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Vovinam

Vietnamese martial art

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  • 8 chapters

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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. Hence, it is similar to taekwondo in that it is an eclectic system with combined elements of Japanese and Chinese martial arts within an indigenous framework.

After being invited to demonstrate Vovinam publicly in Hanoi with his disciples in 1940, Nguyễn was invited to teach the art at Hanoi's École Normale, and Vovinam gained in popularity. During the following years, political unrest increased throughout Vietnam; due to the system's nationalist political orientation, the art came under suppression. By 1954, Nguyễn had emigrated to South Vietnam, where he was able to continue to teach and establish Vovinam schools. His discipline was well received and within the year of arriving, he was even invited to train the police in Thủ Đức, Saigon. Unfortunately, he would fall terminally ill that same year and have to delegate all teaching to his senior student Grandmaster Lê Sáng while he relegated himself to backline research and study until he succumbed to his illness four years later. After his death in 1960, Grandmaster Lê Sáng continued the development and international promotion of Vovinam until his own death on September 27, 2010. During the Vietnam War throughout the mid-1960s under Lê, Vovinam secured teaching opportunities when its instructors were invited to train officers from the National Police. However, a brief rivalry was brewing between Vovinam practitioners and Taekwondo when the South Vietnamese government decided to have the hand-to-hand system utilized by the South Korean military to be the main hand-to-hand system for the South Vietnamese soldiers and have the South Korean troops train the South Vietnamese soldiers. The rivalry was only settled when the Central Military Command later came to an agreement for both Vovinam and Taekwondo as well as Judo to be allowed to be taught to the South Vietnamese military.

The first Vovinam school outside of Vietnam was established in Houston, Texas, by Vietnamese emigrants in 1976 after the Fall of Saigon. By 2000, Vovinam schools had been established in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. Vovinam now exists without the political overtones (including anti-communist ones) it originally carried.

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