Vovinam Vietnamese Martial Arts is an obscure martial arts style amongst the other Asian martial arts styles in the world.

People have always asked what is Vovinam and how come they have never heard of this style before. How come other Asian styles of martial arts are more widely known than Vovinam? Even though Vovinam Vietnamese Martial Arts had been developed many centuries ago, the name has not been widely circulated within the community like other Asian martial arts, such as Taekwondo or Shaolin kung fu. Other styles of martial arts have been developed outside of the United States but have become quite popular in the US. Only Vovinam is not a well-known martial arts in the United States. Even in Texas, where we have the most unified Vovinam schools working together, the organization still has not grown to its full potential. In order to change Vovinam’s anonymity in the community, we must work together within our own school and with all the other schools to give back to the community. In that way, we can make our mark here in the United States.

Other businesses and non-profit organizations that have given back to the community have gained success in their name being widely known. Large businesses, for example, Walmart supports community service by allowing many organizations to fundraise using their parking lot to hold car washes. In Walmart’s own way, they are trying to give back to the community helping Walmart to be more prominent in the community’s mind than stores such as Target and Kmart. Another example of a large business’s attempt to gain recognition and approval of the local community is Kohl’s department store. They promote community service by awarding scholarships to youths that have shown outstanding achievements in community service. They award not only at local levels but also at a national level. By promoting community service as Kohl’s has been doing, this recently opened retail store has taken steps to dominate their older competitors such as Marshalls and Ross. These businesses have many competitors within the community, but by giving back to the community they are able to stand out amongst their competition.

One goal of any Vovinam student is to develop a strong foundation for the new generation of Vovinam youth. In order to attain that goal, the older generation must find a way to strengthen the fragile connection among themselves and with their students. By creating a volunteer committee, such as the Vovinam Volunteer Organization (VVO), we will gain many benefits for Vovinam and their students. Also, by involving Vovinam in the community, we will build a stronger networking system that will enable us to gain support with various Vovinam activities for example, camping trips, banquets, and competitions. The Vovinam Volunteer Organization will not be limited to just Vovinam students, friends and family can also participate. We will be able to gain strong parental support by providing positive activities for their kids to be involved in which will keep them of out trouble. Further more, the instructors will also be involved in community service which will serve as a good role model for their kids.

            In Vovinam, our motto is “Iron hand over heart of good will.” Vovinam is not just about physical strength but also inner strength, by volunteering and giving back to the community, students will have a better understanding of the phrase “heart of good will.” A “heart of good will” means that a martial artist must have a compassionate heart and have the willingness to help others. Being compassionate means trying to alleviate the sufferings of others and giving something of yourself without asking for payment in return. Volunteering will help students understand what it means to have compassion. Willingness to help others does not just include defending those who are weaker or who are helpless, but a martial artist must have the willingness to help anyone in any situation. Even the trivial task of handing out a cup of water to a jogger in a marathon or shifting through donated clothes to separate shirts from pants can help. These tasks are just as important as defending against bullies or retrieving a stolen purse.

Vovinam Volunteer Organization will provide Vovinam students the opportunity to do something worthwhile with their fellow classmates, friends, and family. From my experience, creating a group within Vovinam to do activities besides martial arts helps bond the students more by being able to interact with their fellow classmates in a different situation and a different surrounding. During Vovinam class, students are rarely able to “hang out” with their friends; therefore, some parents bring their children early or pick them up late in order for their kids to have a chance to play with the other kids. Students stay late after class is over to “hang out together” buying tapioca and food or groups of students go to the movies together too. Not only can Vovinam students that already hang out together do fun activities, but they could also spend their time together participating in more productive pursuits such as providing public service. I believe parents would rally behind this idea.

By providing public service, students will have a sense of purpose in their life knowing that they are impacting the lives of others. It will help bring their world into perspective and help them understand how fortunate they are. By being apart of this organization, students will be expected to devote their time, energy, and skills. Students will be able to obtain volunteer hours required for school through Vovinam thereby indirectly making local schools more aware of Vovinam. Activities outside of Vovinam hours will help students bond with each other and also help young kids to stay out of trouble. At the same time, this volunteer organization will help create a positive branding for Vovinam in the community. By pushing Vovinam into volunteer services, Vovinam will be able to expand their social circle and gain recognition within the community. The volunteer program will open the door to many new and exciting opportunities.    

The Vovinam Volunteer Organization will start small by first becoming more involved in the Vietnamese community, since Vovinam did originate from Vietnam, we should have Vietnamese people familiarize themselves with Vovinam Vietnamese Martial Arts. We must work with Vietnamese radio stations and leaders within the Vietnamese community to help sponsor our expansion. Once we are recognized within the Vietnamese community, we can branch out into the Houston community.

In order to get the program started, students who are about to become black belt/yellow belt should be required to participate in the program in order to receive their belt. Each student should responsible for one leadership role in the committee. Other students who are not about to become assistant instructors or instructors can still take on a leadership role. Anyone is welcome to participate, age is not a limit, but instructors and masters should encourage members to participate in the program. The VVO program will be structured in the same way as a student council. There will be a president, a vice president, a treasurer, a secretary, and multiple chairs and co-chairs in charge of one volunteer program that VVO will be participating in. Each Vovinam school in Texas should have their own committee. The role of the executive committee will be to guide the chairs and co-chairs in their prospective volunteer service. The executive committee will also be in charge of finding local volunteer opportunities for their members. Participating in programs that are on a larger scale than the local community can be discussed at the once a month meeting between the schools. The schools do not have to meet in person, they can decide by chatting online or emailing what activities they would like to participate in.

Vovinam has the charter of a non-profit organization and yet we have not seen fit to raise that awareness to our members. By creating the Vovinam Volunteer Organization, we will be able to justify our label as a non-profit organization. We can raise money and walk in marathons that raise awareness for breast cancer, lung cancer, or in any other diseases. VVO could do martial arts charity fundraising events that will help raise money for a good cause and also get our name out to the public. In doing charity work, businesses around the community would more likely help sponsor our events without a qualm. A large group would be best put to use in a home building project such as Habitat for Humanity. At Thanksgiving, Vovinam can sign up at the GeorgeR.BrownConvention Center and help feed those who are less fortunate, such as homeless people. At Christmas, the schools could carry out a can food drive competition to see who can collect the most can foods. The native tree planting project helps the environment and at the same time beautifies the community. This project requires a large workforce that Vovinam could also provide. Local volunteer opportunities that Vovinam schools can participate in could include adopting a highway near their Vovinam school and keeping it clean by picking up all the litter. Students can volunteer at their local health fair. Students can make holiday cards for their local nursing homes. There are sites that provide calendars with volunteer opportunities scattered throughout Houston so it is easy to find ways to give back to the community.

Becoming a part of this volunteer group will help students discover what skills and talents they might have that will boost their self-confidence and also help them in their future careers. Being in charge will help students develop strong leadership skills to help them become better instructors in Vovinam, but also help them become more involved within the community and be better active citizens. Demonstrating a commitment to this program will give students a sense of purpose, a sense of independence, and that warm feeling knowing that you have impacted someone’s life and many countless others. When students belong to such a worthy cause, they will have an incentive to stay active within Vovinam and would want to keep coming back over the years.

Võ Như Thủy (Copy Vovinam Texas)