The system of Shaolin Kung Fu — That Son Martial Arts (Thất Sơn Đạo Nhân) — was established in 1870. Its story is one of patriotism, mastery, and enlightenment.
A Lineage Forged in History
Grandmaster Thất Sơn Đạo Nhân
Born Nguyễn Đa in Phu Cat Village, Binh Khe district, Quy Nhon. Earning the bachelor of martial arts under the 5th Thiệu Trị period (1845), he was a master of martial arts, a patriot, and a bodhisattva.
Joining the Resistance
After the Nguyễn dynasty ceded six western provinces to France, he joined the patriot forces against the French colony — armed only with bows and steel against modern naval warships.
Training the Army
Under Sergeant Major Trần Văn Thành, leader of the Bảy Thưa – Láng Linh uprising, Thất Sơn Đạo Nhân was placed in charge of training the entire army in the art of fighting.
The Final Battle
After a five-day battle armed only with swords and bows, the rebel forces fell and Trần Văn Thành was killed. The grandmaster retreated once more into the Seven Mountains to refine the art.
The Path to Enlightenment
Facing overwhelming force, he urged his soldiers to lay down arms and live as civilians. He escaped to Tà Lơn Mountain, took the name Ngọc Thanh, practiced Buddhism, and achieved enlightenment — teaching both martial arts and Buddhist philosophy to his disciples.
Thiếu Lâm Thất Sơn Võ Đạo Cổ Truyền
It is called Ancient Shaolin Kung Fu That Son Martial Arts because Thất Sơn Đạo Nhân was a Buddhist follower who learned martial arts from a Shaolin Kung Fu master and was deeply influenced by Buddhist philosophy.
Thiếu Lâm — Shaolin Kung Fu
Created by Bodhidharma, the 28th Indian patriarch of Zen Buddhism. Visiting the Shaolin temple on the Song Chan mountain range around 427 AD, he taught both Buddhism and martial arts — a combination that became Shaolin Kung Fu, passed to later generations.
Thất Sơn — The Seven Mountains
Located in Chau Doc province, where the grandmaster taught his disciples. The sacred, grand mountain range — full of obstacles that made it difficult to invade — was the perfect place to practice religion and achieve enlightenment, surrounded by the fertile plains of western Vietnam, home to many national heroes.
Võ — Martial Arts
Methods and techniques of fighting, applied with inner or outer force depending on each individual's practice. People practice for physical health, mental development, confidence, and to defend and protect their country.
Đạo — The Way
An honest path — the starting point of every species in the universe, where only equality and harmony exist. Introduced to China by Bodhidharma and spread throughout Southeast Asia, its main principles are static against active, and ethics against violence.
Cổ Truyền — Ancient / Inherited
Inherited from Bodhidharma, its values and ethical principles welcomed and developed by successive generations. In 1879, the grandmaster combined Buddhist philosophy with his martial art experience and adapted the practice to each body's condition — originating Ancient Shaolin Kung Fu That Son Martial Arts.