Vovinam was born and has evolved out of Vietnam's history of anticolonial resistance. Major techniques are focused on attacking the necks of fast cavalry soldiers and armored infantrymen, the invading forces.
Vovinam was founded in 1938 by Nguyễn Lộc (1912 – 1960) with the intention of providing people an efficient technique of self-defense after a short period of study. The first school of Vovinam outside of Vietnam was established in Houston, Texas in 1976 by Vietnamese emigrants. By the year 2000, Vovinam schools had been established in various countries like Australia, Canada, Belgium, France, Spain, and so on.