Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Dragon's Journey by Duy Long Nguyen and James Knight

HarperCollins first published 'The Dragon's Journey', by Duy Long Nguyen and James Knight, in 2004.

As a 5 year old Duy Long Nguyen (Longy) saw the death and destruction of the Vietnam war. When a teen, he ruled the streets of Saigon, and after escaping Vietnam on a boat he started a new life in Australia as a refugee. Longy eventually went on to use his gift to heal, treating some of the most powerful people in the world. The foreword to The Dragon's Journey was written by Rupert Murdoch and Frank Lowy.

Brief outline:

Longy had achieved many things by the time he was 15. He was accepted as a member of a primitive hill tribe, trained by South Korean masters in taekwondo, achieving his black belt at 10 and hunted alongside combat seasoned soldiers. Longy had also witnessed the death and destruction of the war first hand, seeing for himself the aftermath of the Tet offensive.

Moving with his family to Saigon, Longy soon gained a powerful reputation with his back street brawling and he took command of his own black-market gang at 14 years of age. Longy eventually escaped Vietnam with his brothers and sisters, on a small-overcrowded boat. After surviving an attack by pirates, they were rescued from their sinking boat by a Japanese tanker. Longy and his family stayed in Japan for a short time, where he attained his black belt in Karate. Longy later immigrated to Australia.

In Sydney Longy faced racism and many other challenges as he struggled for acceptance. He survived, when shot three times at Sydney's Chinatown and helped the New South Wales Police Force expose corruption from within their ranks.

Longy redirected his focus on his instinctive gift for healing. He was introduced to therapeutic healing by the Jarai mountain people in central Vietnam as a five year old. It was there he first learnt the use of pressure points to heal. His techniques were developed over many years from masters in Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. He has studied herbs and natural remedies, Thai therapies, acupressure, acupuncture and reflexology.

In the following years, Longy became a therapist for the Australian rugby league test team and State of Origin series. Longy was on set for the three Matrix movies, helping Keanu Reeves recover from a neck injury and prepare him for the fighting sequences. He also helped Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fisbourne and Hugo Weaving prepare for the martial arts and action scenes.

Other celebrity clients include Pat Rafter, Linford Christie, Anthony Mundine, Elle Macpherson and Megan Gale and many international sports stars.

Excerpt from the foreword by Rupert Murdoch and Frank Lowy, 2004.

"Longy's life is a study of the times, indeed a journal of recent history. War, death, politics, violence, crime, refugees, integration, racism... he has dealt with each in his own unique manner...Longy is a remarkable human being..."


View the original article here

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