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The Martial Arts
Discipline of Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao was
founded by Master Nguyen Loc in 1938. It
uses a combination of wrestling and the
techniques of Judo. Master Loc grew up in
the period when Vietnam was still under the
French colonial rule. At that time, young
men were either seduced by the French into
lusty lives or they joined the revolutionary
war against the French.
Master Nguyen Loc
believed that the only way to free Vietnam
from colonial rule was to train them to have
a strong, invincible will for liberty and
independence. That will would be produced by
a strong body and a rational mind. Carrying
that belief, Loc practiced diligently and
researched many Vietnamese traditional
martial arts as well as many foreign martial
arts. Through his research, he found a new
discipline of martial arts, which he named
"VOVINAM", understood as the
"MARTIAL ARTS OF VIETNAM." Since
1964, the new title "VIET VO DAO"
("THE PHILOSOPHY OF VIETNAMESE MARTIAL
ARTS") was added to become
"VOVINAM-VIET VO DAO."
In 1960, before passing
away, Master Loc promoted his eldest
student, Master Le Sang, to Grand Master.
Since then, under the leadership of Grand
Master Le Sang, Vovinam - Viet Vo Dao became
an international martial art with more than
one million practitioners from around the
world.
The goals of Vovinam-Viet
Vo Dao are to:
1. Preserve and develop
the martial arts of Vietnam, applying the
"Hard-Soft Co-development".
2. Research and innovate
new martial arts' techniques to improve
Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao's technical resources.
3. Train disciples on the
Strength, Techniques, and Philosophy
Strength: Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao will train
disciples to have a solid body and strong
endurance against obstacles and diseases.
Techniques: Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao will train
disciples to have practical techniques for
self-defense and just causes.
Philosophy: Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao will train
disciples to have a rational mind, an
invincible will, and a gallant character.
Disciples will be living in a
self-disciplined and forgiving way and
become model citizens, and serve oneself,
one's family, one's state, and mankind.
To achieve these goals,
Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao follows five objectives:
1. All the functions of Vovinam-Viet Vo
Dao are based on an established foundation:
take Mankind as the end, take Characters as
the goals, and take Invincible Will as the
means.
2. Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao is an extended
family, in which disciples love and respect
one another. This respect and love will be
the discipline of Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao, which
will help the disciples to unite and honor
the uprightness of Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao,
serving mankind.
3. Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao actively
participates in the education of young men
and women.
4. Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao is independent of
political and religious influence.
5. Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao always respects
other disciplines of martial arts. |
