Vietnamese martial artists will compete in the first ever Asian Vovinam Championships to be held at Kish Island , Iran , from July 17-22.

A 12-member team will take on rivals from India , Pakistan , Iraq , Afghanistan , Indonesia and hosts Iran .

There will be eight gold medals on offer in performance events and 12 others in competitive events, including five in the women's section.

Vietnam will compete in three performance events and three men's and four women's combat events.

Vo Danh Hai, general secretary of World Vovinam Federation (WVVF), said the competition will coincide with the World Martial Art Games also to be held in Iran .

Vovinam will be one of the 11 demonstration events at the games.

The WVVF will organise two training classes for umpires and coaches.

Vietnam is also sending three umpires, Nguyen Tan Nghia, Nguyen Thanh Sang and Nguyen Thi Tuyet Loan, to the championships./.