Kung Fu Tai Chi was exclusively focused on Chinese styles so our readers would get all up in a tizzy if we ran anyarticles on non-Chinese traditions like Kenpo or Aikido. However, there were exceptions. Martial arts from Vietnam were not only acceptable but welcomed. Way back in our February 2000 issue, we ran the article “Hong Gia-Internal Art of Vietnam” by Jeremy D. Crawford and it drew unprecedented response. Admittedly, Hong Gia is intimately connected with Chinese styles but nevertheless, our readers wanted more. Back then, there was so little information in English about Vietnamese martial arts that we couldn’t provide more. Now, twenty years later, author Augustus John Roe sheds some long overdue light upon the diverse legacy of Vietnamese martial arts in his revealing new book, THE MARTIAL ARTS OF VIETNAM. 

Roe is well versed in the variety of martial arts with a background in Chinese martial arts, along with some Japanese and Korean styles. He’s been living in Asia for over a decade now. I confess that Vietnamese martial arts were a gaping hole in my own global martial arts research, so I was thrilled to read his new book. I discovered many intriguing connections to the into Chinese arts that I know so well, along with a lot of material that was completely new to me. It was delightful to explore this new frontier and chat with Roe over email about his research.

GENE: What was your martial arts background prior to going to Vietnam?

AUGUSTUS: Before coming to Vietnam, I studied a number of different martial arts. As a child I learned Judo and Soo Bahk Do, then as a young adult I studied ITF Tae Kwon Do and eventually went into Chinese arts such as Wing Chun and White Crane Kung Fu.

GENE: What drew you to Vietnam?

AUGUSTUS: The love of martial arts was what first inspired me to visit Asia, however I ended up in Vietnam quite coincidentally. After spending several months floating around in Japan and Korea, I went to visit a friend who was working in Hanoi, Vietnam. He knew I was a martial artist and introduced me to a local master who was giving him lessons. The rest is history really. I loved the vibrancy of the country, the culture, the food and discovering a whole new branch of martial arts that I previously had no idea even existed!

GENE:  Since our print magazine, Kung Fu Tai Chi, was exclusively focused on Chinese styles, our readers would protest if we ran an article on Japanese or Korean styles. However, they were okay with Silat and Vietnamese styles. Why do you think that is?

AUGUSTUS: I believe that one of the key differences is the way martial arts are represented from country to country.

Both Japan and Korea have invested heavily in developing, promoting and formalizing national martial arts systems such as Karate and Tae Kwon Do. In some cases, attempts have even been made to prove the “uniqueness” of these nations’ signature styles through (somewhat spurious) historical claims.

In my opinion, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations have not actively tried to distance their practices from Chinese martial arts and in many cases are more willing to embrace their shared heritage.

GENE: Many people think that Vietnamese martial arts are just derivations of Chinese styles. What do you say to them?

AUGUSTUS: Historically, the area we now know as Vietnam had fluctuated between Chinese and independent rule for thousands of years. As a result, the region has undoubtedly drawn significant influence from their vast and powerful neighbor to the north, however a multitude of other geographical features and inhabitants have played huge roles in shaping the nation and their martial practices.

While there are Vietnamese styles of martial arts that have been purely derived from Chinese practices, others have clear roots within the practices of Viet, Champa, Khmer, Tay and other indigenous groups that have inhabited the region for thousands of years.

From a global perspective, I believe it is not possible to draw a clear line in the sand where one art (or even one civilization) necessarily begins and another ends. It is my opinion that some of the most interesting aspects of Vietnamese martial arts are the various factors and influences that have helped shape them into the unique practices they have become today.

GENE:  What are some of the distinctly different qualities of Vietnamese martial arts that distinguishes them from styles of other countries?

AUGUSTUS: Modern-day Vietnamese martial arts are often extremely dynamic with very high and very low stances. This can be observed in practices such as Vovinam that are well known for their aerial techniques such as the “flying scissor” takedowns.

Another distinct quality is the way training is approached. Due to numerous conflicts in the region and a lack of modernization many Vietnamese martial arts systems have no competitive focus or sporting adaptations and instead choose to focus on self-defense, spiritual or physical cultivation. Meanwhile, training may take place in clubs but is still often passed down through family or monastic lineages as it would have done throughout the world in years gone by.

GENE: Monastic influences? Do Vietnamese martial arts have religious connections?

AUGUSTUS: Vietnamese martial arts have extremely strong connections to religion and spiritual practices in general. In Vietnam, practices such as “spirit-possession” and Shamanism are extremely widespread and have long been intertwined with martial practices.

Although modern Vietnam is officially an atheist country, there are numerous practices that incorporate aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, Ancestor Worship and Animism alongside one another. For the most part, these are identified by the state as “traditions” rather than “religions” but they all  hold significance within Vietnamese martial arts—whether it is a shrine in the training hall to lineage patriarch, having the practice room blessed by monks or attempting to embody the spirit of a certain deity within practice.

GENE: Do Vietnamese martial arts make a distinction between internal and external practices?

Many schools with direct Chinese influences make distinctions between internal and external practices, however there is often not the same level of dichotomy as seen in Chinese arts. For example, some Vietnamese forms of Taijiquan are taught exclusively as combative exercises with little focus on internal aspects and vice-versa with other typicallyexternal styles.

GENE: What would you say is the most dominant Vietnamese style of martial arts? I would say Vovinam because it’s the only Viet style that I knew of prior to reading your book.

AUGUSTUS: Vovinam is by far the largest recognized style outside of Vietnam, due in part to the Vietnamese diaspora following the turmoil of the late-twentieth century. It also became a focus for nationalism during periods of French occupation and was officially adopted as a national martial art. However, other well-known styles include a family of martial arts systems developed in “BinhDinh” Province and popularized around the seventeenth century.

BinhDinh is often seen as the Vietnamese equivalent of Shaolin. From around the sixteenth century onwards, a number of renowned folk-heroes and warrior-kings rose to power from the region with backgrounds in both traditional Viet military systems and Chinese styles.

GENE: Do you think that Vietnamese martial arts are growing or declining?

AUGUSTUS: From a global perspective, Vietnamese martial arts are certainly becoming more widespread and recognized. However, on the ground in Vietnam the popularity of styles such as Muay Thai, BJJ and MMA is increasing rapidly.

Current research shows that traditional systems are still seen as important cultural, religious and self-defense practices. However, it is likely that the individuality of Vietnamese martial arts systems is in decline due to the ongoing development of governing bodies, uniform systems of traditional styles and further opening of the country to the outside world.

GENE: What surprised you about Vietnamese martial arts?

AUGUSTUS: What surprised me the most about Vietnamese martial arts (and Vietnam in general) was just how accessible they were. When writing THE MARTIAL ARTS OF VIETNAM I travelled around the country meeting, training with and interviewing many masters. Although many of them had lived through tremendous hardships and fought multiple wars against foreigners, yet they were all so pleased to share their arts and so welcoming to me as an outsider. On the other end of the spectrum, it also surprised me how little was known about Vietnamese martial arts internationally and how little had been written about them in English.

GENE: What Vietnamese martial arts do you teach? And how might you describe them?

AUGUSTUS: The style of martial arts I teach comes from the Seven Mountains region of Vietnam, along the south-western border of the country. This area has long been considered as a mysterious and dangerous frontier land and has drifted between Viet, Khmer and French control for hundreds of years.

The system I teach reflects this. There are influences of the Chinese who settled in the southern provinces in terms of Qigong, weapons and forms, while there are techniques such as knees, elbows, headbutts and other weapons that appear more similar in style to Cham and Khmer martial arts.

The system itself is extremely dynamic with long low stances and jumping attacks – something which may well be a result of the difficult terrain. Another unique aspect is the religious side of the art, although it is a Buddhist system there are elements, such as the practice of animal and “spirit” forms that were thought to have been utilized both in self-defense and as Shamanistic practices.

GENE: What do you like most about Vietnamese martial arts?

AUGUSTUS: I find the most interesting aspects are the variety on offer. Across the country there are thousands of different types of martial arts featuring everything from weapons, grappling, throwing, striking and more.

Although predominantly a striker, I once had the opportunity to take part in a festival at a famed “wrestling village” when writing my book and found the fighters to be extremely skilled and powerful— this was a particular favorite experience of mine.

GENE: Are there any distinctive weapons in Vietnamese martial arts? Most of what I’ve seen seems derivative of Chinese styles.

AUGUSTUS: The best-known weapon systems of Vietnamese styles are those from BinhDinh Province, which are predominantly Chinese-style battlefield weapons. However, among the different ethnic people of the region a wide variety of other weapons are used. Some of which include machetes, Karambit, short sticks, the Hmong pen pipe and double-sided daggers similar to the Malay Kris (which some scholars suggest may have actually been initially developed by the Cham people of central Vietnam).

GENE: Regarding the Chinese weapons that are practiced in Vietnamese martial arts, do the Vietnamese do anything different? If I watched a Vietnamese martial artist recite a Guandao form, would it look much different than a Chinese form?

AUGUSTUS: Although the weapons may appear identical, there are likely to be individual flavors and different touches that have developed over geographical distance and time.

For instance, the actual movements and delivery of Vietnamese Guandao forms will differ compared to that of contemporary Wushu, however the fundamental movements are likely to be similar in practice due to the physiology of the weapon itself.

GENE:  Veronica Ngo has been trending a little with her film FURIE and her numerous Netflix films. Where does she stand in the Vietnamese martial arts world?

AUGUSTUS: Veronica Ngo is actually better known in Vietnam as a singer and actress than as a martial artist. However, with films like FURIE and THE REBEL (alongside Vietnamese martial artist Johnny Tri Nguyen), which have both broken box office records in the country, she is certainly well-respected for her abilities. In my opinion, she is doing a great job of representing the nation on an international level and increasing awareness of Vietnam’s martial legacy.