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VovinamVovinam is a Vietnamese martial art founded by the late Grand Master Loc Nguyen. As a young boy, Mr. Nguyen was trained with traditional Vietnamese martial arts, specifically the northern style (which is well known for wrestling and weapons). Mr. Loc grew up in a country exploited by fifty years of French colonists; fueled by woeful stories that appear each day, he was determined to make changes. Young individuals of his time were either with the Revolution or fooled by the colonists with "degrading" hobbies, (opium, prostitution, etc.), that they had introduced through the introduction of sports. He realized that the only way to grow a strong nation was to train its youth to develop a strong body, a clear mind, and a "pure" soul. He started out by studying various martial arts- (most notably Tay Son - the central style that is renounced for sparring and staff, Shaolin Kung Fu, and other styles that include Taekwondo, Karate, Judo, Boxing, Muya Thai, and western Wrestling). He also read numerous books on health, history, philosophy, literature, and religions (Buddhism, Christian, Judaism, etc.) He fused all of his studies to create a philosophical martial art that was Viet to promote patriotism; it was true Viet in the sense that it was created by a Viet to fit the Viet body and mind. Because of his extensive research, Vovinam is well developed and wide in style (fighting that resemble Tay Son and Jeet Kun Do, wrestling that fuse traditional Vietnamese art with Judo and western style, police handlocks similar to traditional Viet and Aikido, etc.) From his readings, he created a martial art and philosophy that embrace extremitism and pacifism - the recognition of Yin and Yang and of the third element called Dao that is the middle road. One of the most important aspects of Vovinam is structure one to three development - single techniques branch to dual trainings to forms or katas - making it easy for students to follow through training. Many however will argue that the Founder's death will is most important; upon his death he directed his follower to continue his work which can only be improved, not perfected - i.e. Vovinam followers must constantly strive to better his study and improve Vovinam itself. Vovinam students today pride themselves in the variety of styles Vovinam offer along with exceptional philosophy and the self improving spirit that result in the major 75 reform or the "oversea" reform - when large number of foreign student acquired; see Vietnam War for more historical relation. External links
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