Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia Hoang Vinh Giang was voted chairman of the Vietnam Traditional Martial Arts Federation at a recent meeting in Hanoi.

The Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Olympic Committee will take charge of the federation in the 2013-17 term.

The new chairman said in the first quarter of 2014, he would promote plans to promote Vietnamese vovinam throughout the world, and lobby for its inclusion at the 28th Southeast Asian Games in 2015 in Singapore and the later Games in Brunei and Vietnam.

Vietnamese traditional martial arts have been practised in 100 countries and territories by hundreds of thousands of followers. It is now one of the world’s most popular sports.

Central Binh Dinh province is the cradle of Vietnam’s martial arts and recognised as the birthplace of traditional martial arts in Vietnam from the time of the Tay Son-Binh Dinh martial arts school in the 18th century. It has proudly continued the tradition of producing some of the country’s best talents in the discipline.-VNA