Tiếng ViệtOn November 10, 2023, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung signed a decision to include Vovinam – Viet Vo Dao in the list of national intangible cultural heritage. This is good news for the Vovinam martial arts sect in particular and all those who have been contributing to preserving, developing and promoting Vovinam around the world in general.
The Vovinam is a traditional martial art of the Vietnamese people founded by the late master Nguyen Loc in 1938 in Hanoi and has been preserved, promoted and developed increasingly strongly by generations of martial arts masters. Currently, Vovinam – Viet Vo Dao is present in more than 70 countries and territories, attracting more than 2.5 million martial arts students to participate in practice, contributing to introducing the image of the country and people of Vietnam to you international friends.
During the process of formation and development, Vovinam constantly improved so that more and more people at home and abroad could access and learn the quintessence of Vietnamese martial arts. Vovinam World Championships, European Championships, Asian Championships, Southeast Asian Championships… have also been held annually in recent times. Vovinam has also been included to compete in many SEA Games. The most recent are two consecutive SEA Games: SEA Games 31 in Vietnam in 2022 and SEA Games 32 in Cambodia in 2023.
Dr. Mai Huu Tin – President of the World Vovinam Federation and also President of the Vietnam Vovinam Federation – shared: “Vovinam being recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage is the result of many generations during the 85 years of formation and development of the sect. This is a must-have step towards turning Vovinam into an intangible cultural heritage of the world.”
Another goal that the Vietnam Vovinam Federation is promoting and determined to achieve is to establish the Vovinam Academy. The academy is expected to be located in Ho Chi Minh City, with a construction cost of about 20 million USD, promising to be a Vovinam training place not only for Vietnam but also for countries around the world. At the same time, we will also complete the registration application for UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to recognize Vovinam as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
(Compiled from newspapers)