THAN HO – Tiger Angel

THAN-HO  (The Tiger-Angel)

TAN HO, a sequence created by Grand master Phan Hoang for VIET CHI DAO and presented in Settimo in 2015, is the sequence addressed to humans as humanity, which together with Bat-Dieu, the form of the sky, and Hoanh Son, the form of the mountain, constitute the basic triad of VietChiDao.

THAN HO is a fairy tale. As is often the case with fairy tales, the story being told can say much more to those who can read between the lines. The GM draws his inspiration from one of the many legends of Vietnamese tradition, but adapts it, and adds nuances and details to make it more faithful to the message he wishes to convey. And so here is the story of the Tiger Angel, not a simple tale, but a story with a profound meaning underlying a quyen complete with techniques that outline and remind us of it: this is the GM’s way of offering us his teaching.

AIM & MISSION

Extract from the spoken teaching of GM Phan Hoang, Settimo (TO) 15 May 2015

The aim has an external aspect similar to all, the mission is instead an internal aspect, a motivation that drives you to perform actions to achieve a goal.

THAN-HO has several objectives, but fundamentally it teaches practitioners to correctly assume the positions of the tiger, especially the advantage the tiger has when jumping to attack its prey from above by focusing on the shoulders.
This is because, in addition to the technique itself, it also gains the strength to add its own weight (a 70kg weight coming at you from above, rather than in front, is quite another thing).

From a practical point of view, the aim of THAN-HO is to be able to adapt the training to different target groups (children, women, etc.) depending on the students practising in the club.

SOCIAL ASPECT

Extract from the spoken teaching of GM Phan Hoang, Settimo (TO) 15 May 2015

Each form can be interpreted in various ways, but from a purely social point of view we can interpret it in this way.

Greeting = respect
To be respectful of the ceremonial, kind and polite, respectful of social conventions. The greeting is a key to success, it is the key to open doors.
Pronouncing the name of the form Than Ho.
When we pronounce the name at the beginning of the form it is because our thinking is as strong as the tiger, it is in the same spirit as the tiger.

In common thought, the tiger is not the one who attacks men but the one who protects them. Imagine having a tiger in your house, surely you would feel protected; if you feel like a tiger you must play the role of one who helps others.

There are three ways to show people that you are a tiger, and when you show that you are a tiger, people respect you. We are not talking about morals, we are talking about social relations, being a tiger in a social context:

• Showing your power accompanied by modesty.
  (when you take a step backwards in the form),
• Everywhere, however, people must be able to see the strength of the tiger in helping others.
  (when you take a step forward in the form),
• Finally, the tiger stops to rest while maintaining its power intact.
  (when you take the third step in the form).

These three movements may have other interpretations as well, but the most important concept for success is “we are tigers!”