(HBO) - There are 11 official competitions at the 7th Congress of Sports and Physical activities in 2021 in Lac Son District. They include volleyball, football, badminton, marathon, swimming, tug of war, array hitting, traditional wrestling, stick pushing, crossbow shooting and athletics. Notably, the folk games, array hitting of Muong ethnic group has become an official competition in the Congress for the first time.


The athletes are competing the games of array hitting at the 7th Congress of Sports and Physical activities in Lac Son district. 

Array hitting is the ancient folk games of the Muong ethnic group, taking the name of Mang tree used to beat as the name of the game. For the people in Lac Son district, array hitting has become an indispensable spiritual dish in the cultural life and in festivals at the beginning of the new year... 

According to Ms. Bui Thi Tham, the Director of the district Center for Culture, Sports and Physical activities, the organization of array hitting of Muong ethnic minority has contributed to the restoration of the cultural heritages, the folk games is healthy and useful especially the games of array hitting of Muong ethnic group is very unique and special and it has its own indigenous character of Muong people. It is a cultural heritage that needs to be restored, preserved and developed to uphold the spirit of sports and health training. At the same time, it is an opportunity to evaluate the development movement of sports in general and the national sports of array hitting in particular in the district... It is a new sport that was put into competition at the 7th District’s Sports Congress. However, the tournament has good professional quality, taking place successfully, safely and effectively, and it received the attention and warm cheers of the audience. Some teams have shown their superiority in strength, endurance, toughness, ingenuity, and collectiveness such as Vu Ban town, Van Nghia commune, Xuat Hoa, Thuong Coc... 

The basic steps of the folk games of array hitting of Muong ethnic group in each region are slightly different, so the Organizing Committee has adjusted the competition rules accordingly. In the first round of the games, the communes and the town competed in 5 regions in the district (Cong Hoa, Dai Dong, the upland, the lowland, Quyet Thang) and it was integrated into the national sports tournament, each region selected one best team to compete in the final round. The final round of array hitting competitionh of Muong ethnic group attracted the participation of over 60 athletes, competing in a team format, 6 teams were divided into 2 groups. 

The distance to hit array is 4m long, 3,5m wide; the distance between the two copper arrays is 20cm; the scoring limit line is 40 cm; the scoring limit line after the array is 30 cm; the jumping line is 1,5m; the finish line is 4m. The copper plate must be the fruit of the forest. Each round has 8 contents: The movement of throwing the array, rolling it, sitting down to shoot it, stepping on the array (putting the array on the instep of the dominant foot and stepping on the limit line to the opponent's field), sparring (putting the array on the instep of the dominant foot and jumping the trigger to the limit line, then putting it on the instep of your foot into the opponent's field), shelving ground (putting the array in front of the forefoot of the dominant foot, use the force of the foot to bring it to the limit line, you will get a point, if it does not roll over the limit line, you must take your dominant foot and use the tip of your toe to put it into the opponent's side), jumping (put the array into the interstitial space of the tiptoe and jump right into the opponent's plate), harmonizing (puts the array on the dominant foot, stand at the finish line to make the move to bring it to the opponent and it ends a round). Each team competes in 35 minutes, if those who win one event, they gets1 point, winning all 8 events they get 8 points, the team with the most goals is ranked above, adding the points of each event, the team with the most points is ranked above. When addingthe points of 8 contents, the team with most points is ranked above. In the end, Vu Ban town won the first prize, Van Nghia commune won the second prize and the third prize belonged to Xuat Hoa commune, the consolation prize belonged to Thuong Coc commune. The movement prize belonged to two communes, Ngoc Lau and Vu Binh.

Not only is it a folk games, array hitting is also a healthy and useful sports that has been contributing to health training. In the steps of the games, the player must move the whole body with endurance, dexterity, flexibility, accuracy. Not only that, in the process of playing, the players are more connected and closer to each other, repelling social evils, preserving and promoting the cultural beauty with the traditional values of the nation...

 


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