Nhất Nam is a martial art originating from Vietnam, formalised in Hanoi from 1983 onwards by Ngô Xuân Bính. The name Nhất Nam derives from Sino-Vietnamese characters from "One Vietnam" (一南), and is to be distinguished from Nhật Nam ("Sun South" 日南), the Vietnamese name for the ancient Chinese Rinan Han commandery in northern Vietnam. The "One" expresses the "unification" of features of Vietnamese martial arts. Ngô Xuân Bính formalised these features in his book on the basics of this unified approach in “Nhất Nam căn bản” Volumes 1 and 2, ("Basic Nhất Nam," căn bản means "basic.")