Takhado – Vietnamese martial arts with rake as a weapon

Vietnamese traditional martial arts feature many postures and sets of practice relating to farming activities. For example, rakes are used as a weapon in Takhado, a type of traditional martial arts.

Rake, a weapon used in Takhado (Photo: VNA)

A martial art posture imitating farmers’ activities (Photo: VNA)

(Photo: VNA)

‘Thai son cu dinh’ – a defensive posture using rake as a shield (Photo: VNA)

‘Lao tru toa the’ – a posture inspired by Zhu Bajie (Pigsy), a character in Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ by Wu Cheng'en (Photo: VNA)

(Photo: VNA)

(Photo: VNA)

With its special structure, rake could be used to take enemy’s weapons away easily (Photo: VNA)

A Takhado practitioner uses rake as a weapon to attack his enemy (Photo: VNA)

(Photo: VNA)

(Photo: VNA)

Though rake seems to be a simple farming tool yet it can be used as an effective weapon in Takhado (Photo: VNA)

‘Khuynh than bat thiet’ – an attacking posture using rake (Photo: VNA)

Rakes can be used to fight down many weapons (Photo: VNA)

‘Thiet ba thuong dinh’ - a defensive posture using rake as a shield to prevent enemy’s weapons from above (Photo: VNA)

Rakes can fight down many weapons such as blades, swords, spears, maces, among others (Photo: VNA)

VNA