Vietnamese traditional martial arts have completed a long and rocky path marked by many ups and downs in history. The martial spirit, an indomitable sense of tradition, and the struggle against numerous invaders in the course of building and defending the country have significantly formed the character, stoutness, wisdom, and immeasurable power of Viet Nam.

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Traditional Martial Arts are rooted in the necessity of self-defense in order to ensure survival.  The tradition was passed on from one generation to the next and from one area to another. Traditional Martial Arts faced a number of eradication attempts; they were re-established and dissevered into many branches and sects that spread everywhere.

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At an early stage of their development, our ancestors knew how to use their hands and feet for punching, kicking, wrestling, grabbing, and holding, including ways to throw stones or javelins… They learned how to fight using sticks, scimitars, swords, bows and arrows, and spears … to defend themselves and their tribes against fierce animals and various enemies. Those are the roots of Vietnamese traditional martial arts.

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Researching the history of Vietnamese traditional martial arts is not an easy task - neither for committed individuals nor for a large number of martial arts masters, scholars, historians, philosophers, or other cultural experts because Vietnamese traditional martial arts are comprised of a truly enormous amount of knowledge: a treasure that needs to be patiently and painstakingly raised out of the depths of the great big sea called the traditional cultural heritage of Viet Nam.