Grand Master TRUONG THANH ĐANG
                    and  BINH ĐINH -  SA LONG CUONG  martial arts school
              
                           
                                                                                                  Tran phu Huu
                                                                              translated by Trinh thu Thuy

               Grand Master Truong thanh Dang was born in 1895 at Binh Thuan, Phan Thiet. Since  his  early  chilhood, he already loved the martial arts and practiced with passion. His ancestor was the professor for the Bachelor students at the military school under the Nguyen dynasty. In 1909 ( 14 years old ) while he studied at the high school Duc Anh,
   he asked his parents permission to go to the land of the Tay son to research and learn about the finest martial arts of  the people. 

At Binh Dinh, Mr Truong thanh Dang studied with reknown teachers like Master Truong Trach at Phu My,   a contemporary Bachelor of martial arts, Martial arts Teacher Hai Cut at the village Cam Thuong,   martial arts teacher  Đinh Cat at An Nhon, as well as many other teachers at the villages An Vinh, An Thai. At that time, our country was under the French colonyation, so every  martial arts activity was forbiđen and very shictly censorest.   Therefore, all his studies and practices were secret at night, in the forest, or in the backyard.

Besides  the  time spend with  his masters,  he also exchanged  and  researched techniques  with his friends  like  Doan  Phong,  Hai Cuu,  Muoi Dau,  Xa  Bup, NamTuong...             He had absorbed and  mastered well the traditional martial arts during this time of devoted  practice .             However, he did not limit his knowledge to the Binh Dinh martial arts but studied a lot  with  Mr. Vinh Phuc,  an expert in  Shaolindo at that  time. After he came back home  in Phan Thiet, he also studied with two Chinese  teachers born in Phuoc Kien    and He,  the secrect weapons, Nine Link techniques and the Four-Programs  in the  highest level  of the Shaolindo .              Since 1925, he stared  teaching, propagating his knowledge as well as rearching  and arranging the techniques to form a complete system which gives a solid base for  the traditional martial arts :  " Bat bo  Chan quyen " ( Eights Sets of  Stances )  very characteristic and oustanding technique of the Binh Đinh  Sa long Cuong School.

              The  French  government  at  that  time  constantly  forbid  all  martial  arts practice. That is why, after 5 years of teaching  at PhanThiet, he had to move to Saigon in 1930.  Here, he continued to teach at  his house.

In 1964, in his seventies, he officially opened a school in Saigon,    with his pseudonym “  Sa long Cuong ”  ( Dragon on a sand dune ).        The school  taught  the Vietnamese traditional martial arts and Shaolindo. In only a short time,    due to the zeal and capabilities of  the Grand  Master, the Binh Dinh Sa long Cuong School was  widely  reconized in the field of Vietnamese  martial arts.           After 21 years officially inheriting  and propagating the traditional  martial arts, the Head of  the School  passed  away on the 17th of September, 1985   ( the 3rd of August  in the year of the Ox ) when he was 91 years old.

                 The oldest son of  the Grand Master, Assistant Head Truong ba Duong continued  to administer and expand the  school  with  the  assistance  of  Director  Master  Le van Van. At the present  times the Binh Dinh  Sa long Cuong   School had many branches every where, in and out of  the country. It doesnot matter where, the traditions and  real  capacities of  the Binh Dinh  Sa long Cuong  are  fully represented . . . . . .  

                Some pictures at Binh Đinh, SA LONG CUONG School  ( 1990 )