Viet Vo Dao
by an Italian martial artist

The expression Viet Vo Dao means “The way to reach the psycho-physical balance through Martial Art according to the Vietnamese ideal”. In fact Viet Vo Dao, which is the main Martial Art practiced in Viet Nam, has a very long tradition and it dates back to about 5,000 years ago, when the men under the Empire of Hung Vuong I (which is considered the Viet Vo Dao founder) carved on caves walls the first Viet Vo Dao weapon and bare hand techniques. After thousands of years of development, Viet Vo Dao has become very popular as a Martial Art which was used just to defend the Vietnamese people from Chinese and French invasions who aimed to destroy the Vietnamese culture and the whole Viet Vo Dao tradition. Anyway, even if a lot of techniques were lost during these colonialism years, this Martial Art was been practiced secretly, and that is why nowadays the techniques we learn are very close to those which were elaborated in the very far past.

“The Vovinam Viet Vo Dao Italia Union” was born in the ‘90s and aims to spread the ideals and the fighting techniques of Vovinam, which is a particular style of this Martial Art. I have practiced it for nearly three and a half years, and my dream would be to teach Viet Vo Dao. I first decided to start this “adventure” because I have always been a keen admirer of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, and although I have practiced it for over three years, my aim would be to teach Viet Vo Dao. Currently I have two stripes on my belt I wear during my trainings; that may correspond to the blue belt in Karate’s connotation.

I know I have to work hard and commit myself very strongly in order to increase my level so that I become a good practitioner (Viet Vo Dao Sinh), but I’m not scared of challenges. On the contrary, I am ready to climb all the hurdles that are on my way, the way to the Vietnamese psycho-physical balance.

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