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: Moul Vongs, Picture by : Sem Vannjohn. |
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Khmer kick
boxing, or ‘Khmer free boxing’ as some
people refer to it, has become a popular televised
spectator sport recently, and national station TVK
is now getting into the act with a Sunday fight
round to be
beamed around the country live from Parkway in Phnom
Penh.
"The athletic combat sport calls for agility,
flexibility and
toughness as fists and feet of two competitors fly
in a fight to the bitter end," said Mr Mel
Kado, General Secretary of Cambodia Amateur Boxing
Association.
"Exponents use moves with exotic names like
kla-krab (tiger lying down), and krapeu-ha (crocodile
opening its mouth) to force their opponents into
submission."
Increased access to viewing the sport has lead to
a revival in the numbers of young men practicing
it (in Cambodia, boxing is not a sport for women),
with about 40 boxing clubs now operating nationally
under 19 municipal and provincial amateur boxing
associations.
"Boxing is becoming popular again, especially
amongst young people in the provinces," |
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Fighters use their hands
and feet in a skillful display of Khmer
Boxing.
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Mr Nang Ravith,
Vice President of the Khmer Amateur Wresting Association
and owner of the Baksei Cham-krong Fight Club said.
"To promote it, my club is now including it-both
modern and traditional styles-among our other styles,
like Grecco and Khmer wrestling, Judo, Karate and Kungfu,
for instance."
But there is concern among some, such as the Ministry
of Culture and Fine Arts, that Khmers do not realize that
this sport originated here and that, although similar
to the Thai sport of Muay Thai, it is intrinsically Khmer,
down to the carved images of ancient boxers immortalized
in bas-relief on the walls of the Angkor temples. Khmer
boxers have in the past refused to attend bouts in Thailand
called Muay Thai tournaments, suggesting instead it be
called Sovanna Phum (Golden Village) Boxing and objecting
to what they see as a Thai attempt to appropriate the
sport. The Thais in turn have argued that no one has ever
heard of Muay Khmer, and have refused to change the name.
The decision wrinkles with many in Cambodia and has created
minor international incidents between the two at times.
"The Angkorian Empire far pre-dated the Ayutthaya
Kingdom (1350-1767) and even the Sokothai Kingdom (1200),"
Mr Chuch Phoeun, Under Secretary of State for the Ministry
of Culture said. |
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A Khmer boxer being blessed
before a fight carved in bas-relief on the wall
of the Bayon Temple in Siem Reap.
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"A
senior Thai expert, a friend of mine, recently conceded
to me at an ASEAN cultural experts meeting that
prior to the Ayutthaya Kingdom, that Siam copied
from the Angkorian Empire, and Sokothai was still
in the feudal stage."
But war, Khmer experts like this say, has meant
that the inventors of the sport now lag well behind
their neighbors in practice. That, officials say,
will change over coming years as the Khmers fight
back to regain recognition in the sport. Whatever
the world federations decide to call it, there is
a passion for kick boxing here that is only now
being recognized, partially through television,
to rise to levels of popularity seen in the sixties.
Each bout is accompanied by the haunting music of
the skor yaul (a type of drum), the sralai (a flute-like
instrument) and the stringed chhing and as the boxers
come out and bow solemnly in their traditional headgear,
the roar of the crowd calls them to battle. Kbach
Kun Pradal Khmer the official Khmer name for kickboxing
_ thought to have originated as a sort of hand-to-hand
combat technique for soldiers during war, and in
ancient times there were no weight
divisions. Instead the sport was fought on an all-comers
basis. The |
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sport has since
become more regulated, and is fought in a 6.1 meter square
ring in the same style as conventional western boxing
bouts, with five 3-minute rounds broken by one minute
rests between rounds.
Bouts are decided by the referee or officials, and a knockout
is deemed to be when a boxer is knocked down and cannot
rise within 10 seconds.
Now local boxers will get the chance to take on their
Thai rivals and let their fists and feet do the talking
when the Parkway fights get underway in the first week
of Januray..
Guest fighters have already been invited to take on local
heroes in what the station expects to be a ratings bonanza,
given the popularity of the sport and the extra spice
of international rivalry. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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