Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Looking for Help with Vovinam Martial Art Style

Icelander · 12-19-2018, 07:29 AM

I'm going to be featuring characters who've learned the Vovinam style from Vietnam in an upcoming campaign.

How would I write it up?

If it matters, there might be two lineages of the style in play. One where the student learned in Hanoi, in the 1940s, from the original founder, Nguyễn Lộc, and another where the the instructor learned in Saigon in the 1960s, from Grandmaster Lê Sáng and several others, before emigrating to Houston in 1976 and opening a school there.

I figure that there are similarities with Burmese thaing, Banshay and maybe Krabi Krabong, as well as Burmese, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai kickboxing. The grappling aspect seems to teach both Judo and Wrestling skills, at least if one studies the traditional wrestling parts, which makes it possibly similar to Bando naban. I don't know if GURPS Martial Arts write-ups for various silat forms are useful for inspiration, as silat is a very broad grouping of styles, and the Chinese influences might well be more important.

What I'm primarily wondering about are the armed parts. I think that I can do the Karate, Judo and Wrestling parts well enough, but I haven't decided whether the armed skills should be fencing skills or not. Krabi Krabong and some silat styles, using similar weapons, use Main-Gauche and Smallsword or Saber for sticks, knives and sabers.

Would it be wrong to model the armed parts of Vovinam with fencing skills?

12-19-2018, 07:29 AM	#1
Icelander Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Iceland*	Looking for Help with Vovinam Martial Art Style I'm going to be featuring characters who've learned the Vovinam style from Vietnam in an upcoming campaign. How would I write it up? If it matters, there might be two lineages of the style in play. One where the student learned in Hanoi, in the 1940s, from the original founder, Nguyễn Lộc, and another where the the instructor learned in Saigon in the 1960s, from Grandmaster Lê Sáng and several others, before emigrating to Houston in 1976 and opening a school there. I figure that there are similarities with Burmese thaing, Banshay and maybe Krabi Krabong, as well as Burmese, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai kickboxing. The grappling aspect seems to teach both Judo and Wrestling skills, at least if one studies the traditional wrestling parts, which makes it possibly similar to Bando naban. I don't know if GURPS Martial Arts write-ups for various silat forms are useful for inspiration, as silat is a very broad grouping of styles, and the Chinese influences might well be more important. What I'm primarily wondering about are the armed parts. I think that I can do the Karate, Judo and Wrestling parts well enough, but I haven't decided whether the armed skills should be fencing skills or not. Krabi Krabong and some silat styles, using similar weapons, use Main-Gauche and Smallsword or Saber for sticks, knives and sabers. Would it be wrong to model the armed parts of Vovinam with fencing skills? __________________ Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!