Vietnamese martial arts in the digital age

Digital transformation is an inevitable trend that spares no field, but implementing digital transformation in sports seems difficult to imagine. However, a national sport that seemed immune due to its traditional characteristics is undergoing a spectacular transformation.

The Vovinam training center is located in the small house of Mr. Bach Ngoc Chien.

That is Vovinam, a martial art undergoing a rapid digital transformation.

When I wondered what Vovinam had to do with digital transformation, I was truly surprised by the journey of Mr. Bach Ngoc Chien, Vice President of the Vietnam Vovinam Federation (VVF), Vice President of the World Vovinam Federation (WVVF), and his colleagues in bringing this national martial art into the digital world .

Step into the digital world.

Unable to find the Vovinam Digital Company sign according to Google Maps coordinates because it was a house under renovation in a small alley branching off Thanh Binh Street, Ha Dong Ward, Hanoi , I followed Mr. Chien into an even deeper alley.

Before me was a large martial arts training ground in front of a family church. It was lunchtime, so the training ground was empty, but I could still picture a traditional dojo with Vovinam students, drenched in sweat, practicing the unique forms, grappling techniques, and kicks of the martial art.

However, upon returning to a cramped space temporarily used as a living room, I found a Vovinam dojo many times larger. That dojo was projected onto a large screen from Mr. Chien's iPad.

There were no martial arts masters or students around, but after Mr. Chien's swift movements on the iPad, I was overwhelmed by a world of martial arts with a flurry of images of martial arts instruction and training, featuring both real and virtual masters, as well as automatic testing tools and short videos of self-defense scenarios.

To dispel my surprise and astonishment, Mr. Chien explained about a digital platform called Vovinam Digital that has been under development for over a year. He said that Vovinam Digital compiles a database of Vovinam practitioners worldwide by creating individual digital profiles.

After registration, Vovinam students will receive an electronic Vovinam ID containing all their personal information, training start date, belt rank, etc. The main goal of Vovinam Digital is to meet one of the criteria of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the popularity of the sport if it wants to become an Olympic Summer sport.

The Vovinam training center is located in the small house of Mr. Bach Ngoc Chien.

With this platform, Vovinam can provide accurate, official, and reliable data on the number of Vovinam practitioners worldwide, currently estimated at over 2 million in more than 70 countries and territories. For over a year, Mr. Chien and his colleagues have been diligently digitizing all the self-defense (beginner) techniques of Vovinam to serve the goal of developing the movement.

His ambition is to digitize all the technical movements and forms of Vovinam, from beginner to advanced levels, for training and archiving purposes.

Another goal, as he stated, is "to combat the loss of martial arts secrets, which is a problem for many traditional martial arts schools, including Vovinam." On this digital platform, Vovinam can store all its techniques to accurately pass them on to future generations. More importantly, it establishes a common standard for scoring in competitions or belt promotions.

And most interestingly, all Vovinam techniques have been passed down to a "super martial artist," whose mission is to preserve the Vovinam martial arts and philosophy for generations to come. That artist is an artificial intelligence (AI) known as "Virtual Master BamBoy."

Mr. Chien revealed: "I am doing things that Grandmaster Le Sang (1920-2010) directed to be done more than 20 years ago."

Preserving and spreading values

To date, Vovinam is one of the few Vietnamese cultural products that have successfully exported to the world. The World Vovinam Federation (WVVF) is currently the largest international organization of Vietnamese people, with 61 national member federations and three continental federations.

However, the biggest obstacle to the in-depth development of Vovinam is the shortage of martial arts masters and instructors, and the high cost of traveling to Vietnam to study the martial art for foreign students, especially those from Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Conversely, sending martial arts masters from Vietnam to teach abroad is also very costly and inconvenient. Therefore, the leaders of VVF and WVVF have viewed Vovinam Digital as an effective and economical solution for training Vovinam students overseas.

According to Mr. Chien, in addition to martial arts training, BamBoy also receives input on Vietnamese martial arts philosophy, culture, and ideology. With AI capabilities, BamBoy can convey martial arts and philosophy knowledge in many popular languages ​​around the world.

Mr. Chien quipped, "A martial arts master can get tired and only teach a few hundred students. But BamBoy works continuously, doesn't need to eat, and can teach as many students as he wants." "Is training BamBoy expensive?" I asked. Mr. Chien thought for a moment and then revealed, "Intellectual training for BamBoy isn't expensive. The problem is the time it takes to gather existing data and add new data. To teach BamBoy the full Vovinam techniques, I need to photograph and digitize tens of thousands of movements. This costs a lot of money and takes several years."

Besides BamBoy's application and a range of solutions such as the automated scoring system "Vovinam Seeing" for programs like "Online Learning - Live Training" for college and university students, "School Titans" for elementary school students, and "Vovinam Martial Arts Music" for teenagers, Mr. Chien also doesn't hide his ambition to make action films for platforms like Netflix or Prime Video.

Mr. Chien added that, in the near future, Vovinam Digital could generate revenue to support the development of Vovinam. VVF is a social organization, financially independent. Therefore, organizing major Vovinam events and tournaments relies on individual sponsorships.

He affirmed: "With the current resources, Vovinam can completely generate its own revenue, not only enough for operations but also enough for reinvestment and development. This is also something that the State allows and encourages."

However, Vovinam's digital transformation path has not been entirely smooth. The difficulties lie not in technology or finance, but in the hesitant mindset of some who fear that technology will replace their role.

In reality, no one practices martial arts solely through a screen. Direct sparring and real-life interaction remain the core of martial arts. Technology only plays a supporting role; it cannot replace humans. Therefore, instead of viewing technology as a threat, Mr. Chien believes that AI helps systematize, standardize, improve training effectiveness, and expand the reach of martial arts.

The Vovinam Digital project embodies a grand aspiration: to integrate Vietnamese martial arts into the global arena through intelligence, courage, and creativity. With its ongoing work, Vovinam Digital not only contributes to enhancing the status of the national martial art but also serves as a vivid testament to the harmonious blend of tradition and modernity, cultural identity and advanced technology.

And in the journey of developing the country towards modernization and integration while still preserving its roots, digital transformation in Vovinam can be seen as a model for the spirit of innovation and creativity deeply rooted in Vietnamese identity, so that one day, not far off, Vietnamese martial arts may appear at the Summer Olympic Games.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/vo-viet-nam-trong-thoi-dai-so-20250822093452111.htm