with skills perpetuated orally by transmission from teacher to student. The
aura of secrecy that often attends martial arts was intensified when Viet-
nam was conquered and colonized by France (1859–1954). During the
colonial period, martial arts were driven underground and were taught se-
cretly (primarily within families, some maintain), transmitted with caution
from teacher to student.
There is considerable discussion among Vietnamese martial artists
themselves as to whether any of the Vietnamese martial arts truly devel-
oped independently of Chinese influence. Confucianism and its Mandarin
civil service influenced military arts at the elite levels by the institution of
formal military training in an eleventh-century academy of martial arts in
the capital, Thang Long City (now Hanoi). In order to graduate in the mil-
itary sciences, candidates had to pass entrance exams, followed by a mini-
mum of three years’ study before graduating. This climate also produced,
in the sixteenth century, treatises such as Linh Nam Vo Kinh(On Viet-
namese Martial Art).
In the eighteenth century, major schools of Chinese boxing, primarily
Cantonese, were noted in Vietnam by names such as Hong (Hung)-gar,
Mo-gar, Choi-gar,and Li-gar.It is claimed that these styles elaborated on
the styles of various monasteries; among these the most commonly men-
tioned was Wo-Mei Shan Pai.
In twentieth-century Vietnam, Vovinam, Kim Ke, and Vo Binh Dinh
have been regarded as the most popular systems. In addition, numerous
Sino-Vietnamese styles have been reported, such as Bach My Phai (Bak Mei
Paior Baimeiquan,Chinese for “White Eyebrow Style”), yongchun (wing
chun or Ving Tsun), and Meihuaquan(Plum Blossom Boxing). These styles
were popular among Chinese who lived in Vietnam, especially in the
Cholon section of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).
When discussions of native martial arts arise, Tay Son boxing is often
cited as indigenous to Vietnam. The system came to national attention in a
late eighteenth-century peasants’ revolt in Vietnam. In 1773, three broth-
ers, the Tay Son, led a revolt and divided the country between them. Their
victories were attributed in part to Vo Tay Son (Tay Son Fighting Style), of-
ten known as Vo Binh Dinh (Binh Dinh Fighting, or sometimes translated
into English as Binh Dinh Kung Fu). Each of the three brothers contributed
to modern Vo Tay Son, and contemporary practitioners trace their martial
lineages to one of the three. Vo Tay Son remains an aggressive combat art
encompassing both unarmed and weapons forms. There are eighteen
weapons in the curriculum, with an emphasis on bladed weapons, particu-
larly the sword.
A less well-known system is Kim Ke(Golden Cock). As the name im-
plies, the system adopts combative features of the cock. There are strikes548 Southeast Asia