Int’l Vovinam leaders to meet in HCMC

The World Vovinam Federation (WVVF) Steering Committee has announced that it will hold a meeting with international representatives of the sport on Thursday July 28 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Chairman Nguyen Danh Thai, also chairman of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, will chair the meeting and report on the federation’s activities in the 2009-2010 period, and its plans for the 2011-2012 period.

WVVF standing vice chairman Le Quoc An will also conduct a discussion and get suggestions from participants.

Nguyen Van Chieu, WVVF vice chairman in charge of technical issues, and Dang Thanh Tam, the federation’s vice chairman in charge of finance, will also give presentations on developments in their fields.

Vovinam representatives from around the world will also report on the development of the sport in their respective regions.

International representatives set to present include the European Vovinam Federation representative Yves Bui Xuan (from France), the Asian Vovinam Federation representative Mohammad Nouhi (from Iran), and the Southeast Asian Vovinam Federation representative Rat Sokhorn (from Cambodia).

Additionally, a representative from the 26th South East Asian Games will present information about the event in Indonesia in November. The chairman of the Indian Vovinam Federation will also report on preperations for the 2012 South Asian Games.

Organizers at the meeting will also decide on measures to improve WVVF while making plans for the 3rd World Vovinam Championships in France in 2013. The meeting will also award official WVVF membership certificates to the vovinam federations of Laos, Algeria, Germany and Britain.

VOVINAM GROWING RAPIDLY ON INT’L STAGE

The Vietnamese martial art of Vovinam is growing rapidly around the world and has been included at several recent international events.

When Vietnamese sports began to reintegrate in the region and the world in the early 1990s, Vietnamese martial artists made great efforts to introduce Vovinam to Europe.

Vietnamese expatriates interested in the country’s traditional arts opened training centers and schools to popularize Vovinam in such European countries as France, Italy, Germany and Poland.

From Europe, Vovinam then spread across the Asia Pacific region to countries like Iran, Cambodia, India, Thailand and Australia.

Vovinam developed more and more rapidly and the people in charge decided to establish the World Vovinam Federation (WVVF) in 2009; and the first World Vovinam Championships were held in Vietnam the same year.

The Asian World Vovinam Federation, the European Vovinam Federation, the South East Asian Vovinam Federation were then established. Plans to establish an African Vovinam Federation have also been put into motion.

Over the past few days, more than 300 Vovinam competitors and officials from 22 countries and territories have come to Ho Chi Minh City for the second World Vovinam Championships from July 27-31.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) agreed to include Vovinam in the Asian Indoor Games 3 in 2009 in Vietnam and the 26th South East Asian Games in Indonesia this November.