EVENT: Dong Tam Martial Arts @ Sydney Twilight Parade

Its been like forever since I've delved into the world of martial arts. After Maximum Choppage: Round 2, Downtown Rumble and ongoing Quest for Jackie Chan!, I'm still itching for to see some more martial action. What better place to go to is the local Dong Tam Youth Martial Arts Association (1 min from my home!).
Introducing Trung Ly (whom I bumped into time and time again throughout the Vietnamese community), who is the head of Dong Tam and the forefront of this long running dynamo team.

From what I know, Dong Tam Youth Martial Arts Association is one of the oldest in Western Sydney and largest Vietnamese martial arts school in Australia. They specialise in traditional martial arts ranging from Shaolin, Kung Fu, Karate, Judo, Hapkido, Tae kwon do and kick boxing. Their specialised class is XMA (Xtreme Martial Arts) and Dong Tam is well known for its lion dancing performances across Sydney.

Anyhow, check out their involvement in this year's City of Sydney Twilight Parade via the clip that I filmed (with my camera team) and edited below.

For more info, check out their site www.dongtam.com.au. They are Fairfield based (New South Wales, Australia).

Here's my film buddy, Adrian Castro's BLOGCAM version.

Below is a few photos of the night.

CAMERA CREW: Maria Tran, Adrian Castro, Shaun Cheng, Lorrie Peduto & Emily Wong
EQUIPMENT: David Minh Tam Nguyen, Khoa Nguyen
EDITED BY: Maria Tran
TEAM MANAGER: Trung Ly
COORDINATORS: Khoa Nguyen
PERFORMANCE TEAM: Tony Minh Tri Pham, Jimmy James Pham, David Nguyen, Tony Nguyen, Lily Phan, Tony Phan, Peter Phan, Thien Nguyen, Charles Lu, David Truong, Ian Tran, Jimmy Tran, Lisa Tran, Katherine Ho, Jonathan Truong, Alan Tran, William Nguyen, Martin Ha, Sarah Ngo, Peter Lam, Jessica Sen, Jimmy Tran #2, Stephanie Ho, Christian Hernandez, Caitlin Vo, Bradley Tran, Andy Truong, Khanh Lam, Joanna Tram, Son Dang, Suzanne Thai, Jenny Huynh, Ronald Nguyen, Christina Doan, Sean Truong, Johnny Nguyen, Wattanak Sam, Jimmy Nguyen, Anna Le, Kevin Doan, Bill Nguyen.

UPDATES: Life...In the Fast Insomniac Lane

Chilling out at North Stradbroke Island

Date: Sat, 21 Jan, 2012
Location: Its been a pit-a-pat-a day. I'm home now.

Oh dear...My last blog has been over a month ago. December 2011 ended with an entanglement of intertwining projects, the biggest on my plate was the research and production work on "Once Upon A Time In Cabramatta", in between filling the role as workshop trainer for the "Twinning Project" with schools across Western Sydney and Griffith and connecting the dots in the "One Day in Cabramatta" engagement as managed by Information & Cultural Exchange (ICE) and SBS. The has been plenty of hard hitting challenges along the way, and a string of lovers and haters and come and go and sometimes even poke in to say "Congratulations" or wave the index finger at me saying "sell out".

A big lesson this year is, you can never please everybody, nor do you have to. I've learnt a very nifty trick that I've used time and time again, especially to the critics, "What have you done to address this problem/ opportunity/ situation?". It is so easy to point fingers to who's irresponsible, who's doing a bad job, the woulds, the coulds and the shoulds. People who are quick to judge need to beware. If you haven't done anything, sit down and shut up. What I've learnt is I can say that now. Instead of defending myself, shine the mirror of reflection outwards and gage the reaction.

Other highlights in 2011 was the numerous travels to Melbourne for the collaborative work with Youcake! Production on "Interpretations" and their assistance to make my "Quest for Jackie Chan! - Who Am I" Shoot a possibility.

The Asian Australian Film Forum, held in Melbourne late last year was another good moment for reflection on identity and a communal think tank opportunity for all of us to continue the good works we do. Check out the awesome video I compiled for them here.

I started joining the 9Lives Team and also Invincible Worldwide in December. Together they help me figure  out the stunning "Quest for Jackie Chan! Playground Shoot".

I made my film buddy Adrian Castro my co-producer for the "Quest for Jackie Chan!" and that was a good jump start move to getting the project finished. He has been helping me with the shoots, marketing and in general, film watching.

Finally, who could resist free trips around the world, courtesy of once a stranger and now a promising pal, Trung Ly - Head of Dong Tam Association, the most long standing martial arts lion dancing team in Sydney. In 10 crazy days we managed to go to Singapore, Malaysia and my favorite place - Japan. Travelling really opens your eyes to the world and all the little problems back home is meaningless when you step back and see the world in an interactive lens.

You might ask, so what's your day job? The 9-5 thing you do that gives you the bread and butter to you know, survive? Lol! All I have to say is, the life of a freelancer is a turbulent one. I haven't had a week's rest and often juggling 2-3 jobs in one go. The pay is still there, but a field like this requires more energy expenditure than the 9-5 one. I believe the rewards are much more higher, and those nagging little kiddish dreams are much more possible.

So what's 2012 in store for me? My birthday is coming up on the 30th and I'll be a good 27 this year. I'm heading to Hawaii and then Hong Kong pretty soon and I guess my focus this year is getting back into martial arts training if time permits, acting and filmmaking. But most importantly, finish on the "Quest for Jackie Chan!". I believe if you put your mind to it, anything is possible.

Peace out and lots of love,

Maria Tran