Bustling Spring Wrestling Arena...
Sinh village is one of the villages that was formed quite early in Dang Trong, located along the Huong River, opposite the other side of the river is Thanh Ha, a famous river port during the time of the lords in Dang Trong, also known as Pho Lo, later Bao Vinh street, a bustling trading center located near Hue city. This is also a cultural center of the ancient capital region, with Sung Hoa pagoda in the village, which used to be one of the largest pagodas in the ancient Hoa Chau region.
"No matter where you go
"Remember to return to Sinh on the tenth day of the wrestling festival"
The elders in Sinh village recount that the village's traditional wrestling festival has a history of more than 200 years, and has been continuously developing until now. After the worship ceremony on the 9th day of the Lunar New Year to pray for good luck and good sales for the whole village, the wrestling festival will be held on the 10th day.
Unlike wrestling festivals in other villages, people organized Sinh village wrestling festival as a form of entertainment after Tet, praying for favorable weather and wind, not for the purpose of selecting fighters for the feudal court at that time. The more strong, good wrestlers and talented wrestlers there were in a year, the more prosperous that year would be.
The village “rules” also stipulate that wrestlers do not have to be local, and any audience can enter the wrestling ring. In addition to the championship prize, the village also sets aside a sum of money to reward all wrestlers participating in the festival.
Perhaps because the conditions for participating in the festival were quite simple, in the past, before the day the village opened the wrestling festival, young men from everywhere followed each other to Sinh village to compete at Lai An communal house.
Lai An communal house
The beauty of martial spirit...
Hoi Sinh highly values martial arts spirit, prohibits dirty play, poisonous moves, dangerous moves, life-threatening moves such as breaking, twisting, locking joints, attacking with the head, pressing acupuncture points, kicking, hitting, grabbing hair, attacking the lower body, throat, eyes...
If two wrestlers are in a tug of war and cannot win, the referee will penalize them and force them to change their wrestling position (kneeling) to end the match quickly. Wrestlers are divided into two age categories: under 15 for teenagers and over 15 for youths, with a difference in height of about 10 kg.
Each wrestler who wins three consecutive matches will advance to the next round and continue to compete for the final match. In the past, strength was all that was needed, but today wrestlers need to have their own tricks to have a chance of winning.
Team spirit in the localities is very important, if a wrestler from a village loses, another wrestler will immediately come to help. Every year, more than a hundred wrestlers participate enthusiastically all day long. If they lose a match, they have to wait until the following year to pay off their debt, so the wrestlers have to practice all year round, cultivate their morals to wait until early spring to compete. The communes with strong wrestling movements are Phu Mau, Phu Thanh, Phu Duong (Phu Vang), Hai Duong, Huong Phong, Huong Vinh (Huong Tra), Thu Le (Quang Dien), Huong So (Hue City).
Services that go along with the wrestling ring...
To keep visitors from far away, during these days, villagers organize many folk games such as bai choi, singing and answering, playing four-color cards... to have fun with tourists. Due to the hospitality and prestige of Sinh village wrestling festival, for more than 200 years, this festival has always been held regularly, without interruption. Along with the main wrestling arena, the night before and throughout the festival, everywhere in the village are food stalls selling beef noodles, banh beo, banh nam, banh bot loc, congee, banh canh, che... to serve visitors. And until Tet "has ended", life returns to its normal rhythm, signaling the beginning of a new year of work. Sinh village wrestling is a long-standing martial culture that has been preserved as a characteristic of the people of Thua Thien.
More information
- Sinh Village is about 7 km from Hue city center, the road is convenient for motorbikes and cars.
- Rules of the wrestling ring: no tickling, no twisting of arms, no scratching, no choking, no pulling of pants, no acupressure, no drinking while wrestling. Visitors can also register to join the wrestling group if they want.
- Tourists can buy traditional toys as gifts such as bamboo trumpets, lung trumpets, frog trumpets, cicadas... or admire the making of traditional toys such as handmade toys from bamboo, clay and colored paper. In addition, tourists can visit the famous painting workshop right in Sinh village. Sinh village paintings mainly serve the worshiping purposes of local people.
