The annual tournament, under the auspices of the Algerian Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Algerian Vovinam Federation, aims to honour the spirit of the martial art and encourage the practice of Vovinam in the African country.

This year the championship drew the participation of nearly 300 artists from 66 clubs across the nation. Thousands of trainees and fans came to cheer on their favourites at the final round.

After hours of thrilling competition, the Algerian Security and Sport Association took first place with nine gold and four silver medals. Wydad Riadhi des Eucalyptus came second with three gold, six silver and one bronze medals, and AS Protection Civilile finished third with three gold and one bronze medals.

At the event, Minister-Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria Trinh The Hung commended the practice of Vovinam in the African nation, saying he is willing to endorse activities organized by the Algerian Vovinam Federation in a bid to promote development in the country.

Introduced to Algeria in the 1970s, Vovinam has become popular and is now practised by over 20,000 people across the country.

Vovinam (Viet Vo Dao) was founded by Nguyen Loc (1912-1960) in 1936 but developed in 1938 with a view to providing practitioners with an efficient method of self-defence after a short period of study.

Vovinam is practiced with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of combining ‘hard’ and ‘soft’. It is not only about the training the body, but also the mind.

Vovinam is practised in more than 60 countries and territories, with millions of learners at thousands of Vovinam clubs./.