Kim Son wrestling festival

Kim Son Wrestling Festival (Hai Phong) Legend has it that wrestling was originally a sport invented by General Pham Ngu Lao (Tran dynasty) to train soldiers. Later, people of Kim Son village, Tan Trao commune, Kien Thuy district, Hai Phong city often played this game at the beginning of the year to welcome the new spring. Over time, the game became the traditional Wrestler Festival of Kim Son village, held on the 6th day of the first lunar month every year right at the communal house yard. Right from the morning of the 30th of Tet, the 3 Giap and the people in the village were busy preparing to build the welcoming gate. According to custom, on the evening of Tet 30, the whole village goes to the village communal house to pay homage to the village Thanh Hoang. There are 24 clans in the village and are divided into three borders. Each armor must choose 6 people, including one person to be the flag commander wearing a martial arts uniform, head covered with a scarf, legs wrapped in leggings, and holding a bunting flag to command the capture of the bridge. The remaining 5 wrestlers are strong and unmarried young men. Each armor must build a welcoming gate symbolizing its armor (red armor, yellow armor, blue armor). The ball is made of old banana tubers, weighs 20 kg, has a diameter of 30-40 cm, is covered with pink paper, and has four sacred animals attached: dragon, unicorn, tortoise, and phoenix. After completing the decoration, the ball is placed on a tray in the palanquin and placed on the altar in the village communal house. The wrestling arena on the courtyard of the communal house has the shape of a swallow made of black sand. The main bridge hole is dug in the middle of the yard, in the middle of a swallow shape, about 1 m in diameter, about 0.7 m deep, and the three corners of the yard have 3 smaller playing holes. On the afternoon of the 5th day of the Lunar New Year, the people and the Festival Organizing Committee held offerings to the Thanh Hoang and prayed to the Emperor. On the morning of the 6th day of Tet, at 7 o'clock, the village elders organized a prayer procession from inside the communal house to the outside of the communal house and bestowed blessings on the praying objects. At Dragon time (10 am), the palanquin is carried to the communal house yard. The bridge procession includes: a palanquin procession carrying Uncle Ho's image, a flag group, a bowl of sounds, a bowl of symbols, a symbolic ball, a wrestling ball, a male worshiping group, a female worshiping group, a flag dancing group, a dragon dancing group, a refereeing group, and then a bridge wrestling group. The ball is placed in the cue hole. After the drum signal, the wrestling begins. The shuttlecock jumps into the hole and tosses the shuttlecock up. The ball was round, firm and heavy and the players tried their best to bring it home. The sound of drums and people cheering continuously made the competition even more attractive. Each wrestling match consists of 3 rounds, each round is 3 minutes. The team that can return the ball to their court the most times is the winner. At the end of the festival, the ball is thrown into the semicircular lake in front of the communal house. People attending the festival often rush down to compete for a piece of the bridge to get the "blessing" of the village god. Kim Son Wrestling Festival is a unique festival, attracting thousands of visitors each year.