A still image from Daniel Perrier’s film Une Breve Histoire du Boxkator shows students in training at the Bokator Academy of Phnom Penh.
A DOCUMENTARY film on the ancient Khmer martial art bokator, formally known as labokator, will be screened tonight at the French Cultural Centre (CCF) in Phnom Penh.
The 50-minute film, titled Une Breve Histoire du Boxkator (A Brief History of Bokator), was directed by Daniel Perrier, a French artist and instructor at the School of Fine Arts in Nantes.
Perrier shot footage for the documentary during a previous visit to Phnom Penh, and now he is back for an extended stay to take part in a series of art projects at CCF.
The artist said he became interested in bokator after he met San Kimsean, a coach of the martial art, in August 2008. The more Perrier learned about bokator from the coach, the more intrigued he became.
“When I came to Cambodia I met San Kimsean by chance, and as we talked he told me about labokator,” Perrier said. “I knew about martial arts like kung fu and judo, but now I have learned about labokator. I think it is not only a martial art, but also the art of self-defence with real tactics.”
According to oral tradition, bokator dates back to the ninth century and was used to fight enemies on the battlefield. Legends say the technique was created by Khmer farmers who lived near the forest and had to learn to fight wild animals with weapons and bare hands – thus the various bokator techniques that mimic the movements of animals such as tigers, horses and crocodiles. ( Please read more )
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