Vovinam_Vietvodao
White Belt
Vovinam
Jump to: Vovinam is a Vietnamese martial art.
Vovinam is practiced with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of harmony between hard and soft. It includes training of the body as well as the mind. It uses force and reaction of the opponent.
Vo (Võ): "Martial Arts". Vinam stands for "Vietnam"
//
General
Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao is a martial art designed for self defence, health and personal development.
Vovinam includes hand- and elbow techniques, kicks, throws, escape- and levering techniques. Both attack and defense techniques are trained, just as foot techniques, forms (Quyen, Song Luyen), combat and traditional wrestling ("Vat").
The wide range of techniques include punching, kicking etc. as well as Quyens ("Katas", "Forms"), wrestling, sword, Con staff (not the Chinese "Gun" staff), axe, (folding-)fan and others.
Self defense techniques cover defense against weaponless attacks like choking from behind or grabbing and against attacks with knife or sword.
Advanced students learn to combine the techniques and learn to defend himself/herself against armed opponents. Instructors train traditional weapons like the long stick, short stick, knife, sword and sabre. Thereby the weapons serve as training devices for reaching optimal body control. Outermost concentration is nescessary.
Hard and Soft
The Yin & Yang-Theory (Vietnamese: "Âm-Dương") states that everything in the universe and on earth is initiated through the interrelation of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive). As to this theory there are martial arts that prefer the hard over the soft and others that prefer the soft over the hard. Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao does not prefer any over the other. Hard and Soft are used equally to adapt to every situation, to every problem.
Based on Võ-Thuat the student will develop the ability to combine hard and soft at the right relation, in combat and in daily life. This will develop both physical abilities as well as the student's spirit.
Not only the principle of the harmony of hard & soft but also many other things resulting from the training contribute to internalizing the martial art philosophy, e.g. fighting spirit, courage, tenacity, fairness, modesty and tolerance. Above all the training morality and the way of applying the techniques shape the students's character.
The greatest difficulty is to see through ones own ego and then to overcome it. On success in doing so the Vovinam student will gain generosity and tolerance with other people. With the awareness that the most important thing in life of a human are other humans the final goal is to be able to not only help oneself but also to help others to live in peace and harmony with ones surrounding.
With the salutation, "the strong hand on a benevolent heart" the student is reminded about the main principle and about the goal of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao with every training. It is also about using the opponent's force and reaction, hence reach maximum effect with little force/effort.
Logo
The form of the yellow Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao logo is composed from a rectangle and a circle, angular at the top, round at the bottom. This form symbolizes the perfection of the true, the good and the beautiful.
The logo is framed in a marine blue color. The red text "Vovinam" is written above the marine blue "Viêt Võ Dao". Its pointing letters show the way to the destination. Underneath lie the two poles Yin (red) and Yang (marine blue).
In the middle of the two poles the yellow map of Vietnam can be found. The symbol of Yin and Yang is framed by a thick, white circle, symbolizing the being of the Dao, with the mission to mediate in between Yin and Yang, to subdue the two, to enable life of all beings.
History
Founder of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao is grandmaster Nguyen Loc.
In his younger years he was training traditional, Vietnamese martial arts. At that time Vietnam had to endure 50 years of French colonialisation. To his belief a strong nation could only arise if its youth was trained - a strong body, a clear mind, and a "pure" soul. He was determined to make changes.
He began studying various martial arts. He read books about history, arts, health, philosophy and religion. He united all his experiences in a new martial art and philosophy. It was so far patriotically influenced as it was made by a Vietnamese for Vietnamese people. The variety of the sources is refelcted in the variety of the techniques.
Vovinam spread the world by Vietnamese emigrating from Vietnam mostly over France.
After Nguyen Loc's death grandmaster Le Sang signed worldwide responsible for the further development and the worldwide distribution of Vovinam.
The 10 principles of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao [The Principles vary between other Vovinam martial arts.]
The belt system, the suit and the colors
Uniforms
From 1938-1964, there was no official uniforms. In 1964, the first Council of Masters was gathered to codify Vovinam. The color Blue was adopted as the official color for Vovinam uniforms.
A separate development of the "Việt Võ Đạo Federation" in 1973 until 1990 the uniforms' color was black.
Summer 1990 the Vovinam Masters met. This meeting had the goal to create a structured organization for Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo outside Vietnam. One of the decisions was that the suit in Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo are now to be blue worldwide.
Belts
The adult begins with a light blue belt - the same color as his/her suit.
He then is a "Võ Sinh", a student aspirant.
All students begin with a Light Blue Belt. The old school Vovinam had two navy blue stripes before getting the Navy Blue Belt. But recently, some Vovinam schools have changed under the direction of Grandmaster Le Sang and do not have a Light Blue Belt 1 stripe, or two.
Following the light blue is the dark blue belt. Then he/she is a "Mon Sinh", a student.
Blue stands for the factor of the sea, and the hope - the hope in being successful in learning Vovinam.
With the following 3 exams yellow stripes are added to the blue belt. The 3rd yellow stripe is followed by the yellow belt. The student has reached the instructor's level.
Yellow is the Asians' skin color. It symbolically stands for the skin color of all people. It symbolizes the "skin deep" internalization of the martial art and the philosophy.
In other martial arts this belt is black. Therefore a Vovinam student who carries a yellow belt is allowed to carry a black belt. This makes a comparison to other martial arts easier, eg. in public performances. A person who wears a yellow belt with one or more stripes is considered assistant master or instructor.
Following in larger time steps 1, 2, respectively 3 red stripes are added to the yellow belt. This corresponds to the 1st, 2nd, respectively 3rd Dang (Dan).
The exam following the 3rd red stripe is the master's exam. Passing the exam successfully assigns the right to wear a red belt with a circulating yellow border.
Red stands for the blood and the intensive flame. The student has internalized Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao even further.
The 5th to 10th Dang are shown as a completed red belt with 1 to 6 white stripes.
White stands for the infiniteness, the bones; is the symbol of the depth of the spirit. The white belt assigns the master the absolute mastery of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao.
On the white belt thin, lengthwise stripes in blue, yellow and red symbolize the whole of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao again. This belt is reserved for the "Patriarch". 2005 this is Granmaster Le Sang
Name Plates
With every change of belt color the name plate color changes. Blue belt students start off with yellow text on blue name plates. With the yellow belt the name plate changes to red text on yellow ground. The red belt comes along with white text on a red name plate. The patriarch carries red text on a white name plate. Thin, colored lines in blue, yellow and red are shown on the upper and lower borders of this white name plate.
Specialties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gesprungene_beinschere_vovinam.jpg
Flying scissors to the neck. The opponent is forced to the ground with a twist of the body.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gesprungene_beinschere_vovinam.jpg
Vovinam has some unique techniques:
Jump to: Vovinam is a Vietnamese martial art.
Vovinam is practiced with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of harmony between hard and soft. It includes training of the body as well as the mind. It uses force and reaction of the opponent.
Vo (Võ): "Martial Arts". Vinam stands for "Vietnam"
//
General
Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao is a martial art designed for self defence, health and personal development.
Vovinam includes hand- and elbow techniques, kicks, throws, escape- and levering techniques. Both attack and defense techniques are trained, just as foot techniques, forms (Quyen, Song Luyen), combat and traditional wrestling ("Vat").
The wide range of techniques include punching, kicking etc. as well as Quyens ("Katas", "Forms"), wrestling, sword, Con staff (not the Chinese "Gun" staff), axe, (folding-)fan and others.
Self defense techniques cover defense against weaponless attacks like choking from behind or grabbing and against attacks with knife or sword.
Advanced students learn to combine the techniques and learn to defend himself/herself against armed opponents. Instructors train traditional weapons like the long stick, short stick, knife, sword and sabre. Thereby the weapons serve as training devices for reaching optimal body control. Outermost concentration is nescessary.
Hard and Soft
The Yin & Yang-Theory (Vietnamese: "Âm-Dương") states that everything in the universe and on earth is initiated through the interrelation of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive). As to this theory there are martial arts that prefer the hard over the soft and others that prefer the soft over the hard. Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao does not prefer any over the other. Hard and Soft are used equally to adapt to every situation, to every problem.
Based on Võ-Thuat the student will develop the ability to combine hard and soft at the right relation, in combat and in daily life. This will develop both physical abilities as well as the student's spirit.
Not only the principle of the harmony of hard & soft but also many other things resulting from the training contribute to internalizing the martial art philosophy, e.g. fighting spirit, courage, tenacity, fairness, modesty and tolerance. Above all the training morality and the way of applying the techniques shape the students's character.
The greatest difficulty is to see through ones own ego and then to overcome it. On success in doing so the Vovinam student will gain generosity and tolerance with other people. With the awareness that the most important thing in life of a human are other humans the final goal is to be able to not only help oneself but also to help others to live in peace and harmony with ones surrounding.
With the salutation, "the strong hand on a benevolent heart" the student is reminded about the main principle and about the goal of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao with every training. It is also about using the opponent's force and reaction, hence reach maximum effect with little force/effort.
Logo
The form of the yellow Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao logo is composed from a rectangle and a circle, angular at the top, round at the bottom. This form symbolizes the perfection of the true, the good and the beautiful.
The logo is framed in a marine blue color. The red text "Vovinam" is written above the marine blue "Viêt Võ Dao". Its pointing letters show the way to the destination. Underneath lie the two poles Yin (red) and Yang (marine blue).
In the middle of the two poles the yellow map of Vietnam can be found. The symbol of Yin and Yang is framed by a thick, white circle, symbolizing the being of the Dao, with the mission to mediate in between Yin and Yang, to subdue the two, to enable life of all beings.
History
Founder of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao is grandmaster Nguyen Loc.
In his younger years he was training traditional, Vietnamese martial arts. At that time Vietnam had to endure 50 years of French colonialisation. To his belief a strong nation could only arise if its youth was trained - a strong body, a clear mind, and a "pure" soul. He was determined to make changes.
He began studying various martial arts. He read books about history, arts, health, philosophy and religion. He united all his experiences in a new martial art and philosophy. It was so far patriotically influenced as it was made by a Vietnamese for Vietnamese people. The variety of the sources is refelcted in the variety of the techniques.
Vovinam spread the world by Vietnamese emigrating from Vietnam mostly over France.
After Nguyen Loc's death grandmaster Le Sang signed worldwide responsible for the further development and the worldwide distribution of Vovinam.
The 10 principles of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao [The Principles vary between other Vovinam martial arts.]
- Vovinam's disciples promise to attain higher level of martial art in order to serve the people and humanity.
- Promise to be faithful with Vovinam and develop the young generation of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao
- Be unanimous in spirit and heart, respect the elder, love fellow peers.
- Respect discipline absolutely, maintain the higher honour of a martial art disciple.
- Have respect for other martial art schools, only use martial art skills for self defense and protect justice.
- Be studious, strengthen the mind, enrich the thought & behavior.
- Live simple, with chaste, loyalty and high mind.
- Build up a spirit of steely determination and vigor, overcome powers of violence.
- Make intelligent judgments, carry out struggles with perseverance and act with alertness.
- Be self-confident, self-controlled, modest, generous, critical with self for fur
The belt system, the suit and the colors
Uniforms
From 1938-1964, there was no official uniforms. In 1964, the first Council of Masters was gathered to codify Vovinam. The color Blue was adopted as the official color for Vovinam uniforms.
A separate development of the "Việt Võ Đạo Federation" in 1973 until 1990 the uniforms' color was black.
Summer 1990 the Vovinam Masters met. This meeting had the goal to create a structured organization for Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo outside Vietnam. One of the decisions was that the suit in Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo are now to be blue worldwide.
Belts
The adult begins with a light blue belt - the same color as his/her suit.
He then is a "Võ Sinh", a student aspirant.
All students begin with a Light Blue Belt. The old school Vovinam had two navy blue stripes before getting the Navy Blue Belt. But recently, some Vovinam schools have changed under the direction of Grandmaster Le Sang and do not have a Light Blue Belt 1 stripe, or two.
Following the light blue is the dark blue belt. Then he/she is a "Mon Sinh", a student.
Blue stands for the factor of the sea, and the hope - the hope in being successful in learning Vovinam.
With the following 3 exams yellow stripes are added to the blue belt. The 3rd yellow stripe is followed by the yellow belt. The student has reached the instructor's level.
Yellow is the Asians' skin color. It symbolically stands for the skin color of all people. It symbolizes the "skin deep" internalization of the martial art and the philosophy.
In other martial arts this belt is black. Therefore a Vovinam student who carries a yellow belt is allowed to carry a black belt. This makes a comparison to other martial arts easier, eg. in public performances. A person who wears a yellow belt with one or more stripes is considered assistant master or instructor.
Following in larger time steps 1, 2, respectively 3 red stripes are added to the yellow belt. This corresponds to the 1st, 2nd, respectively 3rd Dang (Dan).
The exam following the 3rd red stripe is the master's exam. Passing the exam successfully assigns the right to wear a red belt with a circulating yellow border.
Red stands for the blood and the intensive flame. The student has internalized Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao even further.
The 5th to 10th Dang are shown as a completed red belt with 1 to 6 white stripes.
White stands for the infiniteness, the bones; is the symbol of the depth of the spirit. The white belt assigns the master the absolute mastery of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao.
On the white belt thin, lengthwise stripes in blue, yellow and red symbolize the whole of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao again. This belt is reserved for the "Patriarch". 2005 this is Granmaster Le Sang
Name Plates
With every change of belt color the name plate color changes. Blue belt students start off with yellow text on blue name plates. With the yellow belt the name plate changes to red text on yellow ground. The red belt comes along with white text on a red name plate. The patriarch carries red text on a white name plate. Thin, colored lines in blue, yellow and red are shown on the upper and lower borders of this white name plate.
Specialties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gesprungene_beinschere_vovinam.jpg
Flying scissors to the neck. The opponent is forced to the ground with a twist of the body.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gesprungene_beinschere_vovinam.jpg
Vovinam has some unique techniques:
- "Don Chan": A specialised group of leg grapling techniques that are designed to grab the opponent by the feet or legs and take them down using twisting motions. Very spectacular looking in demonstrations, usable as a very surprising attack in a fight.
- "Dam Lao": A fist swung to eg. the temple.
- "Da Canh": A diagonally applied kick.
