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History - Lam, Minh Hao

 In 1945, after World War II, Master Lam Yu Lan decided to return to Hainan Island, the place of his birth. He had passed down to his children, especially his second son Lam Hao, all the knowledge he had gained during his career. It was time for him to retire.

Master Lam Hao had a very creative mind, a strong interest in martial arts, and the wealth of knowledge gained from his father. From 1945 to 1950 he worked tirelessly to promote the art of Shaolin kung fu in Saigon, Vietnam. In 1950 Vietnam’s Hainan community, proud of Master Lam Hao’s efforts, rewarded him by electing him as the leader of the Hainan Martial Arts Federation. They also raised funds to build a larger training facility for Master Lam Hao to teach their children and others, naming it Thanh-Lien Hall.

From 1950 to 1995 Master Lam Hao taught thousands of students, making the Thanh-Lien Martial Arts School well known in Vietnam. He sacrificed his personal life by not having a family and instead, dedicated all his time to martial arts by teaching every student the discipline, its self-defense techniques, and most importantly, the way to balance the mind, body, and soul.

Master Lam Hao, despite alternative viewpoints from some of his students, was strongly opposed to allowing branches from the school. He believed the art to be like one family, of which new students became members. Hence, opening a branch was akin to going outside of the family.

Master Lam Hao also feared that his students would not be skilled enough to protect their own branch. In his day there were several groups of Chinese (Fukien, Tieu-Chow, Cantonese, Hainan), each speaking different dialects. Each group also had the defensive power of their martial arts studios to protect them against blackmail from other groups. Every school had two objectives: pass on their style of martial arts, and provide underworld protection. Back then, the Vietnamese government was slow to respond to blackmail. As groups forced protection money out of other groups, people had to defend themselves by any means necessary. Schools perceived as weak were visited and often destroyed by members of stronger schools.

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