Lethwei is an unarmed Burmese Kick Boxing also known as Bando Kick Boxing. It is similar to related styles of Indochinese kickboxing, namely Muay Thai from Thailand, pradal serey from Cambodia, Muay Lao from Laos and tomoi from Malaysia.
History
Lethwei was based on a combination of boxing arts from India and China, known respectively as musti-yuddha 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, who participated in boxing at the 1952 Summer Olympics, pioneered modern lethwei by setting in place modern rules and regulations. He travelled around Myanmar, especially the Mon and Karen states where a lot of villagers were still actively practicing lethwei. Kyar Ba Nein brought them back to Mandalay and Rangoon and, after training with them, encouraged them to compete in the matches he organised.
The Myanmar 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, Albert Ramirez and Doug Evans. All three Americans were knocked out in the first round. The second of these events took place on July 10–11, 2004 when four Japanese 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 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.
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