Vietnamese Martial Arts

[LoneRider]

Having read Dr. Haha Lung's Lost Fighting Arts of Vietnam (note: I am well aware of his dubious reputation in the MA community, hence this post), I have recently come away with a curiousity about Vietnamese fighting styles.

Just logically thinking I imagine some South Chinese Kung Fu styles (i.e. those emphasizing stable stances and emphasizing hand (fist and open hand strikes) as opposed to kicks like the Northern Chinese techniques) and Thai and Cambodian kickboxing, and even various blade fighting styles from the Philippines and Malaysia had their influences.

What sort of martial arts are unique to Vietnam?

 

[Carol]

Cuong Nhu was developed in Vietnam, and moved to the States shortly afterwards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuong_Nhu


Also Vovinam:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vovinam

 

[LoneRider]

Thanks Carol, I greatly appreciate it.

 

[blackdiamondcobra]

In vietnam,there is an enormous assortment of chinese martial arts both northern and southern, japanese martial arts, etc and they are greatly enjoyed. I was pretty amazed. It was odd though that there was little to no interest in any form of kickboxing( like muay thai, pradal serei variants)but they did have a bare knuckle art and i only found one old person who learned from this grandfather who said there was little to no interest remaining in it. They did have kickboxing because i was shown many old tapes of the matches by ex fighters and i even saw one vietnamese against a cambodian fight so they fought outside the country. So they had the three ancient forms of indigenous arts being bare knuckle, weapons and wrestling. Wrestling still survives and some masters of weapons. There are hybrid arts which were born in vietnam and thus vietnamese but many of them are modern like vovinam. There needs to be more investigative research within the country to say what exactly is still there and remains, some people have claimed that the bare knuckle didnt exist nor the kickboxing but it did clearly exist as the weapons and wrestling. Sometimes certain cultures dont enjoy certain sports as evident in vietnam with boxing and kickboxing forms(though they seemed to be well attended when they were popular), and likewise in Thailand with wrestling, it existed at one time but slowly eroded with key moves assimilated into the bare knuckle arsenal. My research and training was pretty tight in vietnam to what i was looking for so thats all i can report and help you with.

Here are some links to wrestling:

http://www.vietnam-beauty.com/vietnamese-culture/13-vietnam-culture-value/259-vietnamese-traditional-wrestling.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe_85Zg-Cdg

 

[fenglong]

In vietnam,there is an enormous assortment of chinese martial arts both northern and southern, japanese martial arts, etc and they are greatly enjoyed. I was pretty amazed. It was odd though that there was little to no interest in any form of kickboxing( like muay thai, pradal serei variants)but they did have a bare knuckle art and i only found one old person who learned from this grandfather who said there was little to no interest remaining in it. They did have kickboxing because i was shown many old tapes of the matches by ex fighters and i even saw one vietnamese against a cambodian fight so they fought outside the country. So they had the three ancient forms of indigenous arts being bare knuckle, weapons and wrestling. Wrestling still survives and some masters of weapons. There are hybrid arts which were born in vietnam and thus vietnamese but many of them are modern like vovinam. There needs to be more investigative research within the country to say what exactly is still there and remains, some people have claimed that the bare knuckle didnt exist nor the kickboxing but it did clearly exist as the weapons and wrestling. Sometimes certain cultures dont enjoy certain sports as evident in vietnam with boxing and kickboxing forms(though they seemed to be well attended when they were popular), and likewise in Thailand with wrestling, it existed at one time but slowly eroded with key moves assimilated into the bare knuckle arsenal. My research and training was pretty tight in vietnam to what i was looking for so thats all i can report and help you with.

Here are some links to wrestling:

http://www.vietnam-beauty.com/vietnamese-culture/13-vietnam-culture-value/259-vietnamese-traditional-wrestling.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe_85Zg-Cdg

This wrestling reminds me of the wrestling I have seen in Mongolian culture.

 

[respectfulone]

My nine year old daughter and I spent six weeks at the headquarters/dojo for Cuong Nhu in Jacksonville, FL run by Quynh Ngo, the “grandmaster” of the art. In those few weeks we were shocked and saddened by multiple disrespectful, rude and prejudiced statements made by the man. He tends to go on rambling lectures during the sit-down time when he has a captive audience, including many children and youth. The comments made included 1) telling children to not apologize for things that they know are wrong as such an apology is insincere, 2) calling overweight people lazy and stating that no one wants to hire them, and 3) calling professional athletes “the lowest of the low” for risking their lives for their career. My young daughter, upon hearing each of those statements, looked at me in disbelief.

This is not our first martial art and I have never seen or heard of an art where the leader was so blatantly rude and disrespectful. As he sets the tone for all his dojos, it is difficult to believe that his offensive views are not carried over and taught to his instructors. I was raised to show unconditional respect, even to those who are rude and offensive. When I politely spoke with Quynh Ngo in front of two other black belts and explained how his comments were very offensive to me and my family, he became extremely defensive and ultimately said that there must be something wrong with me from my past that I would take such offense. I bowed to him out of respect, left the dojo and will never return.

Every martial art I have ever heard of, seen and participated in has respect for one’s self and others as a core principal. I have never seen a black belt “teach” by lecturing on politics, religion or personal biases. We all go to learn the art, not be lectured on personal matters. Cuong Nhu is a new art but the comments and attitudes demonstrated by Quynh Ngo are as old as ignorance and prejudice. As Quynh Ngo is the head of this order, his words and actions speak for all. As for me and my daughter, we will have nothing to do with such a disrespectful, rude and uneducated prejudice toward others. I strongly suggest you find another martial art whose teachers understand that respect is more than a word and must be demonstrated at all times by everyone.