The Vietnamese martial art of Vovinam is taking off, literally. The sport, which is synonymous with high-jumping scissor kicks and flashy aerial maneuvers, is beginning to find itself a home outside of Vietnam.

Vovinam’s guiding principals are similar to those of Japan’s Aikido, where smaller fighters often use their opponent’s strength and weight to neutralize them. A running theme of the sport is what is called: the spirit, or ‘Viet Vo Dao’, which means ‘the way of the man’, referring to a moral code, honor, and respect.

The ‘Viet Vo Dao’ spirit is grounded on the principals of strength and forgiveness, where a man can only beat opponents with his heart and not his strength.

It is this spirit which has attracted students from across the globe to attend the inaugural Vovinam Championships this week in Ho Chi Minh City.

They will stand where Vovinam was born and pay tribute to the creator by bowing at the Altar Hall.

Vovinam first found its flying legs and kicks in Hanoi in 1938. The late martial arts master Nguyen Loc hoped it would spur patriotism in the face of a widely-unpopular occupation by the French.

After his death in 1960, his best student, Le Sang, was charged with taking over the reins of the budding sport, moving the headquarters and altar with him to HCMC.

While receiving practitioners from abroad this week, Master Sang told his students that he derives no greater pleasure than to see his charges excelling at the locally grown martial art.

Florin Macovei, a practicing master from Romania is a true believer. Since he took up the sport, he has visited Vietnam 16 times, attaining the highest ranking of a yellow belt.

Each visit has him living and training with his masters for upwards of a month. Masters Le Sang and Nguyen Van Chieu – the world’s top two superior masters – put him through his paces and teach him new techniques and fighting styles.