THE 1ST EVVF SEMINAR – MILAN 2014

The EVVF invited its member countries for the 1st Technical and Referee Seminar in Milan, Italy from May 1-4, 2014. For this occasion the Masters and instructors of European countries were invited to train in Buccinasco to learn about different teaching techniques regarding the matter of Quyen, Song Luyen, Da Luyen/Tu Ve Nu, Vat/Khoa Go principles, fighting and the evaluation for tournaments. Furthermore, the attendants were taught about the scoring system of Vovinam fighting and gestures of the referees.
On the first day, the EVVF Advanced Grading Examination was held for applicants for the 3rd and 4th Dang. For this, 8 Môn-Sinh (4 for the 3rd Dang and 4 for the 4th Dang) from Belgium, Italy and Romania were examined by the EVVF Examination Committee established by the Vovinam’s Master Council and the WVVF : Master Michele Garofalo (6th Dang), Master Vittorio Cera (5th Dang) and Master Huu Nghia Le (5th Dang).
After the Grading Examination and a small break, the delegations were welcomed by the hosts for this event, Master Michele Garofalo and Master Vittorio Cera. The technical seminar started shortly after the introduction with the first course in Song Luyen and the focus on Song Luyen Ba. Master Vittorio Cera and Master Huu Nghia Le explained in theoretical and practical training the importance of the applicability of the techniques and the realism of the fight, while distinguishing between the teaching for a graduation or a tournament.
On Friday, the technical seminar was continued by Master Vittorio Cera who adjusted several Quyens (Long Ho Quyen, Tinh Hoa Luong Nghi Kiem Phap and Ngu Mon Quyen). The goal of this part of the technical seminar was on one hand to try to have one equal content regarding Quyen for all countries of the EVVF, which shall be passed on by the instructors and masters of each national federation and also to make the judgment easier for championships. Like before, there was a good equilibrium between theory and practice.
During lunch break, an EVVF Executive Committee meeting was held. Some administrative matters were discussed and small preparations concerning the upcoming 3rd EVVF European Vovinam Championship in Warsaw were done. Moreover the EVVF Council of Masters was established with the three masters Master Jean Michel Sudorruslan, Master Michele Garofalo and Master Dai Chieu Tran. Their duty is to advise the Executive Committee and preserve the traditional part of Vovinam. There were also other changes within the EVVF: Master Huu Dai Le becomes the Head of Referee and takes over the part of Master Vittorio Cera who now is the Technical Director of the EVVF who is coordinating the Technical Commission with the following members: Master Huu Nghia Le, Master Sergio Mora Hernandez and Master Viorel Ichim.
After the meeting, the 54th Commemoration of Founder Master Nguyen Loc was held in the gym. All groups were invited to ignite incense sticks in memoration of the Grand Master. As part of the ceremony, Master Michele Garofalo – Chief of Examination Committee, announced the results of the exams. All examinees passed the exam, which means, that the EVVF obtains 4 more Masters wearing the 4th Dang! Congratulations to the new Masters and also the new 3rd Dang instructors.
The day ended with a short introduction by Master Huu Nghia Le into the section of Da Luyen and Tu Ve Nu as part of the technical seminar. Especially in this part, the attendees were divided into smaller groups to prepare a small demonstration based upon the training beforehand.
As a last part of the practical seminar, Master Michele Garofalo showed us the importance of the correct application of Vat and Khoa Go techniques. Like before it was emphasized that the performance should project an actual fight and therefore should be done as realistic as possible, which is why the credibility of some techniques were being put to the test again in practical training.
The lunch break was held at a different place, chosen to start the referee seminar. All participants were given a handout for the scoring system, based on the WVVF system and which shall be used for all upcoming events. In this mainly theoretical part of the seminar, scoring sheets were filled after watching different videos of former World Championship events to compare and discuss the results. All participants were made aware of the responsibility of this task.
To complete the technical course, a small fighting seminar held by the Masters Michele Garofalo, Vittorio Cera and Gabriel Nechita was done to train examples of Vovinam specific techniques. After talking beforehand about the scoring system of the fights in Vovinam championships and the experience of European fighters at international events, the focus of the fighting seminar was laid as such.
The seminar as a whole was completed until noon on Sunday in which the gestures of the referees were taught by the person in responsible for this matter, Master Huu Dai Le with the part of the now former Head of Referee Master Vittorio Cera. As an additional part of the seminar, Siarhei Sharenda showed the attending members of the EVVF an electronic system, his national federation developed for fighting championships, which was used and tested at once during the seminar.
After three days of teaching, learning and exchanging with the different members, the first seminar organized by the EVVF for technical matters and referees turned out to be a huge success, which means, that there will be lots of others to follow in the near future.

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TECHNICAL SEMINAR 5