Culture of Asia Xia Dynasty of ancient China from over 4000 years ago. Some of the best known styles of martial arts in the world were developed in East Asia, such as karate and judo from Japan, taekwondo from Korea and the various styles of Chinese martial arts known collectively as kung fu. Many other styles of martial arts originated in Southeast Asia, including muay Thai from Thailand, Vovinam from Vietnam, Arnis from the Philippines, and Pencak Silat from Indonesia. In addition, popular styles of wrestling have originated in Turkey and Mongolia. Development of Asian martial arts continues today as newer styles are
Nguyễn Lộc Nguyễn Lộc The founder of Vovinam was grandmaster Nguyễn Lộc (Thạch Thất district, 8 April 1912 – 4 April 1960) was a Vietnamese martial arts teacher. He was the founder of Vovinam Việt Võ Đạo. Grandmaster Lộc was born in Hữu Bằng village, Thạch Thất district, then part of Sơn Tây province, now a district of Hanoi. He was the eldest of five children of Nguyễn Dinh Xuyen and Nguyễn Thị Hoa. In his younger years he trained in traditional Vietnamese martial arts. In 1938, grandmaster Nguyễn introduced his style "Vovinam" to the public. After a demonstration in 1939 in