When Tan Nhat Bich emigrated to the United States from Vietnam in 1992, he was a well-known martial arts kickboxer and grandmaster in his native country. Once he and his family were settled in Dorchester‚ he moved to introduce traditional Vietnamese martial arts to his new country with the founding of the Dorchester-based Binh Dinh Academy, which has been training children ages 7 and up for the last 20 years.

Several times a week, the 74-year-old Bich gathers his students in the VietAID community room on Charles Street and at the Quincy YMCA, where he specializes in the Tan Forge technique, a combination of all the best forms of ancient Vietnamese fighting styles – a style focused on training the “weak to become the strong.”

In an interview with The Reporter, Bich’s daughter, Lien-Thu Dao, the chairperson of the academy’s board of directors and a teacher, offered a bit of history: “My dad originally started the school in Vietnam as a grandmaster after the war. He was a pilot in the South Vietnamese Air Force fighting with the Americans and so when he got out of the re-education camp there, he founded the school.”

She noted that her parents worked seven days a week, sometimes three shifts a day, to support their family.

“Once we got settled,” said Dao, “he founded the new Tan Forge in Boston, and we called it Binh Dinh Academy. This year marks our 20th anniversary.”

Citing humble beginnings in the family’s basement, Dao remembers her father teaching her and her siblings four days a week, getting them up at 8 a.m. on Saturdays to train. That soon branched out to a neighbor’s garage, where he taught them and some neighborhood kids. For a time, classes were held at the DotHouse, but they have been using the VietAID building and the Quincy YMCA since the end of the pandemic.

The school now boasts 150 members and teachers, as well as a group of long-term students who are now assistant teachers.

Binh Dinh Academy members gathered in the community room at VietAID on Charles Street last Friday at the conclusion of their weekly class. The group is hoping to find a permanent home in Dorchester so they can expand outside and inside the Vietnamese community. Seth Daniel photos

“All of our teachers are volunteers, and one of our masters comes here and teaches classes until 8 p.m. and then goes to work the night shift,” said Dao. “Most of our students come from Dorchester but we have other kids from other communities, too. Most of the students are Vietnamese, but we really have a goal to open it up to more than just the Vietnamese.”

The academy features 18 different levels, starting with a Black Belt and working up to blue, red, yellow, and, finally, the White Belt at the 18th level, with various stripes and tassels added to belts to denote skills mastered within each level.

Dao and Bich explained that the style at Binh Dinh differs from other approaches. “While others teach force, strength and precision, our martial arts is more about fluidity. It originates from over 1,000 years of different forms from Vietnam in combination together. The high point of this form was in 1780 in Tay Son when they fought back a Chinese invasion. We chose the best part of all those forms and combined it into this. It is for battle to make the weak, strong, and to make the small, big.”

Long-time student David Le practices the Stick Dance for his performance at Tet in Boston.

Binh Dinh Student Julia Nguyen practices the Fan Dance for the upcoming Tet in Boston performance this weekend.

Dao said they emphasize speed and flexibility in their training. The Binh Dinh teachings do not involve standing still. Even when positioning the hands, it is a fluid motion with lots of movement that serves as a defense to repel punches.

They also teach dances like the Dragon Dance, Ribbon Dance, Fan Dance, and Stick Dance – all of which will be on display during the Tet New Year celebrations over the next week.

Dao said she has taken many life lessons from her martial arts training, including perseverance, determination, and physical fitness. Now, the academy incorporates educational studies into the program – with experts coming in to speak to the kids on bullying, cyber-security, and personal finances.

“I am lucky because I was born into a martial arts family and I apply it to so many things in my life,” she said. “Our mission is youth development and leadership, and some kids come here with no confidence and gain it here.

“We have one student that was bullied so badly and had to change schools four times but found confidence here. We have kids with autism, too. We teach them to strive physically and to be scholars so that they are well-rounded.”

Binh Dinh Academy will be the opening act at the annual Tet in Boston celebration in Flynn Cruiseport this weekend, and Dao and Bich noted that it will feature a 10-minute act with firecrackers, drumming, a fan dance, ribbon dance, stick dance, and nine dragons (one of them 32 feet long) performing the dragon dance.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Dao.