Vovinam (short for Võ Việt Nam; literally meaning Vietnamese Martial Arts, or (越武道), meaning Vietnamese Way of Martial Arts) is a Vietnamese martial art, It was founded in 1938 by Nguyễn Lộc. It is based on traditional Vietnamese subjects and eclectic sources. Vovinam involves the use of the hands, elbows, legs, knees and weapons such as swords, knives, chisels, claws, fans. Students also learn how to deal with hand-held weapons, counter-attacks, lock-ups, and levers. Amongst Vietnamese martial arts, Vovinam is the largest and most developed in Vietnam with more than 60 schools around the world, including Poland, Belgium, Canada, Cambodia, Denmark, Germany, the United States, Morocco, Norway, Russia, France, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Italy, Australia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Spain, Algeria, Taiwan, Greece. The Chief of Vovinam Council now is Nguyễn Văn Chiếu. Vovinam is practiced with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of between hard and soft. It includes training of the body as well as the mind. It uses force and reaction of the opponent. Vovinam also includes hand, elbow, kicks, escape- and levering techniques. Both attack and defense techniques are trained, as well as forms, combat and traditional wrestling. The wide range of techniques include punching, kicking, forms, wrestling, sword, staff, axe, folding fan and others. Self-defense techniques cover defense against weaponless attacks like choking from behind and defense against attackers armed with knives or swords. Advanced students learn to combine the techniques and defend themselves against armed opponents. Instructors teach traditional weapons like the long stick, short stick, knife, sword and sabre. The weapons thus serve as training devices for reaching optimal control of body and mind. History Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo was founded as Vovinam by Nguyễn Lộc (1912 – 1960) in 1938, with the intent of providing practitioners with an efficient method of self-defense after a short period of study. Nguyễn believed martial arts would contribute to freeing Vietnam from colonial rule, which had been ruled by France since 1859, and from outside domination. Vovinam added elements of Chinese and Japanese systems onto traditional Vietnamese martial arts, systems, was thus created partially as a response to the French occupation, meant to promote a sense of national identity for the Vietnamese people. Hence, it is similar to taekwondo in that it is an eclectic system with combined elements of Japanese and Chinese martial arts onto an indigenous framework. After being invited