Vine
Vine is a new mobile app by Twitter that allows you to make GIF-like, 6 second film loops and post them kinda like how Instagram posts. I’m on Instagram but I’m not on Vine, but my husband is and because he’s into these types of things – he’s a Social Media Consultant by trade – he’s been experimenting with Vine the last 10 days or so. I’m pretty impressed by the medium – I never considered how much you can pack into 6 seconds of movement – and we thought it might be nice to post some of the stuff my husband has been recording as it captures elements of what’s been happening at the camp under a different view.
I like that it’s kinda like Twitter in that you only get a limited number of characters, but it’s limited time. Twitter can be mind-numbingly dull due to this limit but can also force poetry for those who are more thoughtful with it. What can one express in 6 seconds?
Some Light Sparring with Rodrigo
Rodrigo has been at Lanna for far longer than I and he’s a great energy and presence there. I like him a lot. He’s also kind enough to offer to spar with me wherein he’s mainly defending and I get to practice overt offense with power. This clip is a little disjointed in its editing, so it ends up looking a little dream-like to me.
Me Being a Jerk
More sparring with Rodrigo. He was showing me how to over-reach on a right cross and use that extension to grab behind the head and knee when someone is against the ropes. Kevin loves this clip because it’s recorded evidence of me being a jerk, chasing Rodrigo down when we didn’t agree on a tacit break being called after I threw the knee.
Pink Hand Wrapping
Simple enough, wrapping my hands with bright pink wraps. I do this several times per day and it has become automatic.
The Golden Buddha at the Silver Temple
This temple is in the “old city” of Chiang Mai. The inside is all red and gold with very high ceilings. I never get tired of visiting temples.
Practicing Push Kicks on Daeng
This is a drill with Daeng where he wanted me to teep walking forward and then teep walking back over and over again. The staccato editing makes me look like the highlight clips they show of fights on TV.
Fights Just Getting Started
This is the start of the fights out in Lampoon that I went to the other night, to see Big and Neung fight. Kevin makes fun of my cartoon facial expressions all the time and he was excited to capture my wide-eyed twitch as things got going.
Big Exiting the Ring After Victory
This is my favorite Vine. We were standing ringside in Big’s corner and he’d just won by knee KO after a fight that looked better for the other guy prior to the knock out. Big’s got a lot of swagger and he just took his bows, made sure the kid was okay and then walked confidently over to his corner to get out. Men go over the top rope in Muay Thai – the entrance to a fight is often a “hopping over” of the rope, but the way out is often this kind of ladder stepping. With the lights behind him and his grasshopper limbs, I feel it expresses something about the experience of watching Muay Thai in Thailand that my words never quite reach.
