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In Travel News
Myamar/Burma
The Cyclone is new, but the Suffering is Old
By Antonio Graceffo
Rape, murder, forced labor, slavery, human mine detectors, torture, detention, mass execution: the sad life of the Shan ethnic minority.
Guest Producer Any To, of the United States, using my videos, photos and radio interviews, has created a summary video, explaining the suffering of the Shan minority people.
Watch it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrh7OjKCaPg
Please say a prayer for the victims of the cyclone and for the people of Shanland.
Antonio Graceffo has been embedded with the Shan State Army inside of Burma. This article is part of the “In Shanland” project. To raise awareness about the plight of the Shan people Antonio will release one print article and one video per week for a year. He is giving these media away for free to ensure that they will reach the largest audience. You can watch all of the Shan videos released to date on youtube.
http://ie.youtube.com/results?search_query=antonio+graceffo+shan+state+army&search_type=&search=Search
Antonio is self-funded. If you wish to contribute to the “In Shanland” film project, you can do so through paypal, through the Burma page of his website.
http://speakingadventure.com/burma.htm
Currently, Antonio is attending paramedic training in Manila, while waiting for word that he can return to Burma as part of a medical aid mission.
shan,state,army,burma,burmese,junta,war,rebel,shanland,antonio,graceffo,cyclone,myanmar
Checkout Antonio’s website http://speakingadventure.com/
Get Antonio’s books at amazon.com
The Monk from Brooklyn
Bikes, Boats, and Boxing Gloves
The Desert of Death on Three Wheels
Adventures in Formosa
The Trailer for the first ever Bokator movie has been released.
By Dante Scott
“Before there was Muay Thai, there was Bokator”
The trailer for the new film about Khmer Bokator has just been released and is available for free on youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vb8f0K9Jdyg
The ancient Cambodians didn’t leave many written records to tell us how they lived. Fortunately the history was somewhat preserved in the stone carvings on the walls of Angkor Wat and in the arts, handed down from generation to generation.
Grand Master San Kim Saen is the man credited with surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide, and then returning to Cambodia to revive the dying Khmer Martial Art of Bokator. Today, he works closely with writers and film makers in an effort to document his country’s art and share it with the world.
Film producer, Tim Pek, of Transparent Pictures, whose family endured the hardship of the Pol Pot Regime, was a child refugee to Australia. Now, as an adult, he has returned to his home country to make films, giving a voice to a people in a desperate need to tell their story.
The release date of the Bokator film was delayed because Tim was working on another Khmer film, called “The Red Sense.” Shot in Australia, the story revolves around a young woman who discovers that the Khmer Rouge soldier who killed her father, is alive and well in Australia. She is torn between wanting to take revenge or if in forgiving her father’s executioner, she could bring healing to herself and her people.
Both films show the deep cultural and religious roots of the Khmer society. Bokator is about martial art, but it tells so much more.
The first half of the Bokator film is a documentary, telling the origin and nature of the martial art. The second half is a mini-film, starring martial arts and adventure writer Antonio Graceffo, called “Brooklyn Bokator.”
Always the baddie in Asian action cinema, Antonio plays a boxer from Brooklyn, with a bad attitude and a fat belly who gets beat up by an old man. Seeking revenge, he returns to boxing trainer, played by his real-life coach Paddy Carson, asking his coach to get him in shape so he can beat up the old man.
“If an old man beats you, then you must not fight him, you must learn from him.” Says Paddy.
“As always, I was honored to play in a Khmer movie. I am so grateful for all of the email and support that has come to me from Khmer people around the globe.” Says Graceffo, who receives countless emails, daily. “The actual acting was pretty funny. I play a big out of shape boxer from Brooklyn. It wasn’t much of a stretch. The story is in a lot of ways, based on my own experience of coming to Cambodia to train. For example, in the beginning of the film, my character doesn’t speak Khmer. And he gets a little sick when his training brothers ask him to eat spiders. By the end, he gets used to all of that and he learns to respect the spirit of Angkorian warrior.”
Checkout Antonio’s website http://speakingadventure.com/
Get Antonio’s books at amazon.com
The Monk from Brooklyn
Bikes, Boats, and Boxing Gloves
The Desert of Death on Three Wheels
Adventures in Formosa
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On Home Page
Kuntaw, Philippine Martial Art on Web TV
By Dante Scott
Announcing the launch of Martial Arts Odyssey, the new Web TV show, starring Antonio Graceffo (The Monk from Brooklyn) as he travels through Asia, training and documenting martial arts.
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3haZwrsY_oM
The first episode was shot in the Philippines, and features Master Frank Aycocho, teaching Antonio the art of Filipino unarmed combat, Kuntaw. The pilot episode is airing on youtube but the full length series will be airing on a martial arts related Web TV Network to be announced after the contracts are signed.
“I love exotic martial arts.” Says Antonio. “The show gives me the opportunity to go anywhere I want in Asia and introduce a worldwide audience to an art that most people haven’t heard of. Kuntaw is a good example. Even in the Philippines many people don’t know about Kuntaw, and it is part of their cultural heritage.”
Graceffo is most well-known for his work to revitalize Bokator, the Cambodian martial art, which was decimated during the Cambodian Civil War. “I have done books and articles about these martial arts, especially Bokator, but Web TV gives me a whole new forum. The power of Web TV is nearly limitless. First of all, unlike my magazine stories, it can be enjoyed by people who don’t speak English. And unlike DVDs or magazines, people can watch for free. Some of the countries where I practice are quite poor. And I am grateful that web TV provides a medium which allows the local people to watch and learn. It also instills pride in people, when they know that the whole world will be looking at their martial art.” Said Antonio.
Currently, episodes are being filmed featuring Bradal Serey (Khmer kickboxing) and Bokator. Other shows in the works for October include Voth Vietnam, MMA, Muay Thai, Muay Boran, and Philippine grappling and kick boxing.
“Through the power of the internet, we now have the ability to preserve all of these ancient arts and make sure that none of them fall into extinction.” Says Graceffo
Click here to view Martial Arts Odyssey, Kuntaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3haZwrsY_oM
You can contact Antonio Graceffo through his website speakingadventure.com or you can join him on his myspace myspace.com/antoniobrooklynmonk
Checkout Antonio’s website http://speakingadventure.com/
Get Antonio’s books at amazon.com
The Monk from Brooklyn
Bikes, Boats, and Boxing Gloves
The Desert of Death on Three Wheels
Adventures in Formosa
Adventure writer Antonio (The Monk from Brooklyn) Graceffo is working as a martial arts consultant for the History Channel’s new martial arts TV series, “Human Weapon.” The show features two American MMA fighters who travel around Asia, studying different martial arts. Each episode closes with the Americans fighting a local master or champion.
Graceffo had this to say about being selected to work on the show. “When they called me and told me about the show, I laughed. I said, that just sounds like my real life.”
Graceffo, a former investment banker, left the financial world after the September 11 terrorist attacks. For the last six years he has been traveling around Asia, studying martial arts, fighting, and writing books and magazine articles.
“Basically, my role in the show, in addition to appearing on camera a bit, was to seek out, train with, and spar as many of the masters as I could to see which ones would be good for the show. It’s been grueling, but fun, rolling, wrestling, and kick boxing with some excellent martial artists.”
In addition to “Human Weapon,” Graceffo will appear on another History Channel show, called “Digging for the Truth,” in an episode featuring Angkor Wat, which airs in September.
“The connection between Cambodian Martial Art, Bokator, and Angkor Wat is a deep spiritual relationship which the Khmer people are very proud of. They asked me to come on the show and demonstrate Bokator and explain some of the history.”
Checkout Antonio’s website http://speakingadventure.com/
Get Antonio’s books at amazon.com
The Monk from Brooklyn
Bikes, Boats, and Boxing Gloves
The Desert of Death on Three Wheels
Adventures in Formosa
Asia Transpacific Journeys
Includes Calendar of Festivals
In Small Group Trips and Custom Departures
BOULDER, CO, April 2007 -- Asia Transpacific Journeys is at the forefront of what's new and hot in Asia and the Pacific, yet also includes centuries-old rites and celebrations in its Small Group Trips and Custom Journeys programs.
"We map our trips several years out so we can include remote and supremely authentic celebrations such as South India's Wadakkancherry Festival that we'll experience next February. But we also love the famous festivals, such as the Pushkar Camel Fair, which we visit this November," says Marilyn Downing Staff, CEO of the 20-year-old company.
Following are festivals coming up in Asia Transpacific Journeys 2007- 2008 calendar. For details on the trips surrounding these events, please see http://www.asiatranspacific.com.
July 2007 - Mongolia: the Naadam Festival was originally religious, but now celebrates Mongolian independence. It features "manly" activities including wrestling, archery and horse racing, although women now participate in the latter two. The Naadam in Ulaanbaatar is by far the most renowned in all of Mongolia: in a two-day stint you can witness the Flag Ceremony on the main square, the Opening Ceremony in the stadium, and the wrestling and archery competitions. Grab a seat for the famed horse racing in the surrounding countryside. In the evening witness a performance of Mongolian folk song and dance.
November 21-24, 2007-India: the Pushkar Camel Fair draws livestock traders from all over western India, but that isn't all. Like nearly every gathering, large and small across the country, the lunar calendar dictates the date of the festival, transforming a mere livestock show into an auspicious spiritual confluence of man and beast. There will be mystics and musicians, camel-wallahs and priests, and vendors plying their wares from the far corners of Rajasthan. It's a riot of color and activity, from sacred bathing rituals to camel races. Stay in a private tented camp, which provides a comfortable and secure haven for your two nights here.
November 23-24, 2007 - Thailand: Loy Krathong is known as the festival of lights. Thailand's most colorful festival, falling on the first full moon each November, will take place Nov 23-24, 2007. At noon boat races are held along the Ping River. This special festival will allow visitors to see the graceful longboats gliding through the water, straining neck to neck for the finish line. In the evening, as the sun falls, pilgrims launch thousands of tiny banana-leaf boats, each carrying a single candle. This is a delicate and mystical scene, enhanced by the light of the full moon.
January 2008 -Myanmar (Burma): Ananda Temple Festival in Bagan is feted for one month, coinciding with the January full moon. The temple, already stunning in the daytime setting, takes on a spectacular radiance in the glow of carnival lights. Entire villages arrive in caravans of covered carts, bringing bed¬ding, cooking pots and dry rations, while rafts bearing pottery and other household goods float downstream toward the fair. The approach to the Ananda Temple is then lined with stall after stall selling a variety of goods for sale, from household knickknacks to huge jars to deli¬cious sweet and savory delights.
Trips range from 14-17 days for Small Group Trips (maximum 16 guests) and cost from $4,395 per person (depending on destination) for land costs that include highest end accommodations, nearly all meals, transfers, visa fees, tips, entrance fees, medical and emergency insurance and a comprehensive pre-departure packet. Asia Transpacific Journeys can also arrange international air through its in-house air department.
Asia Transpacific Journeys has been crafting private Custom Journeys and Small Group Trips to the Asia/Pacific region since 1987.
Says CEO Downing Staff: "Our intimate, in-depth style promotes cross-cultural understanding, encourages environmental sustainability, and fulfills long-held personal dreams." She notes that Asia Transpacific Journeys regional expertise also makes Asia Transpacific Journeys the operator of choice for dozens of America's most demanding universities and museums.
For 2007 Asia Transpacific Journeys itineraries of Small Group Trips and Custom Journeys encompass over 20 countries in North Asia, South Asia, SE Asia and the Pacific. Some trips also support global conservation and cultural preservation. Asia Transpacific Journeys own non-profit Asia Transpacific Foundation, established in 1998, works with rural Asian communities to provide clean drinking water through locally made ceramic water filters.
National Geographic Traveler (Oct 2006) has selected Asia Transpacific Journeys' Myanmar Trip as one of "50 Tours of a Lifetime"
For more information please see http://www.asiatranspacific.com or call toll free 800-642-2742.
Press contact: Sara Widness
sara@widnesspr.com
802 234 6704
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