Vovinam

Martial artists perform Việt Võ Đạo (Vovinam) during the Southeast Asian Vovinam Championship in May in Cambodia. Vovinam has been listed as an intangible heritage. — VNA/VNS Photos

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's traditional martial art form, Việt Võ Đạo (Vovinam), has been named a national intangible heritage.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Văn Hùng signed a decision of recognition on November 10.

Accordingly, the folk performing art and folk knowledge of Việt Võ Đạo was officially included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages.

The minister also assigned chairmen of People's Committees at all levels, where Vovinam is practised, to take responsibilities of managing the martial art form following the Law on Cultural Heritage.

Previously, the HCM City People's Committee's Department of Culture and Sports in coordination with the HCM City Vovinam Federation completed and submitted the dossier to the MoCST to request recognition of Vovinam as a national intangible cultural heritage.

The traditional martial art form was founded by the late master Nguyễn Lộc in 1938 in Hà Nội. It has been preserved, promoted and developed strongly by generations of martial art masters.

Martial artists perform Việt Võ Đạo (Vovinam) during the Southeast Asian Vovinam Championship in May in Cambodia. As many as 2.5 million people practise Vovinam in the world.

The World Vovinam Federation was established in 2008, a milestone in the development of the martial art form around the world, with continental federation members in Asia, Europe and Africa.

International competitions have been organised regularly, increasing in quantity and quality.

Regionally, Vovinam was included in many SEA Games editions. It was an official sport of the 31st Games in Việt Nam in 2022 and 32nd Games in Cambodia this May.

Currently, Vovinam is practised by more than 2.5 million martial artists from about 70 countries and territories.

The 2023 World Vovinam Championship is scheduled on November 22-30 in HCM City featuring 650 athletes from 35 delegations who will compete for 44 sets of medals.

"Vovinam being recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage is the achievement of many generations over the course of 85 years of formation and development," said Mai Hữu Tín, President of the World Vovinam Federation cum President of the Việt Nam Vovinam Federation (VVF).

"This is a necessary step towards turning Vovinam into a world intangible cultural heritage."

Martial artists perform Việt Võ Đạo (Vovinam) during the Southeast Asian Vovinam Championship in May in Cambodia. Vovinam will be submitted to be a world intangible heritage in the future.

In Việt Nam, Vovinam is expected to have athletes in all 63 cities and province. The martial art will be introduced and pushed in schools.

The VVF plans to build a Vovinam Academy in HCM City to offer training for not only Vietnamese but also international martial art lovers.

At the same time a dossier of Vovinam will be submitted to the UNESCO for recognition as a world intangible heritage. — VNS