GUIDELINES

The First Official Meeting of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Safeguard Group, hereinafter referred to as MYVTSG, online meeting, April 13^th, 2024

Recognizing that the processes of globalization and social transformation, alongside the conditions they create for renewed dialogue among communities, also give rise, as does the phenomenon of ignorance, to grave threats of deterioration and disappearance of the Ving Tsun System, in particular owing to a lack of resources for safeguarding such heritage,

Being aware of the conscious individuals’ will and concern to safeguard the Ving Tsun System,

Recognizing that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals, play an important role in the production, safeguarding, maintenance and re-creation of the Ving Tsun System, thus helping to enrich cultural diversity and human creativity,

Noting the far-reaching impact of the activities of Moy Yat Institute in establishing normative instruments for the protection of the Ving Tsun System, in particular the Children Program, Experiential Program and Safeguard Program.

Noting further that no binding multilateral instrument as yet exists for the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System,

Considering that existing international agreements, recommendations and resolutions concerning the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System need to be effectively enriched and supplemented by means of new provisions,

Considering the need to build greater awareness, especially among the younger generations, of the importance of the Ving Tsun System and of its safeguarding,

Considering that the international community, represented by the International Ving Tsun Federation, should contribute, together with the leaders of this group, to the safeguarding of such heritage in a spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance,

Recalling Moy Yat Institute’s programs relating to the Ving Tsun System, in particular the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Safeguard Program, Ving Tsun Experience Program and Essential Martiality for Kids.

Considering the invaluable role of the Ving Tsun System as a factor in bringing human beings closer together and ensuring exchange and understanding among them,

Adopts this Text of the Safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System on this thirteen day of April 2024.

Article 1 – Purposes of the Text

The purposes of this Text are:

(a) to safeguard the Ving Tsun System;
(b) to ensure respect for the interpretation of the individuals concerned about the Ving Tsun System;
(c) to raise awareness at the local, national and international levels of the importance of the Ving Tsun System, and of ensuring mutual appreciation thereof;
(d) to provide for international cooperation and assistance.

Article 2 – Definitions

For the purposes of this Text,

1. The “Ving Tsun System” includes the practices, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the equipment, weapons and cultural spaces associated therewith – that clans, families and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by clans, families and individuals in response to their environment, their their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.
 
2. The “intangible cultural heritage”, as defined in paragraph 1 above, is manifested inter alia in the following domains:

(a) oral traditions and expressions, including terminology as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage;
(b) performing arts;
(c) social practices, ceremonies and festive events;
(d) knowledge and practices concerning nature;
(e) traditional craftsmanship.
3. “Safeguarding” means measures aimed at ensuring the viability of the Ving Tsun System, including: 
(a) identification, 
(b) documentation, 
(c) research, 
(d) preservation, 
(e) protection, 
(f) promotion, 
(g) enhancement, 
(h) transmission (particularly through formal and non-formal education),
(i)  revitalization of the various aspects of such heritage.

Article 3 – Other measures for safeguarding

To ensure the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System present in its space, each Access Center shall endeavor to:

(a) adopt a general policy aimed at promoting the function of the Ving Tsun System in society, and at integrating the safeguarding of such heritage into strategic programs;
(b) b) create one or several strategic instruments to safeguard the Ving Tsun System in order to adapt to individual needs;
(c) foster scientific, technical and artistic studies, as well as research methodologies, with a view to effective safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System, in particular its domains in danger;
(d) adopt appropriate legal, technical, administrative and financial measures aimed at:
(i) fostering the creation or strengthening of institutions for training in the management of the Ving Tsun System and the transmission of such heritage through digital platforms and spaces intended for the performance or expression thereof;
(ii) ensuring access to the Ving Tsun System while respecting traditional learning of specific domains of such heritage;
(iii) establishing documentation for the Ving Tsun System and facilitating access to them.

Article 4 – Awareness-raising and capacity-building for the safeguarding

Each Access Center shall endeavor, by all appropriate means, to:

(a) ensure recognition of, respect for, and enhancement of the Ving Tsun System in society, in particular through:
(i) educational, awareness-raising and information programs, aimed at the general public, in particular young people and children;
(ii) specific educational and training programs within the strategic groups concerned;
(iii) capacity-building activities for the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System, in particular management and scientific research; and
(iv) non-formal means of transmitting knowledge;
(b) keep the public informed of the dangers threatening such heritage, and of the activities carried out in pursuance of this Text;
(c) promote education for the protection of places of memory whose existence is necessary for expressing the Ving Tsun System.

 

Article 5 – Participation of clans, families and individuals

Within the framework of its safeguarding activities of the Ving Tsun System, each Access Center shall endeavor to ensure the widest possible participation of clans, families and individuals that create, maintain and transmit such heritage, and to involve them actively in its management in order to:

(a) ensure better visibility of the Ving Tsun System 
(b) raise awareness of its significance, and 
(c) encourage dialogue which respects cultural diversity.

Article 6 – Programs, projects and activities for the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System

1. On the basis of proposals submitted by Access Centers, and in accordance with criteria to be defined by the Leaders Committee and approved by the Founder of the MYVTSG, the Leaders Committee shall periodically select and promote national, subregional and regional programs, projects and activities for the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System which it considers best reflect the principles and objectives of this Text, taking into account the special needs of developing center.
2. To this end, the Leaders Committee shall receive, examine and approve requests for assistance from Access Centers for the preparation of such proposals.
3. The Leaders Committee shall accompany the implementation of such projects, programs and activities by disseminating best practices using means to be determined by it.

Article 7 – Cooperation

1. For the purposes of this Text, cooperation includes, inter alia, the exchange of information and experience, joint initiatives, and the establishment of a mechanism of assistance to Access Centers in their efforts to safeguard the Ving Tsun System.
2. Without prejudice to the customary practices, the Access Centers recognize that the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System is of general interest to humanity.

Article 8 – Forms of assistance

The assistance to a Access Center may take the following forms:

(a) studies concerning various aspects of safeguarding;
(b) the provision of experts and practitioners;
(c) the training of all necessary staff;
(d) the elaboration of standard-setting and other measures;
(e) the creation and operation of infrastructures;
(f) the supply of equipment and know-how;
(g) other forms of financial and technical assistance, including, where appropriate, the granting of low-interest loans and donations.

Article 9 – Conditions for assistance

1. The Leaders Committee shall establish the procedure for examining requests for assistance and shall specify what information shall be included in the requests, such as the measures envisaged and the interventions required, together with an assessment of their cost.
2. In emergencies, requests for assistance shall be examined by the Leaders Committee as a matter of priority.
3. In order to reach a decision, the Leaders Committee shall undertake such studies and consultations as it deems necessary.

Article 10 – Requests for assistance

1. Each Access Center may submit to the Leaders Committee a request for assistance for the safeguarding of the Ving Tsun System present in its space.
2. Such a request may also be jointly submitted by two or more Access Centers.
3. The request shall include the information together with the necessary documentation.

Article 11 – Reports by the Access Centers

The Access Centers shall submit to the Leaders Committee, observing the forms and periodicity to be defined by the MYVTSG, reports on the measures taken for the implementation of this Text.

Article 12 – Reports by the Leaders Committee

1. On the basis of its activities and the reports by Access Centers, the Leaders Committee shall submit a report to the Official Meeting at each of its sessions.
2. The report shall be brought to the attention of the Founder of the MYVYSG.

Article 13 – Authoritative texts

This Text has been drawn up in English and Portuguese the two texts being equally authoritative.

Article 14 – Registration

This Text shall be registered in the official website of the MYVTSG at the request of the Founder of the MYVTSG.

DONE at Niterói, this thirteenth day of April 2024.