Tiếng ViệtAlgeria currently has a total of 339 Vivonam clubs located everywhere in 37/58 provinces and cities across the country, becoming one of the countries with the largest number of martial arts students, only after Vietnam.
Algerian athletes compete at a tournament. (Photo: Trung Khanh/TTXVN)
Vietnam is preparing to request UNESCO to recognize Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao as an intangible cultural heritage. With a history of 85 years of formation and development, Vovinam has now grown widely in more than 70 countries and territories around the world, attracting millions of people to practice.
The story of the development of this martial art in Algeria shows a strange pervasiveness. Although it has only officially appeared in Algeria more than 20 years since the first Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao club was established in 2001 in Hydra district, capital Algiers, to this day the traditional martial art of the Vietnamese people has truly spread and has a strong vitality in the remote land of North Africa.
The quintessence of Asian martial arts along with the great techniques of the Vivonam sect, crystallized from traditional martial arts typical of the Vietnamese people, have soon attracted the attention and passion for following and practicing numerous students in this African country.
Many people initially come to Vovinam by chance, to satisfy their curiosity or out of admiration for a people who have many similarities with Algeria and have defeated colonial and imperialist armies in history of its struggle for independence. But after that, they loved and stuck with Vovinam. Nowadays, it is not difficult to find martial artists who have practiced this martial art for nearly 20 years in clubs here.
Strange fate
The person who was instrumental in bringing Vovinam to Algeria and creating the prosperous development it is today is martial arts master Mohamed Djouadj.
As he shared, his first Vovinam class at Hydra in 2001 had only 41 students. Over time, with his efforts, he has now helped Vietnamese martial arts be present in many places in Algeria as well as develop in many other African countries. Master Djouadj is also currently President of the Algerian Vovinam Federation, President of the African Vovinam Federation and Vice President of the World Vovinam Federation.
Today, Algeria has about 30,000 students studying Vovinam and almost all provinces and cities have at least one fairly active Vovinam club.
Algeria currently has a total of 339 Vivonam clubs located everywhere in 37/58 provinces and cities across the country, becoming one of the countries with the largest number of martial arts students, only after Vietnam.
The Vovinam martial arts movement is increasingly expanding and developing widely in this country, truly becoming a cultural bridge to help strengthen mutual understanding between the two peoples of country.
A practice session of Vovinam martial artists at the club belonging to the headquarters of the Algerian Vovinam Federation in the capital Algiers. (Photo: Trung Khanh/TTXVN)
Through Vovinam, people who love Vietnam and Algeria have a deeper insight into Vietnamese culture, history, and people. Because, when practice this martial art, students also need to learn about the history, culture and people of Vietnam.
At the traditional room of the Algerian Vovinam Federation, besides achievements such as medals, flags, and trophies of large and small tournaments, there is also a corner devoted to introducing books and newspapers about Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh.
Telling for Vovinam story, Master Djouadj shared that he started coming to Vietnamese martial arts in 1985 when practicing Son Long Pugilism at a club in El Harrach district, capital Algiers. But then he switched to learning about Vovinam – Viet Vo Dao.
In 2001, he had the opportunity to directly contact the president of the World Vovinam Federation, master Tran Nguyen Dao, who was then in France. After this connection, master Tran Nguyen Dao sent French master Daniel Bloume to Algeria in September 2001 to train martial arts students.
Master Djouadj recalled: “In 2002, we participated in the Vovinam World Championship in Paris (France) for the first time and achieved one Gold medal and two Bronze medals. Since then, I began to develop Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao in Algeria. As a result, up to now, Vovinam has been present in nearly 40 provinces and cities across Algeria, with over 30,000 martial artists participating in the practice.”
The Algerian Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao Federation (AVVF) under the Algerian Ministry of Youth and Sports was officially established in March 2007 and became a member of the World Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao Federation in 2011.
Since then, many Vietnamese martial arts masters have been sent to train for Algeria, among them is master Nguyen Van Chieu – Chief Administrator of the Vovinam Martial Arts Master Council.
AVVF aims to develop Vovinam in all 58 provinces and cities of Algeria by 2030. Currently, this organization is actively working and contacting many representatives and owners of sports and martial arts clubs nationwide to open new clubs and spread the word about Vovinam more widely. Most recently, Vovinam has also reached out to the remote provinces of southern Algeria and the Sahara desert, with six clubs starting to operate in the provinces of Djanet and Tamarasset. In addition, AVVF also signed an agreement with the Algerian School Sports Federation to promote the introduction and development of Vovinam in schools as well as aim to organize official tournaments in the university environment in Algeria. AVVF has also actively prepared the national team to attend the 7th Vovinam World Championship taking place in November 2023 in Vietnam. AVVF has also actively prepared the national team to attend the 7th Vovinam World Championship taking place in November 2023 in Vietnam.
Algeria has just hosted the 4th Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao Africa Cup in November 2022. (Photo: Trung Khanh/TTXVN)
The Vovinam attraction
Vovinam – Viet Vo Dao clubs increasingly attract a large number of Algerian youth. Many young Algerian athletes say that this sport attracts them because of its flexibility and strength in both movement and spirit.
When asked why she chose to practice Vovinam, Ms. Bohra Sonia, who has practiced this martial art for 18 years, said: “Technique is the reason and motivation that brought me to this martial art. Vovinam helps me defend myself when attacked. This martial art also gives me the opportunity to meet many people. Master Mohamed Djouadj has helped, motivated, and imparted a lot of experience so that I can achieve my current Yellow Belt 3st level. I competed in and placed first in national tournaments in Algeria, the African region, and placed second in my weight class at the 2013 World Championships in Algeria. This result is the motivation for me to continue practicing and develop myself more in the future.”
The Vovinam National Championship in Algeria is held every year, attracting the participation of nearly 5,000 athletes, and has also become one of the largest-scale activities in the Vovinam movement system worldwide. With the development of training movements as well as the continuous organization and participation in international tournaments, the level of Vovinam Algerian athletes is currently considered to be quite superior to athletes from other African countries have practice this martial art.
Not only does it attract the interest and passion of martial arts fans, but Vovinam in Algeria also attracts special attention from the media and press. All Vovinam tournaments in Algeria are reported and reported live by major press agencies and television stations in the country every time they take place, attracting tens of millions of people to watch and enjoy.
From its initial roots, up to now, Vovinam has been present in 12 African countries and is achieving very strong developments, especially since the Vovinam Africa Federation was established in 2012. The African Championship was also held that same year with the initial participation of six African countries. After that, many other international and regional tournaments were held in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Burkina Faso and Algeria.
The development of Vovinam in Algeria in particular and Africa in general has proven the vitality of this martial art thanks to its compatibility and admiration for Vietnam’s struggle for independence. With that development, Vovinam has proven that this martial art can truly become an effective way for us to introduce and promote Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity to friends in five continents, four seas.
Source: TTXVN/Vietnam+
Bài viết này thật thú vị khi nói về sự phát triển mạnh mẽ của Vovinam tại Algeria. Sự kết hợp giữa văn hóa và võ thuật đã thu hút nhiều người tham gia và yêu thích bộ môn này. Đây là một ví dụ điển hình về cách võ thuật có thể vượt qua biên giới quốc gia. Cảm ơn Telkom University Jakarta đã chia sẻ thông tin hữu ích này. Regard Telkom University Jakarta.