vinam’s popularity is demonstrated by the fact that within the first few
years of its public opening tens of thousands of Vietnamese students had
participated in the training programs.
At this time, the impulse to overthrow foreign domination gained im-
petus across Vietnam. In 1940 and 1941, Communist-led revolts erupted in
the south, while Tay tribesmen rebelled in the north. From July 1941 to
August 1945 Japanese armies occupied Vietnam. Under the Nazi-con-
trolled Vichy French administration, a puppet government maintained fig-
urehead status until March 1945. In 1941, Ho Chi Minh founded the
Vovinam/Viet Vo Dao 653Two men practice the
Vietnamese martial
art of Viet Vo Dao at
the Quan Thanh
Temple in Hanoi,
Vietnam. (Christophe
Loviny/Corbis)