Ho Chi Minh, who was the communist leader of North Vietnam is seen demonstrating Tai Chi with some of his troops. The film footage is believed to be from around the mid to late 1940’s. It is unsure where or when Ho Chi Minh learned Tai Chi Chuan.

For centuries there has been strong influence from Chinese culture on Vietnam. Chinese martial arts have been in Vietnam for many years before this film was taken. It is possible Ho Chi Minh had learned Tai Chi in Vietnam, or during the times which he spent in China. For example, he went to China in 1925 until 1927, in Hong Kong from 1930 to 1932, and went back again to China in 1938 until 1941.

In 1958 Gu Lu Xian was asked by the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Chou En Lai, to travel to Hanoi, in North Vietnam, to teach Tai Chi Chuan to Ho Chi Minh. Gu spent five months at the president’s palace teaching Ho Chi Minh the art of Tai Chi Chuan, as well as other high ranking Vietnamese officials.

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