Date of birth: June 2nd 1973
Place of birth: Milano, Italy
Current level: Chuan Hong Dai – 4th dang
Charge in Vovinam:
• since October 2010 - General Secretary of EVVF
• 2009 - International Referee by WVVF
• 1998 – 2010 - General Secretary of UNI0Ne Vovinam VVD Italia
• 1994 – 2010 – Vovinam teacher in Milan
Date of exam from black belt to red belt:
• Huyen Dai - Black Belt – august 1994, Borno (BS), Italy
• Hoang Dai Nhat Cap – 1st dang – 1997, Milan, Italy
• Hoang Dai Nhi Cap – 2nd dang – 1998, Milan, Italy
• Hoang Dai Tam Cap – 3rd dang – July 25th, 1999, HCMC, Vietnam
• Chuang Hong Dai – 4th dang – April 12th, 2004, Frankfurt AM, Germany

The beginning was in the 1989, it wasn’t Vovinam, but it was the beginning of my martial arts way. Beginning to follow a master and believe in him, to have someone to follow as example, and thanks to him if in the 1992 I had the opportunity to know Vovinam.

I didn’t know what Vovinam was. In Italy people knew only Viet Vo Dao, but was different, they were with Black vo phuc, nobody knew about a martial art from Vietnam with the blue clothes. There was only few students in Italy, but we begin to believe in this new way of our martial art life, we were searching for a real Vietnamese martial art, a tradition, an history, something that had a straight link to Vietnam, and we found it, Vovinam was what we were searching for.
I begun to train Vovinam for myself, I had to train something useful, for my body and my mind, but I already had in my mind the future of myself. Of course, they were fantasy, because I could’t know what really had to be my future, but I was seriously to continue this walking inside the martial art.

I begun to teach very early. Already in the 1991 and 1992 I helped my master with the children lesson, just to learn how to follow them. In the 1994 I opened my personal Vovinam course, it was my first experience alone, very hard but very nice and useful. It was very hard to promote Vovinam, I was young, so not too much people believe in young teachers, and I was a teacher of new martial art for taly, so I had also try to explain what Vovinam was, why we were with a Blue vo phuc, because it was strange for the people, they only knew the Vietnamese martial arts with Viet Vo Dao, that only after many years I understood what really was the “Italian Viet Vo Dao”, a mix of the Vietnamese martial arts school under one name to represent them.
Vovinam for Western people
Why to talk about it?

Because I am western, I have been many times in Vietnam, and also in other Asiatic countries, so I know the Oriental people and in many years of training Vovinam and martial arts I tried to understand what in martial arts it’s only for Asiatic and what can be right also for the western.
When I talk about western people I mean European, because they’re people who I know better.
Why to do a difference between western and eastern? Because we born with big difference in our body.
Most of martial arts born in Asia, only few fighting style born in Europe, but really different from the Asiatic fighting style, and they are different because the body of western people it’s different, and it’s different since a long time.

Europe develop in the centuries many style of fight, but most of them where the fighting were based on the body strength, there was the culture of training his body to be strong, but maybe the agility has been forget, because the people wanted to see the strong men to fight each other. The wrestling was the favourite kind of fighting, since the Greek and Romanic age we can remember that people fight inside the big Arena, the kind of fighting was with a lot of grappling techniques, throwing and projection, wrestle on the floor and using many kind of weapons. Never in the ancient fighting there was punch or kick. Maybe there was but they didn’t trained them, the train only every thing to have a strong body.
What we know from the eastern culture about fighting it’s really different. Many kind of style of martial arts, that how this name want to show, burn to fight, to make war and defence.
Many countries in Asia developed their own style, and all the style was strictly linked to the people of the country. Who use more kicks, who more punches, who prefer the weapons, who created a mix with many styles. The choice of style was also for the land where they lived, if there was jungle, desert, mountain, if the weather was hot of cold. In some culture the teaching of martial art was inside the military society, there was many ranks, and each ranks had different kind of style.
So, the eastern martial arts was born inside the body of the eastern and oriental people like the European fighting styles was born with the European culture.
In these years we saw many difference between the eastern martial arts trained by the European then the same discipline practised by an Asiatic people. Sometimes they looked like a different style, but the martial arts was the same.
The European people look the Asiatic as the best example to follow. To train martial arts like them is the dream of the most European practitioners, to have the same movement and agility it is one of the European practitioner's hopes, but not all can arrive to the same level, and not because they don’t train, but because we are really different.
When we talk about Vovinam for European I think we need to be clear that we don’t need to change anything inside the martial art program or style, but only to have a different kind of way to value the people and sometimes a different kind of teaching.
In Europe we are used to follow the student from the beginning, to give them attention, explain them exactly every movement, how to do the techniques. We need to have people inside our clubs, so we try to convince them to stay with us, to continue to train. This kind of work in Vietnam doesn’t exist, or less then Europe. In my experience in Vietnam, or other Asian countries I saw that the kind of teaching is really different. People begin and try to follow. Anybody follow the beginners students for all the movement, the teaching system is different and is based on the imitation of the teacher or the high level they see.
I had an experience in Vietnam with a new practitioner from Italy. She was my sister, she begun to train in Vietnam as beginner. She never trained a martial art in her life, and she decide to begun Vovinam with master Nguyen Van Chieu in the 2001, when she came for her first time in Vietnam. So, the first training was of Chien Luoc from 1 to 10 and Long Ho Quyen. This is strange, or maybe is strange for Italy, and maybe also for other Europeans people.
I don’t want to say that the Vietnamese method isn’t right, I can’t, because it proves that it can be a good method, and this is demonstrated by the Vietnamese level of the athletes, but I ask to myself if the same method can be so useful also to the European people.
I just can say that with my sister it was a good kind o f training. My sister begun like this, so for her this
was the method of Vovinam, so she continue to train Vovinam in this way, and I continued to teach her in this way, and she has developed an excellent method of learning the Vovinam without anybody should explain the technique very slowly.
My thought about it can be different, because there are two important thing to consider, one is the fact that in Vietnam, or Asia, it’s easy to find people want to practise a martial art, they are a lot and maybe they don’t need to follow people from the beginning to convince them to stay in the gym to train, so they don’t care so much about a beginner, because like them there will be a lot, so if he decide to stop to train, it will arrive others. Second is the mentality and culture. In Europe people want to be followed, they want that someone take care to them, they need to be motivated, without those things they aren’t able to continue. Of course, not all, but the most of people, especially the young practitioners.
I trained a lot with the Vietnamese method, I still remember the first training in Vietnam where the master showed me a very long part of Quyen and told me to repeat, but I didn’t remember it, so I had to ask him again, and again, but after some training and many times in Vietnam, I learnt to train in this way, and I like, and sometimes, with some pupils that can understand better the techniques, I use this way, because it helps you to work more with your mind.
We are used to be follow, with a master that continue to check us if we are doing well, if our movement are right, but this way it isn’t useful for a practitioners, because he works and train helped every time with his teacher and can’t really understand what he’s doing and training.
So in many years of teaching to children and adults, some years ago I decide to change my method and find a kind of teaching that can help the pupils to work not only with their body, but also with their mind, because if you want to train a martial art.
Is Vovinam only for show?
Why this question? Because is one of the question I receive many times from people that want to know better Vovinam, people would like to begin, but scared by some difficult techniques he saw.
Of course, my answer is not. I know very well that Vovinam isn’t only for show, Vovinam isn’t show, Vovinam is a real martial art, but which is the difference between martial art and show?
Why the people ask about it?
In Italy many times we had to talk about it with the people, but the fault is our fault, or Vovinam fault, because we want to show Vovinam only as a “show martial art” with Don Chan Tan Cong and difficult techniques, but this is not Vovinam. As we know in Vovinam program we train only 21 techniques of Don Chan Tan Cong, so why recognize Vovinam only for these techniques and not for the good fight, good technique of the Quyen, the good techniques of Phan Don or Khoa Go?
Because many times we want to show only this little part of Vovinam, but we need to be near the people if we want to develop, to be near all the people, because everyone must try to train Vovinam, but if we show only the difficult part of our big program those are the comments by the people who watch us “very nice, I like it very much, but I will never do it, it’s too difficult”.
In Italy we are trying to change our style of exhibition when we do demo with Vovinam. We like to show a lot of part of program, not only high jump, flying techniques, but also Vat, Phan Don, Chien Luoc, Quyen and the fight like in the competition, this is the way to allow people to understand what really is Vovinam.
I propose this topic because I truly believe that the martial art Vovinam is very efficiency, but unfortunately happens that the effective techniques sometimes are transformed into technical only for performance, and this can not find it correct.
I want to show my example, because during the training for this exam, I found out that it isn’t correct to work in this way the Bua Riu techniques, and I don’t understand why I have to work them in this way. The same example can be done for the Ma Tau techniques.
We know very well about the principle of “1 become 3”, and this is one of the principles I prefer in Vovinam. We have a very big program, and this is a kind of teaching method very useful to understand everything, but as we know, when we train the techniques alone, and after in a Quyen, or Song Luyen, something change, and I like it, but why put the “beautiful movement” of Quyen or Song Luyen in the Single Techniques that must show the effective of its?
Italy, 2005 I explain what I mean:
Both 12 techniques of Bua Riu and 9 of Ma Tau always working on multiple attacks. This type of training in single technique is completely useless and absolutely unreal. When the work Song Luyen is beautiful, the technique makes it dynamic, but when I'm showing a technique that should only be efficiency, so I find it absolutely useless to defend a person who performs 3 or 4 attacks and dodge constantly before a counterattack, the technique should be made only on a motion, as this is done in Phan

In this way we can show Vovinam more real then how we are showing now. But one important thing is that we train the people to be real able to defend and move real with all of kind of counterattack, because you have to concentrate only to one movement, and the purpose of the technique must be to successfully run a good defense and not being able to jump or fly high. I can train maximum 2 different attack, to learn how to dodge the attack, but after this immediately defend and apply the technique. I hope that this kind of training will be consider to be introduce in the program.
Vovinam is real a martial art for everybody?
Why to do this question?

Because I read many times that Vovinam can be practiced by all. I used this words many times, until I discovered that it isn’t.
In Italy the average age of the beginners that will continue to practice Vovinam is around 25/30 years old. Very old if you think about Vietnamese people.
We have many children who train Vovinam, but few of them will continue to train Vovinam over the 25 or 30 years old, but the people who begin late usually have more possibility to continue, so it can happen many times to have also pupils of 40, or sometimes 50 years old, how to teach Vovinam to them? Is Vovinam for them? Can they learn all the Vovinam program?
Summer 2010, Indonesia, Bali – Lesson to Silat class in the school
My thought is that it will not possible of all of them, so Vovinam isn’t for everybody, but maybe we can do something.
If the practitioners begin when is young, he won’t have problem in the future, because he will learn the Vovinam techniques step by step, so every thing he will train will be easy, or not so difficult, but when people begin around 30 years old, the first time in a martial art and not too much sport before begin Vovinam, this person can have problems.
The structure of Vovinam examination program is very easy in the first three years, after that begin to be difficult, after this period there are many techniques that if you practice when you are no more very young, they become very difficult to perform, especially if you begun Vovinam in a late age.
I don’t think is a bad program, I like it very much because it can permit to teach the basic techniques to the beginners and too have high level belt with a good style, but in Italy about the age we thought to introduce some rules to apply only for people over 35 years old.
For all the belt level after the 35th birthday isn’t anymore compulsory to fight and do all the “acrobatic” techniques as Don Chan Tan Cong from the number 11 and all the kind of fall to the ground not easy and that can be dangerous for the body.
This rules is for everybody, but especially for who begin late, that maybe has not training enough, and his body can be ready as a younger. In this way we can have all people grow up with level, they only leave a little part of program but they can continue to work for all the other kind of techniques without any risk for their body, because the practice of Vovinam must be also a practice for a good health.
My question born also from another point that only few years ago I discovered.
During a training in Vietnam of Thap The Bat Thuc Quyen someone told me that the kick I did in the movement between Chien Luoc 26 to Chien Luoc 27 wasn’t correct. The kick I did was a Da Thang Bay with the right leg from the ground. I was surprised, I trained this Quyen many times and nobody told me before, but all people I asked confirmed me that I did it wrong, because the right techniques it’s a Da Thang with the left with a Da Tat bay with the right.
Not impossible, but very difficult and not fast. Very difficult for who? For the most of western people who have not the legs and hips very mobile. The same problem can happen in Lao Mai Quyen when there are the two jump with Da Canh and Da Tat. What can we do? I don’t want to give solutions, but to show this problem.
I think that many people doesn’t want to say it, because they think that it’s better to try everything, also bad, but try, but my thought it’s different. I prefer to see an easy technique done well rather than to maintain a difficult technique and then run it badly. This is the way I learn the martial art. Why to learn something I can’t apply and use, it’s better to do something similar but easier, then work badly. So I decided, but also the Italian teachers, that we teach every time the right techniques, but when we have someone that can’t apply we do in the easier way.
Why an Italian begun to train a Martial Art?
Of course, there are many reason why a person start to practicing a martial art, but I don’t know why in Asia people begun, maybe because is inside their DNA to practice a martial art, but here the most of the people search for a martial art for a kind of self-defense. Only few people come in martial art course to train a Quyen or learn the basic movement and other techniques that are not closely related to self-defense.
Sometimes it isn’t easy to propose Vovinam because people think that Vovinam is only a martial art for show, where people jump and do Don Chan Tan Cong, and they don’t know that we fight with a very good kind of fighting and we have a very big program with Self-defense techniques, but maybe we want to show Vovinam only as a spectacular martial art, but it isn’t.

Many times I trained techniques of Khoa Go in Vietnam with some others practitioners, I never found in their kind of training the real application of the movement, everything for the show, also the self defense techniques, and this is not good for Vovinam.

Maybe in Vietnam people begun to train Vovinam because is the martial art of Vietnam, because they want to take part to the National Team and become a famous teacher, to be seen on the TV and more. But in Italy, but also Europe, people search the reality from the martial arts. People know that martial arts born for the war, for the real fight, so they want to see the martial arts fighting and work with a real self defense program.
Vovinam has it! Vovinam has a very big program with a lot of good Self Defense with all the Khoa Go techniques, and it has many good techniques of Phan Don that can be apply as self defense,or Vat techniques, but the method of training must be really different then the method of Don Chan and competition.
Competition is only a part of Vovinam. The real structure of Vovinam was for the fight, many techniques are very useful for a real situations, but in the last years maybe we loose them and think only to the show for competition, and this is not martial art.
This lesson gave to me the pleasure of the real training. To see a man of 60 years old training so hard with so strong techniques it gave me the motivation to always work the program with the utmost care. Of course, he is a great master with a long experience, but not many masters arrive at the age of 60 years old with the desire to train so hard and effective.
This kind of work is the one that sometimes I think it missing in Vovinam.
If we train a self defense techniques I can’t think how beautiful must be this techniques, I just only think to use the basic movement I learnt and the effectiveness of it, nothing more.
In the official program we have the technique “Bop co sau loi 2” that many people in Vietnam train with a Don Chan Tan Cong in the end, but this is not Self Defense, this is “show”. Many years ago, when we trained Vovinam for the firsts times, the master who trained us taught us this technique with a projection technique in the end, something like the “Vat n° 7 and n° 4”. Italy has never changed this technique, we still train it in this way, because like this is a self-defense technique.
If we work Vovinam with this thought we can develop Vovinam in Italy. We can propose a martial art for a competition with a lot of kind of category between fight and techniques, also a big tradition of martial art with a link to its native country and a self-defense program. In this way people in Italy can choose Vovinam and compare Vovinam with other martial arts and only find the difference, but not saying that Vovinam isn’t a effective martial art.
This is a problem that many times happen. Many people ask about the difference between Vovinam and other martial art. Many people think about the fighting, so the comparison is about the fighting style. So, Vovinam can compared with the other martial arts and combat sports?
My question is with another question. Can a Vovinam practitioner can be compared with another martial arts or combat sports practitioner?
Why I answer in this way? Because I think that Vovinam has a very good kind of fight, but the Vovinam fight can be strong only if the Vo Sinh is a strong i who train good and has a good feeling with the fight, and the same in the other martial arts or combat sports.
It’s different compare Vovinam with other martial arts or combat sports, because in the first case we can compare easier, but with the combat sports it’s difficult, a practitioner of Kick Boxing of Muay Thai train fight for the most of their training, so they are more trained for the contact then a Vovinam vo sinh, so if we compare the practitioners I think that the combat sports are more favoured, but if we compare the style of fighting the answer can be different.
I say that I've always been a lover of the technique, but I really believe that the martial art was born to fight.
One of my dream is to a day in an International Fight Tournament like the famous K1 a fighter from Vovinam. Why? Because I think that Vovinam have nothing less then the other disciplines. So if we have a good athlete that like to fight, only with a good Vovinam basic fight rule can be a good fighter in a Tournament like K1.
In the years 2009 we had the first World Championship with the WVVF Competition rules. Rules that I respect very much, as I respect all the work of WVVF. But sometimes we need to think better about what is happening in the world.
I like very much a lot of new rules because permit to see a very good fighting, with many Vovinam techniques in the fight. The new competition rules show to the other martial arts that the Don Chan Tan Cong aren’t only for show, but they can be used in a real fight, and this is very important for me, so I appreciate very much this courageous decision, but as vo sinh who like the real fight and Vat I still can’t understand the choice of forbidden techniques like “Vat n° 7” or the “Low kick”.
Many times during many meetings I have often heard to say that these techniques were dangerous for the safety of others. But now, after the rule of the compulsory Don Chan Tan Cong, and also the high level, I can’t understand this decision. In the new rules there are also the application of some Phan Don like “Phan Don Da Dap”, “Phan Don Da Canh”, very dangerous techniques, not less then a “Da Tat thap” (Low kick) or a “Vat n° 7”, so why keep out from our rules?
I can’t give an answer to this question, but I can give my thought about why we need to have those techniques in or rule.
Vietnam 2005 – DCTC competition in the 2nd World Championship
In Italy we never organized an Open Tournament between different martial arts. To be honest, we are not interested in this type of event. We prefer organize competition for ourselves, and in all those years we had many Vovinam events in Italy that we had not the time to dedicate to Interstyle events, but we need to have an answer to this question, because it’s closely to the previous topic.
In my training life I had many occasion to train also with other martial arts, other masters, and other practitioners. This kind of training permitted to me to know better Vovinam, to understand better Vovinam, and love it more then before, because it’s with those meeting and comparison that I understood that Vovinam was what I was searching for.
I never found problems to train and fight with other style. The restrictions were not found in the martial art, but in my practice and experience, the martial art has always been perfect.
So I understood that Vovinam is a complete style, we have everything. For example, if you train Karate Shotokan and you want to train grappling techniques you need to train Judo, or Jiu Jitsu. The same is for the Judo practitioners, if they want to learn to kick, they need to train something else, in Vovinam we haven’t this problem. If you want the grappling we have the Vat, if you want the Self defense we have it, if you want the Fight we have it, not many martial arts are so complete, so why have a restriction?
In the past I trained the fight with grappling, with “low kick”, it was a fight very close to the combat sport fighting. The only forbidden techniques was the elbow and knee, but also the Muay Thai in Europe put restrictions to those techniques, so there wasn’t difference in our style of fighting, this meant being able to compare with anyone.
Now new students are limited in their techniques and could be in trouble with other fighting styles, and this is not correct for Vovinam.
Of course, someone can say that inside the Club we can teach everything, and I do it, but if we can’t apply it isn’t the same.
Fight inside the Club it isn’t how to fight in a competition or against someone that don’t practice our same style, so we aren’t trained to do some useful techniques that we have in the program.
Vat is a very important part of the program, but if we never can apply, how we can really learn it?
The “low kick” is only a different “Da tat”, not a different kick. Don’t train the “low kick” it means that the fighter doesn’t know what means receive it on his leg a “low kick”, and this a great shortage for a fighter.
In my Club sometimes we have lesson together other martial arts because I want that my students have the same experience I had in the past. I don’t want they know only Vovinam, I want they know the world of martial art to understand better Vovinam.
Many times we train with Kick Boxing class. This is very useful for them, because the fight style of Vovinam cause problems to others, but if the Kick Boxer use the “low kick” the young vo sinh cannot know how to defence from them, and that means loose a fighting. Our advantage might be to use the grappling, but if an athlete is not accustomed to use it in combat, this will not be useful.
The best way to counter a technique is known.
I didn’t write these thoughts to change something in Vovinam. I love the Vovinam and respect for all parties as I have immense respect for all those teachers who have and continue to dedicate his life to Vovinam. I will thank them forever.
These are very personal thoughts, which may not be shared by others. The Vovinam is not mine, the Vovinam is all of us, we adapt to Vovinam, and he has a great ability to adapt to us.
I have written some thoughts on what I believe is and should be, the practice of Vovinam in the 21st century. The Vovinam is a nearly century-old art that derives from an ancient history of a country that has ever lived through wars.
A country that has managed to assert themselves against those who seemed even stronger, and I think the Vovinam it should represent the true essence of Vietnam.
The Vovinam is Vietnam. The Vovinam demonstrates the desire to grow in this country and demonstrates its evolution. The Vovinam is a martial art that has evolved along with his country for the practitioner, such as the Grand Master Nguyen Loc has always wanted.
I will be happy to see Vovinam with the increasingly important role in world sport, but I will be happy to see that in the Vovinam we continue to follow a path that goes well beyond the sport itself targeted to the competition, because the real practice of Vovinam is taken with you for a lifetime as has proven the Grand Master Le Sang till the last day of its estimated life.
I want to dedicate this my thesis to Grandmaster Le Sang.
The encounter with this great man was one of the moments that helped me to better understand the Vovinam and bring a big change in my practice.
The first time was in the 1999. My Vovinam practice was different, but I can’t understand why and how. The best thing could happen was what some my students told me when I came back from Vietnam...”master, something change in you, Vietnam gave you something more then the others”…
I don’t know if it was true in that moment, but for sure in the next times I came back in Vietnam.
For me wasn’t impossible to go in Vietnam and don’t go the meet Grandmaster Le Sang. Maybe he didn’t remember me, or maybe yes, but I don’t care, because every time I met the Grand Master he was always polite and treated me as if we knew all along. His words, even spoken in Vietnamese, and therefore often do not understand me, passed on the love of Vovinam and passion that he carried in his heart. I will miss this great and unique man very much. Unfortunately I think that although there are great teachers, we will never have more than one person like him. But this will remain until the Vovinam continue to believe in the tradition of Vovinam carrying out the principles, although we will have to adapt to changing times.
Mon Sinh Vittorio Cera
About my exam to Hong Dai Nhat Cap
I am ready for all the program for my level.
4 Quyen:
Ngoc Tran Quyen
Xa Quyen
Thuong Le Phap
Nhat Nguyet Dai Dao Phap
1 Song Luyen:
Song Luyen Bua Riu
Double techniques:
12 techniques of Bua Riu
9 Techniques with Sung dai luoi le
Of course, I know everything from the technical program before my current level.
I will perform the exam with two different people:
Master Claudio Zilio only for the Song Luyen Bua, but he will do it only until the technique number 8 and he can’t do the Don Chan Tan Cong, so I would like to show all the 12 techniques of Bua with my pupil, Daniele Marinig, who has trained with me. With him I will perform also the 9 Sung Dai techniques.
Best regards,
Vittorio Cera