{"id":6,"date":"2019-06-09T17:30:12","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T00:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999953406"},"modified":"2019-06-09T17:30:12","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T00:30:12","slug":"in-pictures-star-of-surviving-bokator-brings-the-martial-art-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/in-pictures-star-of-surviving-bokator-brings-the-martial-art-to-life","title":{"rendered":"IN PICTURES: Star of ‘Surviving Bokator’ brings the martial art to life"},"content":{"rendered":"

The martial art of Bokator can be simultaneously balletic and brutal.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s most well-known Bokator fighter is Tharoth \u201cLittle Frog\u201d Sam.<\/p>\n

She looks angelic and lithe\u2014she tips the scales at less than 120 pounds. But if you\u2019re pitted against her in the MMA octagon do not underestimate this woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a bad ass,\u201d Sam said.<\/p>\n

Tharoth is one of the main subjects in the documentary \u201cSurviving Bokator,\u201d which screened at the Khmer Arts Academy on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The \u201cLittle Frog\u201d accompanied the film\u2019s director Mark Bochsler at the screening.<\/p>\n

The documentary focuses on Bokator grandmaster San Kim Sean.<\/p>\n

Bokator is a Cambodian martial art that was in danger of becoming extinct.<\/p>\n

During the Pol Pot era, those who practiced this martial art were systematically exterminated by the Khmer Rouge. San Kim Sean was able to flee to safety, but after the Pol Pot regime the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia began and native martial arts were completely outlawed.<\/p>\n

The documentary focuses on the grandmaster\u2019s efforts to revive Bokator by teaching the discipline to young students like Tharoth Sam.\u00a0(She got the sobriquet from her love for a Cambodian amphibian delicacy.)<\/p>\n

Director Mark Bochsler has set out to screen his film around the world to gauge response for the documentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I researched places to show the movie I found out that Long Beach is an epicenter for Cambodian immigrants in the U.S.,\u201d Bochsler said.<\/p>\n

One of the first audiences to see the film was in Long Beach and Bochsler has been back several times.<\/p>\n

Bochsler followed San Kim Sean for more than five years. The grandmaster successfully taught local youth in Phnom Penh including Tharoth Sam but he wanted to re-establish the art throughout all of Cambodia.\u00a0\u00a0Some of the living masters were nearly 90 years old. But their age wasn\u2019t the challenge. These men still held fears of the terrors of the Pol Pot regime. After much persuasion, he was eventually successful in reintroducing Bokator to nearly all of Cambodia.<\/p>\n

The Little Frog is Cambodia\u2019s Bokator shining star\u2014literally and figuratively. She\u2019s an MMA superstar and a movie star as well. She\u2019s been in eight movies including Angelina Jolie\u2019s historical thriller \u201cFirst They Killed My Father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Bokator you must fight with your head,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And despite her size, she won\u2019t deny that she has the heart of Muhammad Ali.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I can also jump like a frog.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” demonstrates the martial art after the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” demonstrates the martial art after the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam stars in this image from the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” which was screened at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” talks with some of her fans before the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” talks with some of her fans before the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth Sam, one of the stars of “Surviving Bokator,” poses for a portrait after a screening of the film at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Leesah Nomichith gets a lift from her mom before the screening of the documentary “Surviving Bokator” at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Mark Bochsler, director of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” talks with guests before a screening of the film at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” demonstrates the martial art after the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” demonstrates the martial art after the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Mark Bochsler directed and filmed the documentary “Surviving Bokator” which was screened at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Mark Bochsler, director of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” is reflected in a mirror as he talks about his film before a screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” demonstrates the martial art after the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, one of the stars of the documentary “Surviving Bokator,” demonstrates the martial art after the film’s screening at the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
San Kim Sann is the subject of the movie “Surviving Bokator,” which was screened at Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tharoth “Little Frog” Sam, is emotional after receiving a commendation from the city of Long Beach after a screening of the documentary “Surviving Bokator” on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Alkofer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bokator grandmaster San Kim Sean, who starred in the film “Surviving Bokator”, demonstrated the martial art in Long Beach on Saturday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":65539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[14],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-bokator","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}