DVD Review Written by G.S. Stando
Born Warriors is a series of documentaries that focuses on the ancient bare-knuckle fighting sport of Lethwei, which is alternately known as Myanmar Traditional Boxing and Burmese Boxing. The extensive six hour, three-disk Born Warriors Special Edition flows beautifully into the two-hour Bound Fists special director’s solo disk, which represents a close-focused study of a fighting art in transition from its days as a forgotten, struggling sport to its rising popularity as a commodity to export, as well as a symbol of strength for the people of Myanmar.
The Born Warriors Special Edition is a uniquely laid series of three DVDs, which unfolds across several chapters. It is available in a two-disk set as well that omits the special bonus third disk.
Born Warriors is disk one. It’s something that is quite rare. It actually takes you back in time to before the opening of the country. The whole DVD looks and feels different. It totally captures the feel of the training and fighters. Born Warriors is a shorter documentary that many of us saw in various edits during Director Vincent Giordano’s many screenings and talks. It was his idea to make shorter pieces and link them together like a book in chapters. He has succeeded admirably, in that the whole trilogy doesn’t just zig zag all over the place, and rather, stays focused on Lethwei, what it is about, and how it evolves. The idea is that this documentary is about Lethwei the sport.
Everything revolves around the sport and what is happening to it as the decades pass. One dynamic, stand-out piece is the training and training methods section because it exposes how little we know about Lethwei and its training methods in the West. In the West, we mostly have modified Lethwei or various offshoots of it. However, here you see it practiced and taught in its native environment from a multitude of different training perspectives. The other features are Bouts from the Archives, which showcases three fights with three different types of Lethwei fighters. These are full bouts. It closes out with a look at Lethwei Yei, the pre-fight ritual. This is a prelude to a deeper investigation of Lekka Moun Khat on the Born Warriors Redux: Bound Fists DVD. A great disk all by itself.
Born Warriors Redux is disk two. Redux is a documentary that takes us through the opening of the country and how this effects the sport of Lethwei. I found this to be more critical in terms of how the country is viewed and what is going on. In the director’s cut, Bound Fists, the critical focus is lessened and expanded so that the scope is concentrated on the rural communities and the struggles of the sport in modern arenas. Redux tries to mirror the original Born Warriors as it takes us through this new terrain. Some of the people return, but they are older now and some of the participants have passed away during the process of making the documentaries. Several of the documentaries and extended materials are dedicated to many of them. It’s fascinating to watch both the country and sport change. It’s also a deeply-absorbing portrait of a world and culture we rarely see or know.
The bonus material and chapters are equally great on every level. Training and Training Methods Volume 2 is outstanding. The ability to move around and capture a myriad of camps and trainers like this is staggering. The next several chapters go in-depth into Kayin New Year, Thingyan (Burmese new year) and Pagoda festivals—I doubt if any outsider has expanded on and explained this material in such depth anywhere else. The end notes closes this DVD and takes us back around to see what has happened to some of the camps and trainers and how events are evolving.
The Bonus Disk is disk three. This includes the fascinating Born to Battle: Burma vs. Thailand documentary that was originally a special Vanishing Flame release that has been updated and re-edited for inclusion in this set. Once again, a fountain of endless insights that cannot be found anywhere else as the doc delves deeply into how the Burmese and the Thai feel about these yearly fighting events and history. Fight Day takes us into what goes into the day of the fight and concludes with a full match. Bouts from the Archives V2 focuses on the opening fights and fighters, the raw kids who fight three- and four-rounders then goes into a full five round fight featuring ex-champ Lone Chaw, who is also featured in Bouts from the Archives Volume 1. This is a towering effort all the way around.
Born Warriors Redux: Bound Fists is a single disk. It is a special director’s edit. This is the one to get it if you want to know about the sport right now, you want a tremendous and captivating overview, or you just want one disk to see what it is about before investing in the three or two-disk sets. Even if you have the Born Warriors three or two disk set (which you can get without the bonus third disk), you want this presentation as well. The doc is fully realized and crystal clear. This goes much deeper into the rural communities, and is a faster edit that buzzes along at a fair clip, overloading you with tons of information and insight. What you get in the bonus material and chapters here is all new and original.
The Music bonus chapter features an interview with Music Composer/Associate Producer Camus Celli, which I really liked. Mandalay Revisited is a section that takes us back to some of the people in the original Born Warriors to see what has happened to them. Lekka Moun Khat is similarly great, containing a great look at the possible genesis of the distinct opening move that has become a symbol of Lethwei, and a close look at the Thut Ti camp in Yangon, the Shwe Methar Camp and Mundontha Redux, which covers a camp in the Mon State. What you notice is how things are now changing rapidly, camps keep changing names and moving around to try to keep up and stay relevant and competitive.
If you get the Born Warriors three-disk set and the solo Bound Fists disk, you are getting an almost eight hour immersion into the sport of Lethwei, told over close to two decades. This is a monumental effort that harkens back to the days of the late Donn Draeger and Robert Smith, as my friend John Tellipier has said. It is well worth owning even if you have the slightest interest in Lethwei, the fighting arts of Southeast Asia, or even just the country of Myanmar. It will only grow in value over time when they realize what a big effort this is and how it contributes to the overall understanding of this often-forgotten fighting sport.
Vincent Giordano has proven over and over again that he is doing spectacular work in surviving the ancient traditions of Southeast Asian and Indian arts, and this first Vanishing Flame effort is a clear example of that. Buy it and support the research, as well as the next volume of Vanishing Flame releases.
The Born Warriors trilogy and Born Warriors Redux: Bound Fists is available on Amazon.com or through their website. Follow them on Facebook for future updates.
Watch the trailer of Born Warriors Trilogy series.
Check out the Born Warrior YouTube channel for more videos.
