Vovinam
Vietnamese martial art
Vovinam (anglicized from Võ Việt Nam, meaning "Vietnamese Martial Arts"), officially known as Việt Võ Đạo (越武道, meaning "Vietnamese Way of Martial Arts") is a Vietnamese martial art founded in 1938 by Nguyễn Lộc. It is based on traditional Vietnamese eclectic sources. Vovinam today is considered by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to be a "National Intangible Cultural Heritage" as of November, 2023.
Vovinam, based on the principle of "hard and soft", involves the use of strikes, elbows, kicks, knees, and wrestling moves, as well as weapons such as swords, knives, chisels, claws and fans that serve as training devices for reaching optimal control of body and mind. Students also learn defense techniques and forms. Amongst Vietnamese martial arts, Vovinam is the largest and most developed with more than 60 schools around the world, including Poland, Belgium, Canada, Cambodia, Denmark, Germany, the United States, Morocco, Norway, Russia, France, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Italy, Australia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Spain, Algeria, Taiwan and Greece, among others. Vovinam's international governing body is the World Vovinam Federation (WVVF), and competitors compete in the international Vovinam professional circuit.
History
Vovinam was founded in 1938 by Nguyễn Lộc (1912–1960) in Hanoi, with the intent of providing practitioners with an efficient method of self-defense after a short period of study. Nguyễn believed martial arts would contribute to freeing Vietnam from colonial rule, which had been ruled by France since 1861, and from outside domination. Vovinam added elements of Chinese and Japanese systems to traditional Vietnamese martial arts, systems, which were thus partially created as a response to the French occupation, meant to promote a sense of national identity for the Vietnamese people.
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