Vanishing Flame: Burma

[Johntlp]

Cool as hell promo for the upcoming vanishing flame show on burma. I think the burmese ma are real interesting

RAW Teaser on Vimeo

Many of us had the pleasure of training and learning form vincent and its been an honor and pleasure because the man is a fountain of pure information and the show is an extension of the writing. the vanishing flame email newsletter are worth their weight in gold!

[Tee Sok]

I agree, the VF material is indephth and well presented, not tainted by
mere commercial purpose and ego boosters it's just facts and they shine on their own.. One thing I like is that it also encourages the reader (or watcher) to further his/her learning with interesting sources and citations.

The US are too far for me, I missed the first event and I will miss this one too,
I saw that Dr. Gyi will be there among other important guests!

[george stando]

Yeah, his presentation and teaching ability are generally egoless and without any sort of sell or agenda which makes him unique.

kyuss went to the last show and i think is going to this one.

[kyuss]

im a junky for this stuff i read all the graceffo, villalobos and all, vincents ability is way beyond, light years ahead of all those attempting this type of stuff and he can communicate it the best and i am most looking forward to the thai martial arts show if it happens!

[george stando]

real art ways - cinema

[William]

Vincent is a gem.

I'm planning on attending.




William

[Johntlp]

cant make it unfortunately but i will go to the next one for sure! this should be excellent

[george stando]

TTT-saturday is the show!

[kyuss]

I made it to this show and it was incredible. Some great people and masters were in the audience. I am going to try and write up a nice review because this show deserves it. the two films were really insightful and well done.

[Tee Sok]

Thanks, that would be good!

[george stando]

Two of my training partners went and loved it. Heard all the guests were great. They were raving about the show all day to me.

[kyuss]

This is my brief review:

Review: The Vanishing Flame: Burma

The October 1st screening by Vincent Giordano was the second in a series. This one focused on Burmese Martial Arts.

The evening began with Grandmaster M. Gyi giving an introduction talk about Burma and the Burmese Martial Arts. He is a former college professor and his talk was very detailed and quite interesting.

The intro was followed by the first film Burmese Martial Culture. It was an overview of what martial arts are taught in burma like thaing, bando, banshay, naban and even included western boxing and kung fu. It concluded with a part on ancient beliefs that lead into a short film called sound of the drums about the human tigers in southern burma. The film was riveting and was concise. It was something I would like to watch several times more to absorb all that was there. There is nothing out there on Burmese MA that went into that amount of diverse material so clearly even in print.

After the film ended, a panel come up composed of Grandmaster Gyi, a female bando master Mary mester and Vincent Giordano. It was clear right from the start they all had a great rapport and it made for some spirited talks. Grandmaster Gyi anchored it for the first part followed by some excellent dialogue between Mary and Vincent about women and training. Mary was very eloquent and passionate. Vincent let everyone speak freely without stepping on them or interrupting them which i appreciated.

The second film followed called Bare knuckle warriors about Burmese boxing. This film was shown at the first vanishing flame show several months ago. But it seemed new because the second viewing gave me much more insight into the sport. I believe that the films are so dense you need second and third viewing to truly appreciate them.

The second panel came up after the film. It was Master Zulfi Ahmed, music producer Camus Cilli, and Vincent. This discussion was really good and I was afraid it couldn’t match the first dialogue but it clearly stood on its own and to me was superior. Zulfi related stories about learning from his Burmese teacher in Pakistan. Camus talked about music in burma and his experiences traveling with Vincent and being followed around and tailed everywhere they went. He chillingly offered that anyone could disappear there quickly and efficiently without warning.

The program concluded with Vincent talking about being responsible when filming and training in Burma. I went home and really dug into my research, rewatching burma vj and other docs on the subject. Awareness was also raised for orgs like uscampaignforburma, so this was a complete cultural experience beyond just martial arts.

I really enjoyed this show and it was one of the highlights of the year for me. The audience members were all excited and hung around afterward to talk and mingle with Vincent and his guests.

[Tee Sok]

Thank you for your review, the VF event is more than what I thought!
Really interesting stuff, especially the burmese human tigers in Burma.
Also the way the event is presented is good, I like the fact that things
are discussed after the presentation. and I agree Vincent's material is
way beyond enything I have seen and read about Burma, surely because
it comes from serious research, extensive fieldwork and deep understanding.

Scary stuff what Camus said, it can be clearely felt on the Burma VJ documentary
and on Burma Soldier.

[george stando]

thanks, kyuss for the review, nice job!

[Garland]

This film sounds amazing...but with such a limited release I don't know when I'll be able to see it. I know they are just hitting the touring circuit now, but does anyone have a guess as to when they will start putting out dvds?