Vietnamese martial artists have won three gold medals, three silvers and six bronzes at the pre-Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Kempo Shorinji Tournament at the Gelanggang Gymnasium in Jakarta, Indonesia.

An Indonesian expert instructing Vietnamese martial artists

Phan Thi Kieu Duyen and Pham Thi Mao won gold in the women\'s doubles for the performance event. The team also won three bronze medals in the performance discipline.

In the combat event, Vietnamese martial artists won two gold medals thanks to Do Hong Ngoc in the women\'s U-45kg and Chau Nguyen Quoc in the men\'s U-65kg. The team also took three silvers and three bronzes.

Kempo Shorinji will feature for the first time at the SEA Games in Indonesia this November, and Vietnam are aiming for at least one gold medal in the event.

Kempo Shorinji was established by Doshin So as a system for self-improvement and training in Japan in 1947, based on Shaolin kungfu (and using the same first three kanji).

The training methods are based on the philosophy "spirit and body are not separable" and "train both body and spirit". In this way, Kempo Shorinji is known to have the three benefits of "self-defence and training", "mental training " and "promoting health".