By Dante Scott

Announcing the launch of Martial Arts Odyssey, a new Web TV show starring Antonio Graceffo (The Monk from Brooklyn) as he travels through Asia, training and documenting martial arts.

The first episode was shot in the Philippines, and features Master Frank Aycocho teaching Antonio the art of Filipino unarmed combat, Kuntaw. The pilot episode is airing on YouTube but the full length series will be airing on a martial arts related Web TV Network to be announced after the contracts are signed.

“I love exotic martial arts.” Says Antonio. “The show gives me the opportunity to go anywhere I want in Asia and introduce a worldwide audience to an art that most people haven’t heard of. Kuntaw is a good example. Even in the Philippines many people don’t know about Kuntaw, and it is part of their cultural heritage.”

Graceffo is most well-known for his work to revitalize Bokator, the Cambodian martial art, which was decimated during the Cambodian Civil War. “I have done books and articles about these martial arts, especially Bokator, but Web TV gives me a whole new forum. The power of Web TV is nearly limitless. First of all, unlike my magazine stories, it can be enjoyed by people who don’t speak English. And unlike DVDs or magazines, people can watch for free. Some of the countries where I practice are quite poor. And I am grateful that web TV provides a medium which allows the local people to watch and learn. It also instills pride in people, when they know that the whole world will be looking at their martial art.” Said Antonio.

Currently, episodes are being filmed featuring Bradal Serey (Khmer kickboxing) and Bokator. Other shows in the works for October include Voth Vietnam, MMA, Muay Thai, Muay Boran, and Philippine grappling and kick boxing.

“Through the power of the internet, we now have the ability to preserve all of these ancient arts and make sure that none of them fall into extinction.” Says Graceffo

About Antonio

Antonio Graceffo (a.k.a. "The Brooklyn Monk") is a martial arts and adventure author living in Asia. He is the author of 6 books, including including The Monk from Brooklyn, Adventures in Formosa, Rediscovering the Khmers, The Desert of Death on Three Wheels,Boats, Bikes, and Boxing Gloves: Adventure Writer in the Kingdom of Siam, and his latest book, Warrior Odyssey: The Travels of a Martial Artist in Asia. All his books are available on Amazon.com here. He is also the host of the web TV show, “Martial Arts Odyssey,” which traces his ongoing journey through Asia, learning martial arts in various countries (watch select clips here).

Commenting

Comment, agree, disagree, argue, and throw in your two cents as you like. Just be respectful to your fellow readers or your comments will be deleted. And we have a zero spam policy: if your comment is not directly related to the topic of the article or links to a site with no relation to language learning, it will be deleted immediately.

Leave a Reply