Thursday, May 15, 2014

Torn Cloth - fighting without gloves in Thailand

ThaiBoxing or MuayThai is a common thread on this post - a sport very close to my heart. I usually try and focus on the women fighters - yes, I know talk about a niche within a niche.

But you know when you go to Thailand you see MuayThai as a broader sport, so it makes sense at some level. That's by way of justifying landing a video of boys into this women's space!

'Torn Cloth' is a documentary made on the boys and men who fight bare-knuckle in the border region between Thailand, Laos and Burma. You may know this area better as the Golden Triangle. Refugees from the sporadic conflict in Burma live in camps here, some for decades. Many of them are from hill-tribes discriminated against in all three nations.

Poverty doesn't begin to describe the lives many people here lead, but for boys or men at least there is a chance to make money by fighting. It's tough, as one of the interviewees here says: 'Fighting is painful. Some people will have broken hands, broken jaws, broken ribs. Most of the fighters are quite old now, but this is their job.'

You can follow the filmmakers on Twitter: @TornCloth or find out more on Ronin Films.


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