Krabi-Krabong is a weapon-based martial art from Thailand. It is closely related to other Southeast Asian fighting styles such as Pencak Silat Indonesia, Burmese banshay and Cambodian kbach kun boran. The royal bodyguard corps of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej were said to be highly trained in krabi-krabong.
Muay Boran or originally Toi Muay is an umbrella term for the ancient unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s.
Banshay is a weapon-based martial art from Myanmar focusing primarily on the sword, staff and spear. Influenced by both Indian and Chinese sources, it is closely related to similar Southeast Asian systems such as Thai krabi krabong, Cambodian kbach kun boran and Malay silat.
Lerdrit, Muay Lert Rit or, Leert Rit is the generic name attributed to the set of principles and fighting techniques employed by Siamese warriors for centuries on Southeast Asian battlefields. This form of Muay has been used primarily by the Royal Thai Army‘s Palace Guard, the Capital’s Defense Corps, war elephants’ Defense Units and Special Infantry Corps. Siamese Lert Rit was based on a clever combination of the Nine Natural Weapons (Nawarthawooth), i.e., hands, feet, knees, elbows and head, which were used to attack and defend. It was also based on the four ancestral strategies used by Special Infantry Corps: Tum, Tap (crush), Chap (grab), Hak. Muay of today is a traditional martial art born from the ancestral precepts of Siamese warriors, adapted to the self-defence needs of modern practitioners, regardless of their physical characteristics and the conditions under which its techniques are applied. However, several Western martial arts practitioners have developed modern adaptations that combine elements of Muay Thai with those of other martial arts which they now market as Muay Boran.
Pradal Serey or Kun Khmer is a combat sport that originated in Cambodia. The official Khmer name of the sport is Kbach Kun Pradal Khmer. In Khmer, pradal means fighting or boxing and serey means free. Thus, pradal serey may be translated as "free fighting" or "free boxing". The sport consists of stand up striking and clinch fighting where the objective is to knock an opponent out, force a technical knockout, or win a match by points.
An elbow strike is a strike with the point of the elbow, the part of the forearm nearest to the elbow, or the part of the upper arm nearest to the elbow. Elbows can be thrown sideways similarly to a hook, upwards similarly to an uppercut, downwards with the point of the elbow, diagonally or in direct movement and in several other ways, like during a jump. Elbow strikes are native to traditional Southeast Asian martial arts, traditional Chinese martial arts and traditional Okinawan martial arts.
Dha is the Burmese word for "knife" and "sword" similar term to daab or darb in Thai language for a single edge sword. The term dha is conventionally used to refer to a wide variety of knives and swords used by many people across Southeast Asia, especially present-day Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Yunnan, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Bokator is an ancient Cambodian battlefield martial art used by the ancient Khmer military. It is one of the oldest fighting systems existing in the world.
Dance in Thailand is the main dramatic art form in Thailand. Thai dance can be divided into two major categories, high art and low art.
The origins of Asian martial arts are diverse and scattered, having roots in various regions of Asia. Various Asian martial arts reference the study of animal movements as inspiration for martial arts techniques.
Cambodia has increasingly become involved in sports over the last 30 years.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cambodia:
Muay Lao is an ancient combat sport from Laos. It incorporates punches, kicks, elbow, and knee strikes. It can be traced back to the 15th century when it was used for military combat during the Lan Xang dynasty. It is similar to Muay Thai from Thailand and Pradal Serey from Cambodia. Muay Lao was an event at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane.
Musti-Yuddha is a traditional combat sport originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term literally means "fist combat", from the Sanskrit words muṣṭi (fist) and yuddha. While this would originally have been used as a general term for any boxing art, today it usually refers to muki boxing from Varanasi, the only surviving unarmed style. In the Punjab there still exists an armed form of boxing called loh-musti in which the fighters wear an iron ring on one hand, although it is no longer used for sparring.
Kbach Kun Boran Khmer is a Khmer term literally meaning "ancient Cambodian martial arts techniques". It consists of 12 core techniques and 8 "door systems" or footwork patterns. Usually, students learn from different masters who specialize in different weapons or areas of expertise. Armed combat or ani-yuth incorporates three main weapons, namely the dav, the dambong veng and the dambong clei. Unarmed fighting or atmani-yuth makes use of Baok Chbab (wrestling) and non-sport version of pradal serey.
Antonio Graceffo is an American economist, China analyst, martial artist, and author who has lived in several Asian countries. He is a frequent guest, providing analysis of the Chinese economy and geopolitics, on various shows on New Tang Dynasty Television, including Talking Points, The Wide Angle, China in Focus, and Forbidden News. He is also the host of the web TV show, Martial Arts Odyssey, which traces his ongoing journey through Asia learning martial arts in various countries. Graceffo is credited with helping to revitalize the lost Khmer martial art of Bokator by being the first to report on it in English in the post-Pol Pot era. Beyond martial arts, Graceffo is also a student of multiple languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, German, Spanish, Italian, and French.
Martial Arts Odyssey is an American web TV show with a martial arts travel theme. Created and hosted by Antonio Graceffo, the series has run more than 180 episodes shot in Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia. Martial arts featured on the show include: Muay Thai, Muay Chaiya, Pradal Serey, Bokator, Filipino Kuntaw, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Kung Fu, Silat Kalam, Silat Melayu, Tomoi, boxing, Muay Lao, Ziyou Bodji, urban combat, Lai Tai, Muay Boran, military hand-to-hand combat, Silambam, and others.
Kun Khmer competitions at the 2023 SEA Games took place at Morodok Techo National Stadium, Phnom Penh. Kun Khmer or Pradal serey is an ancient Cambodian variation of Kick boxing, dating back to the Khmer Empire in the 9th century AD. A total of 19 medals were awarded.
