Vovinam 

(short for Võ Việt Nam; literally meaning Vietnamese Martial Arts, or Vietnamese: Việt Võ
Đạo, meaning Vietnamese Way of Martial Arts) is a Vietnamese martial art,[1] It was founded in 1938
by Nguyễn Lộc. It is based on traditional Vietnamese subjects.

Vovinam involves the use of the hands, elbows, legs, knees and weapons such as swords, knives,
chisels, claws, fans. Students also learn how to deal with hand-held weapons, counter-attacks, lock-
ups, and levers. Amongst Vietnamese martial arts, Vovinam is the largest and most developed in
Vietnam with more than 60 schools around the world,
including Poland, Belgium, Cambodia, Denmark, Germany, the United
States, Morocco, Norway, Russia, France, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Uzbekistan, 
Thailand, Italy, Australia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Spain, Algeria, Taiwan, Greece. The Chief of
Vovinam Council now is Nguyễn Văn Chiếu.[2]
Vovinam is practiced with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of between hard and
soft. It includes training of the body as well as the mind. It uses force and reaction of the opponent.
Vovinam also includes hand, elbow, kicks, escape- and levering techniques. Both attack and
defense techniques are trained, as well as forms, combat and traditional wrestling. The wide range
of techniques include punching, kicking, forms, wrestling, sword, staff, axe, folding fan and others.
Self-defense techniques cover defense against weaponless attacks like choking from behind and
defense against attackers armed with knives or swords. Advanced students learn to combine the
techniques and defend themselves against armed opponents. Instructors teach traditional weapons
like the long stick, short stick, knife, sword and sabre. The weapons thus serve as training devices
for reaching optimal control of body and mind.
HISTORY

ovinam Việt Võ Đạo was founded as Vovinam by Nguyễn Lộc (1912 – 1960) in 1938, 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, which had been ruled by
France since 1859, from outside domination. Vovinam, which Nguyễn synthesized from Chinese
styles of kung fu, his own knowledge of traditional Vietnamese martial arts, and elements of
Japanese and Korean systems, was thus created partially as a response to the French occupation,
meant to promote a sense of national identity for the Vietnamese people.[3][4] Vovinam thus has
anticolonial origins.[5]
After being invited to demonstrate Vovinam publicly in Hanoi with his disciples in 1940, Nguyễn was
invited to teach the art at Hanoi's Ecole 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.[4] After his death in
1960, Grandmaster Le Sang continued the development and international promotion of Vovinam
until his own death on September 27, 2010. 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.[6] Vovinam now exists as Vovinam Việt
Võ Đạo, without the political overtones it originally carried.[3]

Logo
The Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo logo is framed in a yellow shape composed of a rectangle conjoined with
a circle, angular at the top, round at the bottom.[7][8] This shape symbolizes the perfection of the hard
and soft.[citation needed] Within this yellow shape, the red text "Vovinam" is written above the marine blue
text "Việt Võ Đạo". Beneath the text appears a yin-yang symbol in red and marine blue. The yin-
yang symbol is surrounded by a thick, white circle, symbolizing the being of the Dao, with the
mission to mediate between yin and yang, to subdue the two, to enable life of all beings.[citation needed] A
yellow map of Vietnam is superimposed on the yin-yang symbol.

Theory

Hard and soft[edit]

The yin and yang theory (Vietnamese: "Âm-Dương" and "Nhu-Cương") states that everything in the
universe and on earth is initiated through the interrelation of Âm (negative) and Dương (positive).
[9]
 As to this theory there are martial arts that prefer the hard over the soft and others that prefer the
soft over the hard. Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo does not prefer any over the other. Hard and soft are used
equally to adapt to every situation, to every problem.
Based on Võ-Thuật, the student aims to develop the ability to combine hard and soft in combat and
in daily life. This aims to develop physical abilities as well as the student's spirit. Not only the
principle of the harmony of hard and soft but also many other things resulting from the training
contribute to internalizing the martial art philosophy, e.g. fighting spirit, courage, tenacity, fairness,
modesty and tolerance. Above all the training in morality and the way of applying the techniques
shape the students' character. Emphasis is placed on recognizing one's ego and overcoming it.
In doing so the Vovinam student will gain generosity and tolerance with other people. With the
awareness that the most important thing in a human's life are other humans, the final goal is to be
able to not only help oneself but also to help others to live in peace and harmony with their
surroundings.
With the salutation "Iron Hand over benevolent heart", the student is reminded of the main principle
and the goal of Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo with every training. It is also about using the opponent's force
and reaction, reaching maximum effect with comparatively little force.

10 principles of Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo[edit]

The term Việt Võ Đạo ("the way (Dao) of Viet Vo") was coined by the patriarch of the second
generation of the Vovinam Viet Vo Dao, Le Sang, with the objective of adding a philosophical
dimension to his martial art. This "Viet Vo Dao" consists of ten principles:[8][9]

1. Vovinam's disciples vow to pursue high proficiency in their martial art in order to serve the
people and humanity.
2. Promise to be faithful to the intentions and teaching of Vovinam and develop the young
generation of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao.
3. Be united in spirit and heart, respect one's elder, be kind to one's peers.
4. Respect discipline absolutely, maintain the high standard of personal conduct and honour of
a martial art disciple.
5. Have respect for other martial art schools, only use martial art skills for self-defense and
protect justice.
6. Be studious, strengthen the mind, enrich one's thought & behavior.
7. Live simply, with chastity, loyalty, high principles and ethics.
8. Build up a spirit of steely determination and vigor, overcome powers of violence.
9. Make intelligent judgments, carry out struggles with perseverance and act with alertness.
10. Be self-confident, self-controlled, modest and generous.
(The wording can vary slightly between Vovinam schools)
A "Việt Võ Đạo Federation" was founded on November 3, 1973, in order to reunite some
Vietnamese martial arts. Therefore, "Việt Võ Đạo", in Europe, is also used as a generic term for
certain Vietnamese martial arts and philosophies but in Vietnam is only used to refer to "Vovinam
Việt Võ Đạo".[citation needed]
Blue stands for the factor of the sea, and the hope - the hope in being successful in learning
Vovinam.
With the following 3 exams yellow stripes are added to the blue belt. The 3rd yellow stripe is followed
by the yellow belt.

Yellow It symbolically stands for the skin color of Asian people. It symbolizes the "skin deep"
internalization of the martial art and the philosophy.
In other martial arts this belt is black. Therefore, a Vovinam student who carries a yellow belt is
allowed to carry a black belt. This makes a comparison to other martial arts easier, e.g. in public
performances. A person who wears a yellow belt with one or more stripes is considered an
instructor.
Following in a longer period of time, respectively 3 red stripes are added to the yellow belt. This
corresponds to the 1st, 2nd, respectively 3rd degree blackbelt (Đẳng). The exam following the 3rd
red stripe is the master's exam. Passing the exam successfully assigns the right to wear a red belt
with a circulating yellow border (4th degree blackbelt).

Red stands for the blood and the intensive flame. The student has internalized Vovinam (Việt Võ
Đạo) even further.
The 5th to 10th degree blackbelt are shown as a completed red belt with 1 to 6 white stripes.

White stands for the infiniteness, the bones; is the symbol of the depth of the spirit. The white belt
assigns the master the absolute mastery of Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo.
On the white belt thin, lengthwise stripes in blue, black, yellow and red symbolize the whole of
Vovinam (Việt Võ Đạo) again. This belt is reserved for the "Chưởng Môn".
Now, Vovinam has two different sets of belt ranking because of the different training program: The
WVVF Vovinam (headquarter: Vietnam) uses the traditional program and "The Vovinam-Việt Võ Đạo
World Federation". (headquarter: France) uses the new training program

Specialties
Vovinam has some specialised techniques:
1. Đòn Chân Tấn Công
A group of leg grappling techniques that is designed to grab the opponent by the feet or legs
and take them down using twisting motions usable as a surprise attack in a fight. There are
21 leg grappling techniques.
2. Đấm Lao
A backfist swung reversely to the temple.
3. Đá Cạnh
 A diagonally applied kick.

Techniques and weapons[edit]

 Hand techniques (đòn tay)
 Elbow techniques (chỏ)
 Kicking techniques (đá)
 Knee techniques (gối)
 Forms (Quyền, Song Luyện, Đa Luyện)
 Attack techniques (chiến lược)
 Self-defense (tự vệ)[10]
 Self-defense against knife attack (phản đòn dao)
 Traditional wrestling (Vật cổ truyền)
 Leg attack take-downs (đòn chân tấn công)
 Staff (côn)
 Sword (kiếm)
 Halberd (dao dài)
 Cutlass (đao)