Vovinam Lộc (1912 – 1960) in 1938, with the intent of providing practitioners with an efficient method of self-defense after a short period of study. Nguyễn believed martial arts would contribute to freeing Vietnam, which had been ruled by France since 1859, from outside domination. Vovinam, which Nguyễn synthesized from Chinese styles of kung fu, his own knowledge of traditional Vietnamese martial arts, and elements of Japanese and Korean systems, was thus created partially as a response to the French occupation, meant to promote a sense of national identity for the Vietnamese people. Vovinam thus has anticolonial origins. After being invited
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