Khmer Kickboxing

Something I came across thats very interesting.

KHMER KICKBOXING AND ITS BRIEF HISTORY

Prior to Angkor Era when many great Khmer temples were
built, there was no Vietnam in the Mekong delta region
of Cambodia nor was there any independent Thailand and
Laos until toward the decline of Angkor. Thailand and
Laos won their independence from Khmer Angkor, and
thus, these two nations have very strong Khmer culture
and tradition that is very similar Cambodia in every
way. The difference is war in Cambodia and stability
and peace in Thailand in previous years. As a result,
tourists can only visit Thailand and learn about the
Thai culture and tradition. So Thai culture and its
tradition was Cambodian in origin, but the Thailand
and its people do not educate the world and their
people the true even there is Angkor Wat as the
evidence.

Pradal Serey/Kun Khmer (Khmer KickBoxing) was created
in Cambodia from the 9th to 14th Century during the
Angkor regime when the Khmer Empire dominated and
controlled most of what is now Thailand, Vietnam, and
Laos. It was broadly used among the Cambodian Military
to protect the country of Cambodia from being invaded
by its neighbors.

The Art of Pradal Serey/Kun Khmer is a very brutal and
rigorous art-form which uses every single part of the
human body, the hands, legs, elbows, knees and feet.
It has been practiced and passed down from generation
to generation.

Historically Pradal Serey/Kun Khmer predated Muay
Thai. This fact is well recorded in the bas-relief
left behind by early Khmers in the ancient temples of
Angkor Wat. Much of the writing on this ancient Khmer
art has either been destroyed or adopted by the
invading Thai armies and governing institutions during
the rise of the Thai people in the 13th century. There
have been many heated debates of the true origins of
kickboxing on this issue. Pradal Serey was a very
important influence to the development of Muay Thai
and other Southeast Asian forms of kickboxing.

These statues carved from solid stones at the temple's wall. The Angkorian Empire far pre-dated the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350-1767) and even the Sokothai Kingdom (1200).

The Near Extinction of Pradal Serey/Kun Khmer

On April 17, 1975, during the chaos of the Vietnam
War, A communist group called "The Khmer Rouge" took
the opportunity to overthrow the Cambodian government
and rose to power. Their plan was to destroy the
current Cambodia and restart it anew as a peasant
country. To do so, they destroyed all documents,
executed all educated people and others whom had ties
to the old government (doctors, teachers, soldiers,
actors, singers,Pradal Serey practitioners, etc.) and
threw the remaining Khmer population into labor camps,
in which many died of starvation and diseases, to be
re-educated under the new government. An estimated 2.5
million Cambodians died during Khmer Rouge Regime.
This lasted for four years until 1979 when the
Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge.

Pradal Serey or Kun Khmer had been banned during the
Khmer Rouge era and because of this, the art of Khmer
Kickboxing had almost become completely wiped out of
Khmer history while Thai has all the access lying to
the world through Television such as ESPN, HBO and so
on. Today Pradal Serey/Kun Khmer is being revived
after decades of devastation and near extinction.

Pradal Serey/Kun Khmer Today

Numerous gyms have opened and large masses of
students, local and foreign, have come to train in
Cambodia. There are weekly matches held, in which many
are televised, and many of Cambodia's best have
traveled internationally to compete. There are
currently schools of Pradal Serey located in Cambodia,
Europe, The United States, Australia and other parts
of Asia. Cambodia is trying hard to promote the sport
as the Thai did with Muay Thai.

While we were in the war, Thailand did its best to
monopolize kickboxing and promoted its sport Muay Thai
worldwide, and succeeded. The Thai have set up an
international boxing committee in which almost 100
countries participate which lead to the why Southeast
Asian kickboxing is widely known as Thai boxing which
the world being lie by Thai of its style's origin

At an ASEAN meeting in 1995, Thailand wanted to rename
Southeast Asian kickboxing as Muay Thai or Thai
Boxing. The Cambodians proposed to rename the sport
as "Sovanna Phum" boxing or "SEA Boxing", which
represented Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
Sovanna Phum means "golden land" in both the Khmer and
Thai which came from the language of Pali and refers
to mainland Southeast Asia. "SEA" is a popular acronym
referring to Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, the Thais
would not compromise and the world still being blind
even such as evidences on Greatest Angkor Wat.

But however and whatever claims those countries
bordering Cambodia made, the truth to the roots of
their cultures could be traced back to the Khmer
Empire by means of the great Angkor Wat, the Khmer
Classical and Traditional Dances, Khmer Musical
Instruments, etc. That's an undeniable fact.

Our Philosophy

A True believer, One must know how to use their "Pa
NiaNien" to be able to know the sudden response during
the time being, "Pa DekNien" to be able to judge from
right to wrong in your past, presence and future, "Ga
TekNiein" know how to mentor oneself from every
circumstance you see or seeing doesn't quite believe
but to be able to know the secret truth that lies
beneath it. Wisdom is the pinpoint key to every
individual thoughts and success.

Like as for right now, the words that I am describing
you might not make a lot of sense because we lack of
communication. Let's say your eyes could see my
writing, but lack of hearing from the ears or
expression of the body movements and face. This is
when you need to used all three of those 3 principles
up there that I've just quoted. Ask yourself if
everything I've said so far make sense and does it
interests you or should you trust us because these are
only words that have to be said and done. Words can
only say so much let us walk you through a little of
what our art is like. Pradal/Kun Khmer has its form
and its meaning, soft and fluid movements much like
that of our ancient traditional dance. The 12 original
forms which then breaks into many fighting and killing
forms.

Pradal Serey/Kun Khmer based on the four elements:
Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. These four elements also
represent you as a whole being: Earth being your
foundations, self confidence, and inner strength.
Water is to be flexible, act as crushing waves to
defeat your enemy. Wind is to move very lightly, your
speed and strength. And Fire is to never give up,
forceful and powerful.