Martial arts is a passion
"I still have a lot of passion for martial arts. This sport is my career so it is very difficult to leave it, said football player Vu Thanh An after the final match at the 2025 National Championship held in Hai Phong. Vu Thanh An had been invincible in the men's individual cup in Vietnam for many years. However, Thanh An could not keep the No. 1 position at the 2023 and 2024 National Championship.
"This year, I have prepared my expertise carefully and am determined to return with the highest spirit. Participating in the individual final, I competed calmly and did not allow myself to make mistakes, each decisive step helped me win and win the championship. I think this is one of my most emotional times winning a Gold Medal, Vu Thanh An confided.
Vu Thanh An is a Vietnamese martial artist who has been featured in many articles in the media during his development process and achieved previous competition results. However, the swordplayer believes that he is just an athlete with the desire to develop boxing and help this sport receive the most attention in Vietnam. That is the reason why Vu Thanh An struggles to learn everything about martial arts, from the operation of a martial arts tournament to professional training methods and community development methods for a sport.
Vu Thanh An acknowledged: Battle is a very special sport. This subject is called an noble sport, but I think that countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines are doing a good job in developing the movement, so I feel very excited and want the sport to have a wide opportunity to develop in Vietnam".
When talking about fencing, Vu Thanh An was willing to exchange many in-depth contents of himself for the opponent to grasp. There, those who do not know anything about sword fighting can grasp the preliminary structure of a sword or how the armor is worn.
Vu Thanh An affirmed that his passion for learning this sport is the motivation for him to equip himself with the necessary knowledge. For me, sword fighting is not only a competition technique but there is a lot of content around it, so I accumulate, learn from books and experience practice, the male sword player expressed.
Still struggling with top results
Vu Thanh An left open the opportunity to participate in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. The most recent international result that Vu Thanh An has with the Vietnam Wrestling Team is the Men's Team Medal at the 2024 Southeast Asian Championship.
At the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia in 2023, Vu Thanh An won a Gold Medal (men's sword team) and a Silver Medal (men's individual sword). I remember losing the individual final at the 32nd SEA Games to Thailandvoragun Srinualnad. I was under pressure from the referee in the match.
Unfortunately, I lost the match at the decisive point and won the Silver Medal. The tournament helps us learn many things and we always give our all for the flag and shirt to win the glory of the Fatherland, recalled player Vu Thanh An.
Vu Thanh An has entered the age of 33. The goalkeeper acknowledged that he could not be as agile as younger athletes. In terms of experience with men's slashing swords, Vu Thanh An is still one of the top athletes in Vietnamese fencing.
When asked which tournament was the most meaningful in his career, Vu Thanh An said that it was the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Vu Thanh An is one of the 4 Vietnamese swimmers who have officially won a place to participate in the above Olympics.
Coming to the Olympic playground, each athletes feeling is always pride. I am honored to be one of the 32 best swimmers participating in the 2016 Olympics. I was more moved when I won the first match. At that time, I felt like crying because I won at the prestigious Olympic arena. In this tournament, I stopped at the round of 16 excellent athletes, Vu Thanh An recounted.
The 2016 Olympics in Brazil are the only Olympics that Vu Thanh An officially participated in. At this time, the big goal that Vu Thanh An cherishes is to become a qualified coach, while also being a good student trainer to develop the fight movement in Vietnam. Vu Thanh An believes that the movement must be good for high achievements to develop. The male fighter officially realized the project to establish the Vietnam Royal Fencing sports fencing training club.
Starting a business together
Coming to the location of the Vietnam Royal Fencing club on a street in Hanoi, many people will be surprised to see many young people get acquainted with sports fighting. Vu Thanh An is the one who directly directs the basic technical instructions for each person.
The club has been in operation for more than a year. Here, Vu Thanh An welcomed many students and young teachers to share all their experiences in sports fencing with everyone. I am happy that many young people, whether working or their fathers and mothers, are busy with family matters but love sports and are willing to practice. I opened this training ground as a playground for everyone.
They are not professional athletes but have enough opportunities to develop their passion. In European countries and some Asian countries, there are many people who are familiar with martial arts. They work and practice to achieve high expertise. If we find potential people, it will be a very useful channel for developing sports matches, Vu Thanh An shared.
Vu Thanh An said that he is willing to accept the risk if the club is not successful. However, this place is a familiar training spot for sports enthusiasts in Hanoi. The gradual increase in the number of trainees helps Vu Thanh An have more resources to maintain the activities of Vietnam Royal Fencing.
The young coach revealed: "The beginning is always difficult. I had many concerns when coming up with the idea of starting a club to guide people in sports. But I determined that if I didn't, everything would not work out. I am happy that many young people who are used to sports fencing want to stay with the sport for a long time. I see some students with high potential to develop achievements to find opportunities to guide them to practice if they really want to become athletes.
In addition to his professional training days, Vu Thanh An is often present at Vietnam Royal Fencing club to instruct techniques for his practitioners. "How to hold a sword will require technique. From the beginning, I wanted people to grasp basic techniques even though the practitioner may just be curious and want to get acquainted. When they have basic techniques, they will feel excited and want to practice more, Vu Thanh An affirmed.
At the end of the conversation, Vu Thanh An put on an equipment to teach the next shift for the practitioner. Vu Thanh An said that he has never been instructed to practice each child because all are aimed at the common development of sports martial arts.
