Following in the Footsteps

Following in the Footsteps from Jeff Sainlar on Vimeo.

Phuket Vegetarian Festival

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is a colorful event held over a nine-day period in October, celebrating the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind.

One of the most exciting aspects of the festival are the various, (and sometimes gruesome) ceremonies which are held to invoke the gods. Firewalking, body piercing and other acts of self mortification undertaken by participants acting as mediums of the gods, have become more spectacular and daring as each year goes by.

A New Beginning from Jeff Sainlar on Vimeo.

Children of Muay Thai(In Progress)

Muay Thai Child Gladiators     

Children of Muay Thai in Thailand begin training and fighting as young as 4 and 5 years old.These children are drawn in to Muay Thai prize-fighting, in what they see as a route out of poverty. Parents of poor children are keen for them to fight in the hope that if they start early enough they can develop the necessary conditioning and skills for big fights in Bangkok, where the money is.                                             

It is the country’s national sport and is to Thailand what football is to England, with leagues and successful fighters being treated like celebrities, which is what many of these youngsters hope to become.                                 

These little fighters are upholding a centuries old tradition and despite their young age, the fight is very real with none of the boys holding back on kicks and punches and battle it out until they are left bruised and bloodied.

 

Vietnam