Vovinam founded on November 3, 1973, in order to reunite some Vietnamese martial arts. Therefore, "Việt Võ Đạo", in Europe, is also used as a generic term for certain Vietnamese martial arts and philosophies but in Vietnam is only used to refer to "Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo". From 1938 to 1964, there was no official uniform. Following the lifting of the ban on martial arts in Vietnam in 1963, the first Council of Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao was gathered in 1964 to codify Vovinam, establishing a rank hierarchy and uniforms and codifying the training curriculum according to rank. The color blue was
Gary Alexander (martial art pioneer) to Hand Combat and Defense Systems". Gary Alexander (martial art pioneer) Gary Alexander is an American martial artist, karate fighter, author and actor. He was Black Belt Magazine's Co-Instructor of the Year (1974) and is known as the "First International Bare Knuckle Contact Karate Champion. On November 17, 1962, Gary Alexander won the first Canadian Karate Championship sponsored by Mas Tsuruoka. On November 24, 1962, Gary Alexander won the North American Championship sponsored by Mas Oyama, which was held at the Madison Square Garden. Both events were bare knuckle full contact, whereas the winner was the fighter still standing. Alexander