Vovinam and 15-year journey in the land of Steel

The first person to bring Vovinam to the land of Steel was teacher Vo Xuan Thuy, currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Vovinam Federation and Head of the Vovinam Department of Thai Nguyen Province. He came to Vovinam by chance. In 2010, while working at Thai Nguyen University of Education, he was selected by the school to train this martial art to "nurture" the province.

Luckily, he met Mr. Pham Quang Long, Vice President of the Hanoi Vovinam Federation. Mr. Thuy was able to study and was introduced to the Thai Nguyen Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop this martial art in his home province.

Teacher Vo Xuan Thuy recalls: When the class first opened, because this was a completely new and unfamiliar martial art, it did not attract many practitioners. Training conditions at that time were also difficult, and the opening day of the class only had a simple practice floor. So I thought the most important thing first was to instill passion in the students.

From that thought, Mr. Thuy devoted all his enthusiasm and passion to pass on the "fire" to the first students. Not only teaching them martial arts, but also imparting will, morality, and ideals to the martial artists. From that class, the first "seeds" were nurtured, and more and more people shared the same passion as him, leading the development of the Vovinam martial arts movement with him.

Recognizing the potential and value of Vovinam, in 2011, the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province allowed the establishment of the Provincial Martial Arts Federation. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has developed a plan to expand Vovinam classes in schools and localities.

Initially, the movement attracted 700 martial artists with 11 regularly operating clubs. Names such as Vovinam Club of the University of Education, University of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Information Technology and Communications have become the highlights of the movement.

​Attending the Vovinam Club training sessions at some universities such as: Pedagogy, Information Technology and Communication (Thai Nguyen University), we saw that there was no distance between teachers and students, no distinction of age, high or low, only a common passion for Vietnamese martial arts. Perhaps that is why the training atmosphere is always cheerful, exciting, showing solidarity, attachment, and martial spirit.

During the training session, the coaches are always dedicated and enthusiastic in teaching the martial arts, meticulously correcting each movement for the students. The special thing is that this class is completely free, the coaches come here every day to teach martial arts without collecting a single penny, but only with passion and desire to spread more widely the martial art with the soul of Vietnam to many people.

Mr. Truong Van Canh is a person who is very dedicated to the development of Vovinam in Thai Nguyen, with 7 years of teaching this martial art for free to students. He said: Since I was a junior high school boy, my uncle took me to the Vovinam Club of Son Cam 2 Secondary School, I have admired the martial artists in the green uniforms that exuded strength. So I signed up to participate, the more I practiced, the more I loved this martial art.

When practicing Vovinam, a martial art imbued with Vietnamese national identity, students not only train their physical strength but also must adhere to strict requirements regarding discipline, spirit and ethics.

Also passionate about the martial art that carries the Vietnamese soul, Mr. Vy Van Duy has been teaching Vovinam for nearly 10 years at the University of Education (Thai Nguyen University). Over the years, he has not only been a coach but also a guide, a motivator and a dreamer for many generations of students.

Besides Mr. Canh and Mr. Duy, there are many other dedicated coaches who have contributed a lot to the development of Vovinam in Thai Nguyen. They have quietly cultivated the "seeds" of enthusiasm for the martial arts training movement.

As a result, in Thai Nguyen, there are currently 8 universities with martial arts clubs with nearly 1,000 students participating in Vovinam training completely free of charge. In addition, many schools in the province have introduced Vovinam into physical education for students.

Vovinam has developed not through loud campaigns, but through each simple practice session. The free classes, without advertising, are still regularly lit up every afternoon, attracting students, university students, and even former professional competitors. Students are of all ages, from university students to high school students, from skinny children just growing up to faces who have fought on large and small arenas.

Recently, at FPT Polytechnic College - Thai Nguyen campus, the first Vovinam "Hao khi vo Viet" Open Tournament took place in 2025. The tournament gathered nearly 300 athletes from 14 units inside and outside the province, of many ages from elementary school to college and university. Athletes competed in the following events: Individual, team, martial arts and combat.

The matches not only brought beautiful performances but also spread the spirit of solidarity, resilience and desire to overcome challenges of the athletes in accordance with the spirit of martial arts.

In addition to the “Heroic Spirit of Vietnamese Martial Arts” tournament, the Vovinam community also regularly organizes tournaments and exchanges between clubs to create friction, exchange, and learn from each other. Mr. Nguyen Van Son, a teacher at Nam Hoa Primary School No. 2, said: I was conquered by Vovinam because unlike many martial arts that only focus on one direction, Vovinam is comprehensive, helping learners develop evenly physical strength, speed, fighting skills, and self-defense.

The slogan “Learn martial arts to train your body – train your mind – help others” clearly shows the humanistic philosophy in Vovinam, which is something that not only Mr. Son but all Vovinam students love. Students practice speed, flexibility, good reflexes and overall body strength, and are trained in ethics, perseverance, humility and a spirit of service to the community – something that not all martial arts emphasize.

Thanks to the dedication of the coaching team, after 15 years of building and developing, from a "seedling" that was nurtured, Vovinam has now grown strongly in Thai Nguyen, with over 80 clubs, attracting thousands of people, mainly students to participate.

The green color of Vovinam uniforms covers the whole area, becoming a green "forest". This development does not stop at quantity but also at quality, when martial artists regularly participate in provincial and national tournaments, bringing home many proud achievements.

Not only limited to training, Vovinam is also included in competitions and performances. Currently, this martial art is present in many health festivals, tournaments, and high-performance sports competitions. Training grounds are now not only limited to university campuses, but have spread to districts, cities, and residential areas.

Vovinam has "taken root and blossomed", and has become an indispensable part of the cultural and sports life of many Thai Nguyen people, contributing to training the health, will and national spirit of the people of the Steel Land.

While preserving the quintessence of Vietnamese culture, Vovinam clubs have also contributed to promoting the land and people of Tra to all regions of the country.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/multimedia/emagazine/202505/vovinam-va-hanh-trinh-15-nam-tren-dat-thep-f6c0ec3/