The arduous memories of a beautiful female warrior

Learn martial arts for family

We still remember the image of Le Thi Ngoc Anh stepping down from the ring with a swollen face after losing 0-3 in the semi-final against a very strong opponent from Thailand at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore in 2015.

21-year-old Le Thi Ngoc Anh wanted to have a better result, but against a stronger, more professional opponent, Ngoc Anh had to accept it, but was still full of hope for her future career: "This is the first time I have participated in the SEA Games, so winning the Bronze Medal is not too bad an achievement, I am not too disappointed with this result. What makes me regret is that if I had won the match and gone further, I would have been able to help my family more in the future, especially my younger brother who is in university," said Le Thi Ngoc Anh after the match.

At that time, Ngoc Anh was a young boxer, highly appreciated by Vietnamese sports , but for some reason after that congress, Ngoc Anh no longer pursued professional sports but quietly "disappeared", and then opened a Kickfit Sports gym with her husband.

“Competition at the highest level is really stressful but also full of glory. I feel I am more suited to light training, sharing experiences, guiding people to practice to have a healthy body and protect themselves,” Ngoc Anh shared.

It has been 10 years since Ngoc Anh won the Bronze Medal at the SEA Games. Everything has changed, her husband is also a Wushu athlete and has a happy family. Opening a gym is also a way for her not to forget her "fighting" career, not to forget the difficult early days of pursuing a martial arts career. Sitting in a cafe with the couple at the Fine Arts Museum, Ngoc Anh is still very feminine and gentle, she is so different from her performance on the stage.

Photo provided by character.

Ngoc Anh always starts the conversation when reporters ask: "Why do girls learn martial arts?" by saying: "Because my family is too poor. My family is mainly farmers, my parents are both over 50 years old, my eldest sister is married and my three younger siblings are still in school. If I don't take care of my youngest, who will? Going to school will not only be fed by the State, but also have an additional salary allowance," Ngoc Anh confided.

Ngoc Anh is the daughter of a farmer in Soc Son, Hanoi and the second oldest of five siblings. Since childhood, Ngoc Anh has been used to helping her parents work and grow rice to feed seven mouths in the family. A burden too great for a young girl.

Ngoc Anh then fell in love with Boxing when she enrolled in a summer school at the age of 15. Ngoc Anh said that at first she learned martial arts mainly to gain more strength to help her parents with farming. But then with her good qualities, height and long arm span, she quickly attracted the attention of Hanoi's youth coaches. Ngoc Anh was quickly accepted into the Hanoi boxing team and her professional Boxing career began from there.

Competing professionally and winning many achievements, Ngoc Anh earned money to support her family. Ngoc Anh said that most of the prize money earned from tournaments was sent to her mother to help her siblings with their education. She said: “I decided to pursue Boxing because of my passion, but an equally important reason was to help my parents have less trouble.”

Mr. Vu Duc Thinh, Head of the Vietnam Boxing Department at that time, now President of the Vietnam Kickboxing Federation, said: “Most of the children who follow the boxing career are from poor families, born in rural areas. Having more boxing tournaments helps these poor boxers improve their income a lot. The ring attracts audiences, so because of this, many young girls are willing to sacrifice their femininity to step into the ring to “take the blows” and seek victory.”

Going to boxing to feed the whole family is not a rare thing in martial arts, but also in many other sports of Vietnamese sports, such as Athletics, Football, Wrestling... Sports are like a salvation for poor youth to hope for a better life. Ngoc Anh has strived hard and had the honor of participating in the SEA Games. Now, after more than 15 years of pursuing martial arts, her family life has also changed for the better. "In the past, when I competed, I carried two burdens: the burden of the whole family and the burden of having to defeat the opponent," Ngoc Anh confided about her difficult journey.

In April 2023, after many years away from the ring, Ngoc Anh suddenly returned to the ring at VSP Pro 4. She joined Ba Ria - Vung Tau at the 2023 National Strong Team Boxing Championship.

This is a match between the youth of Vu Duyen, a boxer who is only 18 years old, and Ngoc Anh. Huynh Thi Vu Duyen from Quang Ngai won the 2022 National Club Championship, the 2022 National Youth Championship and won at VSP Pro3. But her senior Ngoc Anh has experience and class, even though she was 29 years old that year. This match in the 57kg weight class was really exciting, with tricky punches thrown by both female boxers.

Watching the match again, we can see that Ngoc Anh was too calm and experienced in the face of Vu Duyen's eagerness to take advantage of her youth and bold playing style to cause difficulties. However, Ngoc Anh neutralized the opponent's attacks relatively easily. Ngoc Anh officially marked his return to professional boxing with a completely convincing points victory. The results of the 3 judges were 39-37, 40-36, 39-37 in favor of Ngoc Anh.

Put your trust in the young generation

That year, at the 2023 National Boxing Championship for Strong Teams, Ngoc Anh won a Bronze Medal, then stopped competing. I asked: "Why did you return to such good form, compete professionally for a club, and then stop competing?" Ngoc Anh shared that it was partly due to age, and partly because she wanted to spend time in the gym and take care of her family: "Competing at high intensity when you get older is dangerous. Sports age is also over 30 and starts to decline. Now guiding professional and amateur athletes is my job. I hope that through my way of teaching, there will be young, talented athletes competing for the national team, bringing glory to the country."

Ngoc Anh also expressed that the regime for athletes now is better than when she was pursuing martial arts, so many young people have better opportunities to strive, not the burden of "bread and butter" like she did in the past. "I know, although there are still many difficulties, everything has improved positively for athletes. The sports industry is a difficult industry, requiring physical strength, endurance, agility... so it needs a good policy regime. When athletes do not have to bear the burden of "bread and butter", they will definitely focus on competing, practicing, and contributing to the country", Ngoc Anh sends her trust in the young generation.

Accompanying Ngoc Anh is her close friend on the team, Nguyen Thi Yen, who also decided to choose Boxing to help her family. Yen won a Silver Medal at the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar, when she defeated the host country's boxer to reach the finals, Yen confided very honestly: "So soon I will have more money to help my parents raise my two younger siblings and I will use part of it to pay for university tuition. Boxing has given my family a lot."

The story of Yen in the poor village of Tho Ha in Bac Giang province and the story of Ngoc Anh in Soc Son, Hanoi have a very similar desire. That is to consider sports as a "salvation" and strive for the best results. Because they know that only at the peak of their career can they have a good income to cover their living expenses and take care of their families.

But to achieve glory in the ring, female boxers have to make many sacrifices. Possessing a pretty face, white skin and tall height, Ngoc Anh had to overcome many prejudices and opposition from her family to become a boxer. Ngoc Anh said she was teased by her friends all the time for choosing the career of "fighting".

Enduring the beatings, suffering, and even the negative reputation of a sport that is not considered suitable for women, the female boxer still gritted her teeth to endure to support her family and now she is living a peaceful life with her husband and son. The story of the beautiful female boxer Ngoc Anh's arduous "fighting and punching" has gone through very strongly. Her independence in the ring as well as in her youth journey is worthy of young athletes' admiration for her will. Although Ngoc Anh has not yet won a SEA Games Gold Medal, to me, she is a great example of will and determination.

Le Thi Ngoc Anh was born in 1994 in Soc Son, Hanoi. Ngoc Anh won the Bronze Medal at the 2010 Youth Boxing Tournament, the Silver Medal at the 2011 Youth Tournament, and consecutively the Bronze Medal at the Cup Tournament in 2012, 2013, and 2014. At the 28th SEA Games held in Singapore in 2015, in her first participation, Ngoc Anh brought home a Bronze Medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation.

Tuan Ngoc

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/ky-uc-nhoc-nhan-cua-nu-vo-si-xinh-dep-post550329.html