In paying tribute to our Founder, the late Grand Master Nguyen Loc, Vovinam disciples all over the world should not only express profound gratitude for what we inherit from him,

but we should also take this occasion to express to one another our trust, solidarity, magnanimity and empathy, and our determination to follow the Founder’s footstep in building a martial arts foundation for mankind.

How beautiful it is to pay respect to our roots, and to love, support and learn from each other.  From those qualities one will find energy as powerful as to surpass the norm to achieve everlasting greatness.

We must follow the Founder’s example of sacrifice on behalf of Vovinam’s existence and development.  His thoughts were always for others.  Therefore, when the time came for him to name the martial arts style that he created, he called it Vovinam, not Nguyen Gia Mon (after his family name) or Son Tay Mon (after his homeland).  Vovinam has become an international term easy for all to pronounce and remember.  The name reflects the Founder’s high ambition to serve mankind.

Such enlightenment was achieved only through selflessness, through the ability to live in harmony, to let live and to live for others.

Returning to our source means seeking similarity among differences, in order to work together for the good of the whole. To live means to live in solidarity, not in isolation.  All parts must work together and breed emery for the whole.  This everlasting energy in the whole will in turn support its various parts.  Once energy stops coming from the source, community life immediately ceases to exist.

We pay respect to the Founder to acknowledge that while each and every one of us has his own life to nurture, we pursue a common goal.  Therefore, we must know how to overcome all differences and conflicts in order to reach a logical solution that will open the path for us to reach our ideal. Once the common goal is achieved, personal lives will benefit.  Happiness, combined with righteousness, will turn “Me” into “Us” in all aspects of life.

Contradiction will bring about improvement, as long as contradiction inspires action, not chaos.  Action means development; chaos, destruction.

The Founder has gone into Eternity.  Still, he lives on in a; of us through his work, the doctrine of personal Revolution.  That’s his calling for us to continue his endeavor.

Our pilgrimage to the roots must be done in such a spirit, for only through the pilgrimage of Personal Revolution will the color of our uniforms last through space and time.

Vovinam’s way to serve mankind is wide open, leading us, together, into a bright future.