A spectacular foot attack by young athlete Duong Van Quoc
15-year journey
Against many traditional martial arts, Vovinam - Việt võ đạo (Viet Martial Art) – was at a very young age. In 1938, on the basis of wrestling, traditional martial arts and inheritance of the quintessence of martial arts worldwide, master Nguyen Loc created Vovinam sect in Hanoi.
When master Nguyen Loc passed away, his true disciple, master Le Sang succeeded and developed Vovinam in the South. Vovinam has bit by bit become a martial art enjoying the world popularity.
In Thua Thien Hue, it was not until 2007 that Vovinam came into being. The story of Vovinam in Hue land goes hand in hand with the name Le Ba Thuong.
Born in 1981, he stays quite young. Craving for martial arts, Thuong has studied martial arts since 7th grade. In 2003, he passed the martial art major at Hong Bang University; fate brought Thuong to Vovinam. Graduating after four years of absorption in each martial art pose, kata, Thuong decided to bring Vovinam back to Hue. It is said that at first, when recruiting students to open classes, Thuong and his students had to bike as far as alleys to hang posters and hand out leaflets.
In its inception, Vovinam in Thua Thien Hue had only 2 coaches and 50 students. In 2017, with the strong growth in quality, quantity and movement, Thua Thien Hue Vovinam Association was officially established by the Provincial People's Committee.
Thua Thien Hue Vovinam Association, currently a member of Vietnam Vovinam Federation, has developed widely with 16 clubs in 5 districts, towns and city in the province. It has a contingent of human resources including 1 martial art master, more than 50 coaches, guides and more than 1,000 students.
An admirable collection
From only joining in the intermediate - level promotion examinations in Central region - Central Highlands in 2007 - 2018, 2019 - 2020, Thua Thien Hue Vovinam Association hosted Thua Thien Hue intermediate-level promotion examinations.
Despite its young age, Vovinam Thua Thien Hue has an admirable collection of medals. From 2010 to 2019, Vovinam Thua Thien Hue won 2 golds, 8 silvers and 42 bronzes at the national and regional tournaments.
At the National Youth Vovinam Championship 2020, Thua Thien Vovinam had 7 entrants and won 1 gold and 1 bronze. At Vovinam National Youth Championship 2022, Vovinam Thua Thien had 10 entrants, earning 1 silver and 4 bronzes.
4 typical faces for Vovinam Thua Thien Hue expected to reap many high achievements
The top task of Thua Thien Hue Vovinam Association is to build and train a force of athletes in preparation for the national tournaments. Master Le Ba Thuong, Chairman of Vovinam (Viet Vo Dao) Association of Thua Thien Hue Province, proudly introduced the current outstanding faces of Thua Thien Hue Vovinam.
Specifically, Ho Dac Minh Khanh, the best provincial athlete, has just won 2 golds at the Provincial Physical Training and Sports (PTAS) Festival; Nguyen Bui Nhu Huy has just won 2 golds at the provincial level and 1 silver at the national level; Duong Van Quoc won two golds at the Provincial PTAS Festival and 1 silver at the National Youth Championship.
According to Mr. Thuong, Nguyen Bui Nhu Huy, Duong Van Quoc, Huynh Ba Thanh Dat and Do Thanh Tam are 4 typical faces of the province, who are training-oriented, expected to reap more achievements for Vovinam Thua Thien Hue in the future. These 4 athletes have just won the National Silver Medals...
Image built
Recently, during a meeting, Mr. Le Ba Thuong informed me that for the first time Vovinam will be incorporated into the program of the Provincial PTAS Festival, and also at this festival, 430 Vovinam students are invited to give performance at the opening ceremony.
Now Hue people can be proud of Vovinam. Aside from the achievements, the local widespread popularity with the birth of martial arts clubs and classes, the special attention from the society is turned to this martial art.
Since its birth, Thua Thien Hue Vovinam Association has joined in the promotion of Vovinam's image through performances organized by localities, agencies and mass organizations.
Worth mentioning is that Thua Thien Hue Vovinam Association had the right direction upon its coordination with the Department of Tourism and the tourism, travel companies to develop the project on the tour for sightseeing, performing, and experiencing Vovinam themed Vietnamese Martial Art - Vietnamese Culture for domestic and foreign tourists on demand during their visit to Thua Thien Hue.
In the long run, Vovinam is incorporated into schools and becomes an optional physical education subject at schools across the province in order to create the resources of athletes at all levels. It is a direction to encourage and scale up.
Story and photos: Ba Tri