Vovinam (headquarter: Vietnam) uses the traditional program and (headquarter: France) uses the new training program. With every change of belt color the name plate color changes. Blue belt students start off with yellow text on blue name plates. With the yellow belt the name plate changes to red text on yellow ground. The red belt comes along with white text on a red name plate. The patriarch carries red text on a white name plate. Thin, colored lines in blue, yellow and red are shown on the upper and lower borders of this white name plate. Vovinam has some specialised techniques:
Northern Shaolin (martial art) place of origin. The Northern Shaolin (北少林 denotes Henan 河南崇山少林寺 temple) style associated with Gu Ruzhang was first taught to a lay disciple, the celebrated 18th century master Gan Fengchi of Jiangsu Province, by a Shaolin monk named Zhao Yuan, born Zhu Fu, a member of the Ming royal family who joined the sangha after the Ming was overthrown by the Qing in 1644. (Gan is also remembered for founding the martial art Huāquán 花拳, literally "flower fist", about which he wrote the book "Introduction to Huāquán".) Gan in turn taught Wan Bangcai, who taught Yan Degong, who taught Yan