Nguyễn Lộc (born 8 April 1912 in Huu
Bang, district Thach That, province Son Tay, Vietnam; died 4 April 1960)
is the founder of the Vietnamese martial art known as
Vovinam
Vi�t V� Dao.
Nguyễn was the eldest of five children.
His parents Nguyễn Dinh Xuyen and Nguyễn Thị Hoa moved often, partially
due to the French colonialisation of Vietnam. They finally settled near
H� Nội.
When Nguyễn was old enough, his father
asked an elder martial arts master to teach Nguyễn traditional martial
arts and wrestling. In the following years he studied the traditional
martial arts, wrestling and Eastern philosophy, later traveling abroad
to further these studies.
In 1938, Nguyễn introduced his style "Vovinam" to the public. After a
demonstration in 1939 in Ha Noi, Vovinam quickly spread across the
country.
After Nguyễn's death in 1960, Grandmaster
Le Sang continued the development and worldwide distribution of Vovinam.