The Art of Eight Limbs

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Muay Thaai, otherwise known as ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’, is Thailand’s form of boxing that makes lethal use of eight contact points of the body, including the hands, shins, forearms, knees and feet. It has become one of the primary reasons for martial arts devotees to visit the country – from the serious practitioner training for the next fight, to the casual tourist looking for a little physical conditioning between days on the beach.

Love Without Boundaries

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They sound like customs that belong to a forgotten culture of an ancient community. The Mosuo people do not traditionally marry, but engage uninhibitedly in consensual relationships with different and often multiple partners

Revisiting the Samurai

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Today it is Tokyo but once, many lifetimes ago, the same city was Edo, the imperial capital of Japan. Amidst the marks of modernity – the skyscrapers, the flyovers and the neon signs – are hidden hints of a world many think are lost, but which are just waiting for the eagle-eyed to discover.

Pilgrims to the Centre of the Earth

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They were all waiting for the same thing. When a squawking chicken tumbled over the volcano’s rim into their line of sight, nets moved in unison trying to predict the hapless fowl’s trajectory. Only one villager might have enough luck to bag the bird; while others can only wait for more to come.

Reviving the Ancient Silk Road

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Oval faces and almond eyes characteristic of the ethnic Han Chinese people are hardly seen in this oasis city at the northwestern tip of the country, located almost 4,000 kilometres from Beijing. Belonging to the Uyghur ethnic minority, the people of Kashgar are of Turkic origin, following the Islamic faith and with Central Asian physical features.

Freya Stark, the Passionate Nomad

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You should be careful which books you give your daughters, because you never know what irrepressible, adventurous spirit they might engender. For Freya Stark (1893–1993), the desire to escape and explore was sown on her ninth birthday when she was given One Thousand and One Nights, the famous collection of Arabian tales.

A Totem of her Generation

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Identifying herself as a Franco-Belgian photographer of Chinese origin from Malaysia, Diana’s transient life between three different continents has informed most of the philosophy behind her photography. Diana explores the ancient ritual of adorning women with symbolic clothing, religious objects, amulets and heirloom jewellery. Her purpose is to fuse the past and the present, the traditional and the modern, and to effectively create new possibilities of defining a woman’s identity.

The Soul of a Sailor

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Atoll, which comes from the Maldivian word atolu, means a ring-shaped reef, island or chain of islands that are formed of coral. Indeed, the name is apt as the island-nation of Maldives, made up of 26 atolls, is now sending its first Atoll Sailor around the country.