Silat has been a symbol of pride and identity among Malay communities for centuries as a traditional martial art passed down from generation to generation. Inspired by Malaysia’s natural surroundings, silat has grown as a way to socialize as well as a way of life for its practitioners. \n\nIt also encourages practitioners to explore their inner world and contributes to building the Malay identity and enriching community life. In this video, three silat practitioners and researchers from Malaysia explain the history and philosophy of silat through cinematic reenactments and interviews.

Kazakh traditional Assyk games are an ancient tradition in Kazakhstan. Each player has their own set of ‘Assyks’, traditionally made out of the talus bone of a sheep, and a ‘Saka’ dyed in bright colours. Players use their Assyk to knock out other Assyks from the field, and the focus is on the position of the bone. \nAssyk refers to the astragalus of the ankle of a sheep or goat. The bones are collected and used for traditional games and fortune-telling throughout Central Asia, and games involving the ankle bones may also be referred to by the name of the bones. Common size assyks may be painted bright colours. Main assyk – saka usually is bigger. Such bones have been used throughout history, and are thought to be the first forms of dice. In English language source assyk may be referred to as "ankle bones", and playing with assyk is sometimes called ankle bone shooting.\n

Assyk games have been almost the most popular types of games among the nomadic Kazakhs since ancient times. Assyk is the talus bone of a sheep or a goat. Assyk atu is the oldest game of the peoples of Eurasia, as confirmed by archaeological data. Astragalus-Assykians were found in southern Kazakhstan, in the burial place of Borizhari, dating from between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Assyks were painted, drilled from the inside, and filled with lead, which gave them weight, and allowed players to be more accurate. Boys between 5 and 15 years old have typically been the main players. Assyk games include demon taban, alsha, and cantalapai. While there are many variants of the game, the essence is basically the same—knocking out the main assyk of opponents.

Preserving and transmitting craftsmanship for centuries, a yurt is not a mere dwelling, but also a creative workshop for folk art. Yurt embodied all kinds of decorative and applied arts. Meeting all the demands of everyday life, it carries both aesthetic and ritual functions.

Silat has been a symbol of pride and identity of the Malay community for centuries, being passed down through generations. From being a martial art primarily used for self-defence, silat has grown into becoming a life principle for its practitioners. Through cinematic reenactments and interviews, three silat practitioners and researchers in Malaysia explain the history and philosophy of silat through its three fundamental elements — foundation, pillar, and movements — designed to build character and instill values of civility.

Spring Rain is an original dance based on the Shuixiu dance, a traditional dance of the Zang people which has become a representative form of Chinese classical dance. It expresses the rain falling in spring and beautiful natural landscapes in elegant movements.\n\nShuixiu dance is a ‘long sleeved dance’ performed while wearing clothes with long flowing sleeves. It is characterized by the flinging and catching of the long sleeves. The essence of Shuixiu dance lies in its harmonious and beautiful curves. It represents the aesthetic character of Shuixiu while keeping with the unique philosophy and temperament of the Zangs, which seeks harmony, peace, coexistence and concordance.\n\nShui Xiu dance, originally performed at religious rituals, was relatively preserved in its original form due to the isolation of the Tibetan society until the 1950s. Its artistic value came to light internationally after the opening up of China in 1978. With the coming of the ‘New China’ era, large numbers of Shuixiu practitioners began to move to large cities to spread the dance, leading to its present day status as a traditional dance enjoyed by the entire Chinese nation.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙Original dance based on the Shuixiu dance\n∙Vigorous flinging of the long shuixiu sleeves\n\nPerformed by College of Art, Chengdu Sport University\nDirected by 로봉

The tradition of domestication of falcon, hawk and eagles, and train them to the hunting has transmitted in world countries from the ancient time until today. The tradition to hunt with eagles is widely practiced among Kazakh ethnic groups of Mongolia. The custom of hunting with eagles is not only the daily necessity of life, but a great contribution to the development of a sport, competitions and festivals. Hunters develop a strong relationship and spiritual bond with their birds, and strong commitment and care is required to train, handle and fly the eagles. Traditional equipments such as hood, bewit, jess (short strap around the leg of an eagle), gauntlet (gloves), immovable seat, fork supporter on a horse, feeding bag and cup are used for the falconry.

Dazo, the art of traditional bow and arrow making is an important intangible cultural element of Bhutan but the skills involved in the art is fast disappearing. The traditional bamboo bows and arrows were used to play archery. Archery is Bhutan’s national game. It is a popular sport especially among the male population. Archery promotes social cohesion, harmony and the preservation of tradition and shared values. But the use of traditional bows and arrows are increasingly becoming unpopular owing to a large number of people preferring to use foreign bows and arrows over the traditional ones, which are now easily accessible in the market. This has led to decline in the skills involved in making of the traditional bamboo bows and arrows. Today, there are only few people who acquire the skills required to make the traditional bow and arrow.

Dazo, the art of traditional bow and arrow making is an important intangible cultural element of Bhutan but the skills involved in the art is fast disappearing. The traditional bamboo bows and arrows were used to play archery. Archery is Bhutan’s national game. It is a popular sport especially among the male population. Archery promotes social cohesion, harmony and the preservation of tradition and shared values. But the use of traditional bows and arrows are increasingly becoming unpopular owing to a large number of people preferring to use foreign bows and arrows over the traditional ones, which are now easily accessible in the market. This has led to decline in the skills involved in making of the traditional bamboo bows and arrows. Today, there are only few people who acquire the skills required to make the traditional bow and arrow.\n\nProcess of cutting.\nMan selecting superior yangka bamboo reeds to be used as an arrow. Yangka is a rare bamboo species which is considered the best quality over other bamboo species that grows in pairs. Traditionally, it is believed that person who cuts the bamboo reed has to pray and at one go cut both the reeds and run away from the site of its growth. If not, it is beleived that mist and fog would shroud the whole area and make paths invisible.

Archery is one of the Three Manly Sports and it has its ancient roots. The distance of the contemporary sport of archery is 45 feet or 75-80 meters. The shooting targets made by weaving leather strips into a tub-shape. There are two forms of shooting targets. One is a walled target, another is an individual target. The wall target is the arrangement of targets in a stack. The individual target is the arrangement of targets in row. The archers can use only blunted arrows. Then two shooting teams alternately shoot and test their skills. During the archery, archers say ‘Khurai, khurai, khurai’, the encouragement of archers to shoot. The winners are awarded with title of Mergen or ‘good marksman’ and an epithet.

Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand and a traditional martial art that excites audiences around the world. Although Muay Thai was originally a combat art developed for national defense, as peace prevailed it became over time a type of festive entertainment enjoyed by many. \n\nMuay Thai fighters train to manifest cosmic energy through body movements known as yantra and perform a ritual called wai khru before fights to express their gratitude to their instructors. This video shows the true meaning of Muay Thai and the spirit of the Thai people through aspects of Muay Thai training.

This is an original dance based on the ‘Shoulder Bell Dance’, a representative folk dance of the Qiang people. While the Shoulder Bell Dance originated from the shamanic rituals of the Qiang, it has since evolved into a popular dance performed by women during traditional holidays and ethnic festivals.\n\nThe Qiang is a minority ethnic group that lives in Sichuan Province, China. The history of the Qiang people dates back 4,000 years, being almost as long as the history of the Chinese civilization. Due to geographical conditions limiting their interactions with other ethnic groups, the Qiangs have managed to preserve a their culture in its original form relatively well. Music and dance have been a part of daily life and a respite from its hardships for the Qiang since ancient times. The Qiangs are particularly talented in dance, and continue to uphold a remarkable culture of dance.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙Originates from shamanic rituals in primitive religion\n\nPerformed by College of Art, Chengdu Sport University\nDirected by 로봉