KHUAI-TO BIG MONKEY

 

 

Training at the Viet Vo Dao "Thien Duong" school has certain features. In the beginning, the training follows a general program, compulsory for all. After passing the 4-cap exam, students choose one of the 30 areas cultivated in the school. Based on this personal choice, further work is done with the student.

 

A student, in addition to the chosen direction (specialization), must necessarily be familiar in general terms and with the other 30 areas. One of these areas is the "Great Monkey" technique.

 

According to legend, this technique originated in India and owes its appearance to divine monkey Hanuman, son of wind god Vayu, who gave this technique to great Indian hero Bhima, one of the Pandavs, during his exile from the forest. The meeting between Bhima and Hanuman is described in detail in the third part of the Hindu holy book of the Mahabharata, Aranyakaparva ("The Forest").

 

In the Viet Vo Dao school of Thien Duong, the image of Hanuman is worn on the right sleeve. According to legend, Hanuman received a gift from Sita for his devoted service to Rama and Sita. The legend has it that Hanuman will live as long as the story of Rama and Sita involving him will be remembered and told on Earth. Hanuman, according to legends, possessed tremendous strength, cunning, the ability to move at the speed of thought, and was a devoted friend. It is believed that his image on the uniform makes a follower of the school Viet Vo Dao "Thien Duong" has all the qualities inherent in Hanuman.

 

The prayers (mantras) to Hanuman are still popular in India: "JAYA HANUMAN" "Glory to Hanuman", "OISHRI HANUMANE NAMAH" (Om, homage to Hanuman). These prayers are believed to give strength, vitality, the ability to overcome fear and hardship, and allow one to master one's senses.

 

 

The history of the origin of the KHUAI-TO "BIG OBJAIN" technique is as follows. In June 1407, the King of Vietnam, Ha Kun Ly, together with his warlords, was taken prisoner. Vietnam, after five centuries of independence, was once again a province of China. The king of the country, who overthrew the Chang dynasty at the time, was the brutal usurper Ho Kung Lee.

 

The commander-in-chief of the troops, King Ho's eldest son, Nguyen Ching, used to say, "I am not afraid to fight, I am afraid that the people are not with us.

 

The detachment of royalty from the people played a major role in the Minh China's takeover of Vietnam. Having defeated the troops of Ho Kung Ly, the Minh dynasty deprived Vietnam of its national independence by eliminating its state structure, establishing for it the status of an administrative-territorial unit of the Chinese empire. And, as had already happened five centuries earlier, in April 1407 they renamed Vietnam the Ziaopis District.

 

The Mines ruled Vietnam by methods of brutal suppression of national dignity and terror. With their vast apparatus of suppression, the occupiers ruled the people through violence and repression.

 

An order was issued to seize any means of self-defense from the population.

 

More than once the mines ordered their warlords to confiscate and destroy Vietnamese books and manuscripts and to destroy stone structures.

 

The people were forced to forget their traditions and forced to impose the language and traditions of China, forced to follow the Chinese way of life even in food and clothing. As a result, there were uprisings all over Vietnam. One of them was led by Pham Ngoc, a monk from Do Son Pagoda (now Hai Phong). This rebellion spread to the coastal areas of the northeast of the country. According to legend, Pham Ngoc turned for help in organizing the training of soldiers to an old hermit, Vo, who was famous in the area for his holiness and some special relationship with monkeys.

 

People said that when Waugh was thirty years old, a band of robbers rampaged through the county. Government troops could do nothing about it. The bandits would disappear at the last moment and reappear in a completely different place.

 

Rumor had it that they were under the patronage of some spirit who demanded human sacrifice. The bandits were horrible indeed, they knew no pity. Whoever fell to them was doomed to die.

 

Already then Waugh was famous for his piety. People would come to him and complain about the bandits, asking him with their prayers to help them drive them out of the county.

 

One day in a dream a large monkey, surrounded by many small monkeys, came to Wo and said: "I have come to you, monk, at the command of the Buddha. Tomorrow morning you will go into the jungle and meet a herd of monkeys. They will lead you to the robbers. You will go with them and bind the outlaws, and the next morning they will be tied up on your doorstep. You will give them to the judge, and be friends with the monkeys after that."

 

Wo did as he was told. The next morning he went into the jungle, found the monkeys, and they led him to the robbers. There Wo, together with them after a brief fight, tied up the robbers.

 

The monkeys lifted them up and brought them to Wo's Pagoda.

After that, Wo became famous as a saint, and he moved from his village to the jungle, and many monkeys were always seen near his dwelling.

 

In the East, though, monkeys are spoken of as such. There are four types of monkeys in the world, from them comes all the confusion in the world.

 

One monkey is called the stone monkey and is noted for his extraordinary foresight. This monkey, with the help of magic power, can take the form of any creature.

 

The second monkey is the baboon. She is well aware of human affairs, deftly hides and unexpectedly appears, is able to deliver from death and prolong life.

 

The third monkey is a long-armed gorilla.

 

With her paws she can reach the sun and the moon, to embrace a thousand mountains. She knows everyone's fate, and is not afraid of either Earth or Heaven.

 

The fourth monkey is the six-eared macaque. She has a fine ear. It can understand the essence of things, it knows the sequence of events and is said to be the most intelligent of all living creatures.

 

Pham Ngoc and Vo had a long conversation. Wo thought for a while.

 

In the time since he had used the monkeys to capture the bandits, Wo had learned a lot from the beasts that were his helpers.

 

A big monkey came to him in his sleep, told him and showed him how to use the movements Wo had seen from the monkeys during the fight.

 

How to wield a stick, a club, a sword. But this technique was designed for many years of training, and Pham Ngoc needed to train his soldiers very quickly.

 

Besides, he needed scouts to report on the plans of the Chinese warlords. After praying to the Buddha, Vo fell asleep. In the night, the Great Monkey came to him: "Wo, I will show you how to train a scout in four months. In his dream Wo saw what he had to do and how to teach soldiers.

 

A day later, 20 men, future scouts and squad leaders, were already training in front of Wo's hut.

 

Thus, according to the legend, the technique of the KHUAI-TO "BIG OBJAIN" came into being.