A repurposed Phnom Penh wedding venue becomes a seething pit of pugilism as the Cambodian martial art of kun bokator roars onto the international stage only decades after near-extinction.
The ancient form’s inclusion in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games is the next step in what San Kim Sean — widely known as “The Grand Master” — calls his dream of bringing the sport to the world.
“I hope my dream will come true, to me and to the world,” he said at the Southeast Asian Games, before detailing the story of how the fighting style of the Khmer Empire nearly died.
Photo: AFP
First discouraged by French colonizers, it was then hunted down by the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s, which saw a threat in organized and trained fighters with a stake in defending national culture.
“I almost died three times” during the persecution, San Kim Sean said in a documentary film out later this month called Surviving Bokator.
Crowds packed the wedding venue in the Cambodian capital to wave flags and cheer on the fighters, who were both local and foreign.
As well as punches and kicks, the graceful, but brutal style deploys elbows and knees, locks and grapples. The battle is set to live music, with howling traditional pipes and percussion. Combatants often dance while waiting to launch their next attack.
Good sportsmanship was also on display. Many contestants hugged before and after rounds, and when a Cambodian fighter won the 55kg men’s final, his defeated Philippine opponent lifted him on his shoulders, to the delight of the local fans. The winner, Nget Dab, then returned the favor.
As well as combat events, there are performance rounds with staffs and large blades. Cambodia have won 18 medals, including eight golds, across both slates.
Yet other countries have held their own, especially in combat, where the sport overlaps heavily with the more universal mixed martial arts. Vietnam and Indonesia have won medals.
Among dignitaries at the finals were Cambodian Minister for National Defence Tea Banh, and Thiago Teixeira, a Brazilian kickboxer.
Teixeira was recently granted Cambodian citizenship for taking the country’s side against Thailand over what to call kickboxing: Muay Thai or Kun Khmer.
“I feel very great to see Cambodia is growing in the world and have their own style shown for everyone,” Teixeira said.
The martial art was last year given a shot in the arm by UNESCO, which inscribed it on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
“Everything in my dreams have come true,” said San Kim Sean, as medalists came over to bow in homage to him, before adding: “Not 100 percent. The plan is still more.”
Yet for now, “in Cambodia everyone knows bokator,” he said.
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