# Khmer Boxing/Muay Thai Style



## LoneRider

I've been doing some research on Muay Thai and the Khmer Boxing styles of Thailand and Cambodia respectively and notice a lot of similarity. I presume the two styles are fairly closely related. 

The wikipedia on Cambodian kickboxing suggests that Khmer boxing is basically the older forms of Muay Thai with less modernization. 

Is anyone here more knowledgable on the Khmer Boxing/Muay Thai connection?


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## destructautomaton

we were discussing someof this in the other forum wiht bokator. the best person tocheck with is vgiordano/blackdiamondcobra who iswriting a book ont hesubject get on his mailing list and get the newsletter stuff,you wont regret it you want the serious hardcore researched thing.his site is not up yet. http://www.vanishingflame.com


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## xfighter88

The link you posted wasn't very informative. I emailed the address will touch back if I hear anything.


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## destructautomaton

the site's not up yet but he is by far the most researched and trained you will find on the topic---- hopefully you will get  aresponse from him as he travels a bunch--


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## tenzen

Pradal has more focus on elbows. There is alot more grid paterned movement instead of just standing around waiting for the kicks or punches to react. Pradal is more elusive than muay. But it all boils down to the same thing. Muay, tomoi lethwei and pradal serey are all pretty much the same. For instance is u watch a muay fight u will see more clinch work and knee work in pradal mor elbos and powerful kicks.


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## NevaGiveUp

I visited Cambodia last Spring 2014 and fell in love with the arts and culture. The ethnic Khmer people of the Khmer Empire (before Cambodia) in the 13th-15th Century had conquered most of Southeast Asia peninsula. They had a fighting system that provided its army with skilled martial arts. Who knows how it was like back then because written documentation was scattered. The Tai people from southern China are the ancestors of the "Thai" people of Thailand who had been pushed down by Mongols and found refuge in Khmer Empire. There people mixed race and shared cultures. Long story short, the Tai people became a larger group as they mixed with Khmers, many boundaries were drawn and pushed back and forth. The Tai adopted many Khmer ways and perhaps evolved from Khmer martial arts to what is now Muay Thai. Muay literally means "one" in Khmer. From Sanskrit it means "to bind together". When you bind something together it becomes a unit as to be "one". The Thais did not call it Muay Thai at first. It wasn't until the early 20th Century they added "Thai" after Muay to call it Muay Thai. Now we have conditioned the understanding that Muay Thai means "Thai Kickboxing" when it isn't the literal term. Muay for the Thai consisted of many region styles of fighting such as Muay Boran, Muay Chaya, Muay lopburi, etc. I have asked many Thai what "Muay" means and they have told me it means art such as the "Art of Thai Boxing". In Kun Khmer, "Kun" means literally respect and Kun Khmer together is translated into Respectful Khmer arts. Martial Arts was definitely an art for the Khmer people which helped their civilization in that time.


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## NevaGiveUp

What do you guys think about popularity of Muay Thai in America? Western culture?

Read this article in the link below it is exciting news for me.
The Reasons Why Muay Thai is Poised for Growth in the U.S. - Siam Fight Productions


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## ldalfarra

NevaGiveUp said:


> What do you guys think about popularity of Muay Thai in America? Western culture?
> 
> Read this article in the link below it is exciting news for me.
> The Reasons Why Muay Thai is Poised for Growth in the U.S. - Siam Fight Productions




I hope that Muay Thai grows in popularity in North America - Canada and the U.S. are behind other Western countries in my opinion. This has a lot to do as outlined in the article you posted. I think scoring is a major issue - change the rules and the sport changes.  I spent some time in Japan and it was the same with Muay Thai there.


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## drop bear

NevaGiveUp said:


> What do you guys think about popularity of Muay Thai in America? Western culture?
> 
> Read this article in the link below it is exciting news for me.
> The Reasons Why Muay Thai is Poised for Growth in the U.S. - Siam Fight Productions



In Australia of course it is pretty big. Also a lot of the Nordic countries.


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## Transk53

ldalfarra said:


> I hope that Muay Thai grows in popularity in North America - Canada and the U.S. are behind other Western countries in my opinion. This has a lot to do as outlined in the article you posted. I think scoring is a major issue - change the rules and the sport changes.  I spent some time in Japan and it was the same with Muay Thai there.



Good point there I guess, never been over to America, but the reverse would be true over in the UK I believe. Over here it seems that Kickboxing is rarer than Muay Thai. At least in my experience in the UK is that MT rules.


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## ldalfarra

Transk53 said:


> Good point there I guess, never been over to America, but the reverse would be true over in the UK I believe. Over here it seems that Kickboxing is rarer than Muay Thai. At least in my experience in the UK is that MT rules.



I didn't realize that. Thank-you. That further explains things.


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