HCM CITY — A book on the history of Vietnamese traditional martial arts was released in HCM City on Sunday.

The book, chronicling the development of Vietnamese martial arts from Van Lang State (BC 2879-258) to date was compiled by Pham Dinh Phong, vice president of Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts Federation over more than 10 years.

The 784-page book has two sections. The first introduces the historical, cultural and social context in which Vietnamese martial arts developed, its legends and heroes, schools and so on.

The second section details the Vietnamese martial arts system with descriptions of various kinds and techniques.

There are more than 150 martial arts schools now open in different parts of the country.-VNS