One-legged martial arts coach in Ho Chi Minh City

The 55-year-old man, who lost his left leg up to his thigh at age 21, can ride a bicycle for dozens of kilometers in the morning to deliver papers, coach children in swimming and table tennis in the afternoon, and teach a traditional martial arts class in the evening.

These are his daily jobs that he has done for decades to earn a living in Ho Chi Minh City.

He is familiar to people in District 5 and District 8 in the city, and they know him as ‘one-legged Dung.’

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper met him one evening at Ly Phong Middle School in District 5, where he was training a martial arts class. A crutch was hanging on his motorbike.

He looks weather beaten and grey haired, with muscular arms and shoulders. His back is straight with firm muscles.

His muscular body may attract attention from others more than his loss of a leg.

He got off his motorbike and prepared training equipment while standing on one leg without using his crutch.

“I need a crutch to walk on bumpy roads only. Otherwise, I can hop over like this.

“Hopping like this is almost nothing since I rode my bicycle over a hundred kilometers to deliver papers the morning before.

“My right foot becomes calloused from hopping so much and it is OK to step on hot coal.”

The foot that has traversed the city for over 30 years is full of calluses which are half a centimeter thick.

He is able to ride a bicycle carrying papers that weigh tens of kilograms from 4:00 am or 5:00 am until the afternoon to earn his living.

His coaching job begins in the afternoon and evening.

His love for sports and martial arts is inherited from his father, Ta Anh Dang – a well known fighter of traditional martial arts decades ago.

But his life reached a milestone when he was 21. He fell in a traffic accident that stripped from him his left leg.

Recovering from the accident a year later, he had to earn his living by carrying fire sticks to sell around the city.

“People love me and have pity for me, but I can’t live on pity,” said Dung. “I have to stand up on my foot and go to work.”

Soon after the injury he resumed training in martial arts. Before the accident, he had been training to get a black belt – a high grade in his martial arts sect of Kim Ke (gold/metal cock fighting arts).

He has helped train many fighters in pencak silat (a martial arts form from Indonesia) and Thai boxing in Ho Chi Minh City.

Dung was granted the certificate of martial arts trainer in 2002 and has been developing techniques of his Kim Ke sect.

Besides martial arts, he has been entrusted by his friends with training their relatives in swimming and table tennis.

Now, Dung is a familiar guest of different sports centers in the city. He also joins body building courses during his free time.