In an age where weaponry has evolved from the spear to the nuclear warhead, martial arts have evolved as well. In the past, many martial art forms had a very narrow focus and training outside one’s dojo was forbidden.

         Schools taught a single art and cross training with other martial arts was not allowed.  It was considered disrespectful to have two masters since each school had their own philosophy as well as feelings of superiority.  The pride that these masters felt in their own martial art is commendable, but ultimately without merit.  Training usually involved sparring with your own peers, which meant you were pitting your own skills against someone possessing identical skills.  This does not adequately prepare a martial artist for the real world because in the real world, fighters can be unpredictable and fights often never go as scripted – so to speak.

          I started taking Vovinam at the age of 11 until 17.  It gave me a very good base and sparring with my older brother at home gave me a much more competitive edge because he was much better skilled than I was.  My kicks were my strong point at that time but I was woefully lacking in areas other than striking.  Having never sparred with an opponent that didn’t practice Vovinam, I was in for a rude awakening when I entered college.

          In college I attended a Jiu-Jitsu self defense seminar and learned some beginner’s techniques and positions.  Near the end we were treated to an open-mat grappling session where we could roll with some of the instructors.  The two main rules were no striking and no small joint locks.  I had never had any training in submissions up to that point other than watching mixed martial arts competitions like the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  After about 2 minutes in, I felt like a fish out of water.  These instructors were tapping me out with chokes, arm locks, and leg locks that I had never even heard of.  I quickly learned that Vovinam had no true defense against a skilled ground-fighting opponent.  Many people watch strikers and grapplers go at it and simply scream for the striker to just hit him or kick him.  I can attest that it is not as easy as one might think since a grappler knows exactly how to get into a position to neutralize a striker’s attacks.  Anyone who completely rejects this has never fought a skilled jiu-jitsu artist or submission fighter.

          After that submission clinic, I was stuck in denial.  I had repeatedly told myself that had strikes been allowed, I would have knocked those grapplers out.  Later, I began sparring with a friend of mine who had years of high school wrestling to his credit.  He was bigger, stronger, and meaner than I was.  He could both strike and grapple very well and in the end, I was simply outclassed.  So for the next four years he and I began expanding our martial arts knowledge by utilizing the techniques of other martial arts.  We took what we felt was useful and discarded what we felt was ineffective.  We sparred with opponents of different disciplines ranging from Muay Thai to Kung Fu.  We did this so we could become the most well rounded fighters our potential would allow us to be. 

          Many martial arts masters will cling to their pride and refuse to expand their martial arts knowledge but those who have seen the strengths, as well as the weaknesses of other fighting arts, know that being one dimensional simply will not do in the real world.  One who believes himself to be a superior fighter because of his mastery of one martial art will only find himself muttering endless excuses after he is defeated time after time by more well-rounded martial artists.  Human beings are dynamic creatures.  We are here today because we adapt to change – not because we sit around as the world around us changes.

Hoàng Nam (Copy Vovinam-via.org)