A DPRK Taekwon-Do demonstration team toured Vietnam in April this year at the invitation of the Vietnamese government.

It gave its first demonstration show at a martial arts school in a province, which is widely known among Vietnamese people for promoting their country’s orthodox martial art.

The Korean Taekwon-Do practitioners performed team pattern, breaking routine, women’s self-defence, sparring with armed opponents, simple forte, thrice kicking and other routines, wowing the teachers and students of the school.

The principal of the school said his school would be more famous for the first show of the Korean martial artists. Students competitively asked them to teach them rudiments of Taekwon-Do, saying it is so fascinating and powerful that they want to take it up.

The second show was held at an event for the martial arts exchange between the DPRK and Vietnam which took place on the sidelines of the national martial art clubs’ championships of Vietnam.

Team pattern, overall hand power, iron rod bending and all other routines received thunderous applause from the spectators.

After the show Vietnamese political and public figures said: It gives a feeling of power. The show is as strong and powerful as the DPRK. All the routines have their own deep content and movements are wonderful and forceful as well.

The last show took place at a university of physical education in Hanoi.

Pak Jin Myong, a coach, kicked and broke a 10cm-thick pine slab.

Local spectators wondered if the slab was glued after being broken into two in advance, and some of them came round the slab to see if their doubt was reasonable. But they finally found they were wrong. When a blindfolded instructor made a swing to break off a 3m-high pine slab, there was a man who came to check the blindfold, doubtful that he might have made a trick.

Another practitioner performed a stunt of laying his foot on a pile of tiles and had his colleague break them by striking his foot with a sledgehammer, bringing the spectator into cheers.

After a detailed analysis of a video of the demonstration show in comparison with other martial arts, the officials of the Vietnamese university came to a conclusion that Taekwon-Do is accurate and powerful in every movement and it is a logical and scientific martial art, and expressed their willingness to closely cooperate with the DPRK.

“I had a chance to see a demonstration show given by the Korean Taekwon-Do practitioners on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the DPRK and my country, and felt Taekwon-Do is very superior,” said a vice-minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam when the Korean demonstration team paid a courtesy call on him. “We have made progress in promoting Taekwon-Do here, and we attribute this success to the DPRK sending instructors to us. I hope the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee will send fine coaches and instructors to us and render assistance to our practitioners so that they can practise Taekwon-Do in the DPRK.”

Yang Ryon Hui