Lethwei
Encyclopedia
Lethwei is an unarmed Burmese martial art. It is similar to related styles of Indochinese kickboxing, namely Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

 from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, pradal serey
Pradal Serey
Pradal serey is an unarmed martial art from Cambodia. In Khmer the word pradal means fighting or boxing and serey means free. Originally used for warfare, pradal serey is now one of Cambodia's national sports...

 from Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, Muay Lao
Lao boxing
Muay Lao is a traditional unarmed martial art from Laos. It is similar to Muay Thai in Thailand, Pradal Serey in Cambodia, tomoi in Malaysia and as a similar art called lethwei in Myanmar. It incorporates punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes. Muay Lao was an event at the 2009 Southeast Asian...

 from Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

 and tomoi
Tomoi
Tomoi is an unarmed martial art from Malaysia. It is closely related to other Indochinese boxing styles, such as as muay Thai in Thailand, pradal serey in Cambodia, muay Lao in Laos and lethwei in Myanmar....

 from Malaysia.

History

Lethwei was based on a combination of boxing arts from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, known respectively as musti-yuddha
Mukti yuddha
Musti-yuddha is an unarmed martial art from Varanasi in north India.Similar to Southeast Asian kickboxing styles it makes use of punches, kicks, knees and elbow strikes although punches tend to dominate....

and shoupo. Matches were held for entertainment and were popular with every strata of society. Participation was open to any male, whether king or commoner. At the time, matches took place in sandpits instead of rings. Boxers fought without protective equipment, only wrapping their hands in hemp or gauze. There were no draws and no point system, the fight went on until one of the participants was knocked out or could no longer continue.

Kyar Ba Nyein
Kyar Ba Nyein
"Kyar" Ba Nyein was the Burmese boxer who participated in the 1952 Summer Olympics boxing and was a pioneer in modernizing the Lethwei, or Burmese traditional boxing. Ba Nyein started boxing at the age of 13, and fought about 50 matches in 20 years until retiring from fighting at the age of 33....

, who participated in boxing at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Boxing at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Final results for the Boxing competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The events were held at Messuhalli.-Medal table:- Flyweight :- Bantamweight :- Featherweight :- Lightweight :...

, pioneered modern lethwei by setting in place modern rules and regulations. He travelled around Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

, especially the Mon
Mon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...

 and Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...

 states where a lot of villagers were still actively practicing lethwei. Kyar Ba Nein brought them back to Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....

 and Rangoon and, after training with them, encouraged them to compete in the matches he organised.

The Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 government has made some organisational changes to make Burmese boxing more marketable internationally. There are a number of Burmese boxers who do compete in Thailand professionally with varying degrees of success.

The first lethwei championship tournament was held in 2000. In ordinary matches there is no scoring system, but it was adopted then. The official title matches have not been held since the championship so those who knocked out the tournament winners are considered the unnofficial champions. Although only two or three official events are held by the government each year, unnofficial matches take place at festivals around the country every month. In government-sponsored fights, both competitors are given belts as commemorative gifts. The winners are given black-coloured belts, and the losers are given white-coloured belts.

The first international lethwei event was held in June 2001 when three kickboxers from the USA competed against lethwei practitioners. They were Shannon Ritch
Shannon Ritch
Shannon Ritch is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter who currently competes in the welterweight division. As of June 2011 he has competed in 126 professional fights with 47 wins and 75 losses and 4 no contests. Ritch is one of the most known and experienced journeyman of mixed...

, Albert Ramirez and Doug Evans
Doug Evans (fighter)
Douglas Evans is an American mixed martial artist who resides in Anchorage, Alaska. He competes in the Featherweight division, and is best known for the first round of his fight against Thierry Quenneville, which was named Sherdog's 2009 Round of the Year.-Early career:Evans made his professional...

. All three Americans were knocked out in the first round. The second of these events took place on July 10–11, 2004 when four Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese fighters were offered to fight against Burmese boxers. They were Akitoshi Tamura, Yoshitaro Niimi, Takeharu Yamamoto and Naruji Wakasugi. Tamura, a mixed martial artist, knocked out Aya Bo Sein in the second round and became the first foreigner to beat a lethwei practitioner in an official match.

Techniques

Aside from punches, kicks, elbows and knee attacks, Burmese boxers also make use of head-butts, raking knuckle strikes and take downs. This may be due to the fact that lethwei was more strongly influenced by musti-yuddha
Mukti yuddha
Musti-yuddha is an unarmed martial art from Varanasi in north India.Similar to Southeast Asian kickboxing styles it makes use of punches, kicks, knees and elbow strikes although punches tend to dominate....

 than the other styles were.

Rules

Matches today are carried out in both the traditional manner and a more modern offshoot called "Myanma traditional boxing" which started in 1996. The latter was based on the sporting outlook of Muay Thai and uses a point system. If a knockout occurs, the boxer is revived and has the option of continuing the bout. In traditional fights, the winner is the first to draw blood which may be wiped away three times before victory is declared.

Internal links

  • Burmese martial arts or Thaing (burmese)
  • Bando
    Bando
    Bando is a defensive style of thaing focusing on animal-based techniques. The earliest meanings of the word were self-discipline, self-development and self-improvement. Later, it came to mean self-protection or self-defense...

  • Banshay
    Banshay
    Banshay is a weapon-based Burmese martial art focusing primarily on the sword, staff and spear. Influenced by both Chinese and Indian sources, it is also closely related to krabi krabong and thang-ta....

  • Naban
    Naban
    Naban is a style of wrestling from Myanmar. Related to Tibetan and Cambodian grappling arts, naban was originally based on Indian wrestling. It became popular in rural areas where it was often performed at festivals alongside lethwei matches. Naban is most commonly practiced by the tribal peoples...

  • Pongyi thaing
    Pongyi thaing
    Pongyi thaing is a Burmese martial art created by the monk Oopali in the 9th century. Based on the Hindu-Buddhist principle of non-violence and non-aggression, its objective is not to cause maximum harm but simply to defend oneself...


External links

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