Nationality: Vietnamese
Gender: Male
Occupations: statesman, revolutionary

This means that he would have been 79 years old, when he died in 1969. Now, master Gu travelled to Vietnam in 1957, when Ho Chi Minh was 67 years old. I think the man in the clip is far younger than 67 years old.

This is intersting, as I contacted the person who posted the clip on YouTube, who appears to be an ethnic Vietnamese person. They were kind enough to furnish me with the following information;

Tuan Linh writes;

'I think the footage is from 1946-1947.'

A good decade before master Gu was sent to China. Upon further reflection, the clip seems to be showing an external, gungfu training regime, followed by an internal training regime. This is very traditional in the old Chinese systems, so perhaps it was also the way for the Vietnamese.

Whatever the case, (and I am still researching), I will add anything I can, as it becomes available. But it might be that Ho Chi Minh is practicing an indigenous Vietnemes art, but a colleague of mine, after viewing the film, was of the opinion that Ho Chi Minh was practicing southern Wu Tai Chi.

Thank you

[This message has been edited by HengYu (edited 09-01-2007).]

[Louis Swaim]

Greetings HengYu,

It seems pretty clear to me that what Ho is doing is some style of taijiquan. The applications could be functions of louxi aubu [brush knee twist step], yema fenpiao/xie fei shi [wild horse parts mane/flying obliquely], and yunu quansuo [jade maiden threads shuttle]. The bit of random form includes some dao nian hou [step back dispatch monkey], and other recognizable forms.

Gu Liuxin's trip to tutor Ho would not preclude prior taijiquan training on Ho's part; taijiquan had spread to southeast asia by the 1940s. It could well be that this bit of footage is what inspired Zhou Enlai to send Gu to Vietnam as a diplomatic gesture. Seeing that Ho had an appreciation for taijiquan, a Chinese martial art, he sent a well-know expert to share some knowledge and reinforce cultural-political ties. That's just my speculation, but it seems like something Zhou Enlai would have done.

Take care,
Louis

[This message has been edited by Louis Swaim (edited 09-01-2007).]