Fighting has been a constant part of Southeast Asia since ancient times and eventually led to organized combat systems. In the Angkor era, both armed and unarmed martial arts were practiced by the Khmers. Evidence shows that a style resembling pradal serey existed in the 9th century, which may be one of the reasons why the Khmer empire was such a dominant force in Southeast Asia. The kingdom of Angkor used an early form of pradal serey, named Yuthakun Khom, along with various weapons and war elephants to wage war against their main enemy, the Vietnam-based kingdom of Champa, and later, Siam. Re-enactments of elephant battles are still recreated at the Surin Elephant Round-up.
At this time, the kingdom of Angkor dominated and controlled most of what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. As a result, Cambodia has influenced much of Thai and Lao culture. This leads the Khmer to believe all Southeast Asian forms of kickboxing started with the early Mon-Khmer people; they maintain that Pradal serey also has influenced much of the basis Muay Thai. On top of oral stories from their ancestors, the basis of this argument are the bas-reliefs left behind by early Khmers in the ancient temples of the Bayon and other Angkor temples. Much of the writing on ancient Khmer art has either been destroyed or adopted by the invading Thai armies when the Siamese sacked and looted Angkor and took Khmer captives including members of the Khmer royal court back to Ayutthaya.
The Khmer warrior-king Jayavarman VII and the founder of a unified Laos, Fa Ngum, were among the military leaders believed to have been trained in the old fighting styles of Cambodia. During the colonial period, martial arts like pradal serey were considered by the European colonists to be brutal and uncivilised. The French turned the art into a sport by adding timed rounds, a boxing ring and western boxing gloves in an attempt to lessen injury. Originally matches were fought in dirt pits with limited rules while hands were wrapped in rope. Some matches had boxers wrap seashells around their knuckles to increase the damage that could be inflicted. In the 1960s, Cambodian boxing promoters held inter-martial art exhibitions.
During the chaos of the Vietnam War, Cambodia was undergoing its own civil war. On April 17, 1975, the Maoist Communist rebels, the Khmer Rouge, overthrew the government of the Khmer Republic led by Lon Nol after America left the Vietnam War. The Khmer Rouge's plan was to eliminate modern society and create an agricultural utopia. The Khmer Rouge executed educated people, others who had ties to the old government or anyone who was believed to be advantaged by the old society (doctors, teachers, soldiers, actors, singers, boxers, etc.) and forced the remaining Khmer population into labor camps, in which many died of starvation and diseases, to be re-educated under the new government. Traditional martial arts were banned at this time and many boxers were executed or worked to death, which nearly caused the death of pradal serey.
An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians or 21% of the population died during the Khmer Rouge regime according to the studies of the Cambodia Genocide Program of Yale University. This lasted for four years until 1979 when the Vietnamese along with ex-Khmer Rouge officers, including current prime minister Hun Sen, overthrew the Khmer Rouge. During the relative peace since the departure of the Vietnamese and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the country's traditional arts were revived, including pradal serey. Pradal serey is making a strong comeback since its prohibition in the 1970s.
Cambodia is making an attempt to market their style of boxing at the same caliber as Muay Thai even though its status as a fourth world country renders a lack of financial funding. Numerous gyms have opened and large masses of students, local and foreign, have come to train in Cambodia. There are weekly matches held, the majority televised live, and many of Cambodia's best have traveled internationally to compete. There are currently approximately 70 boxing clubs nationwide.
Pradal serey is administered in Cambodia by the Cambodian Boxing Federation (CBF), formerly the Cambodian Amateur Boxing Federation (CABF), which was established in 1961. All referees, judges and fighters must be licensed by the CABF. Television stations which hold Khmer boxing tournaments do so under the supervision of the CBF. The individual stations are responsible for organising boxers, trainers, medical staff and musicians.
The CBF supplies the match referees, judges and time-keepers. The current president of the CBF is Major-General Tem Moeun. Abroad, Cambodian boxing is promoted by 4 organizations. These organizations include the European Khmer Boxing Federation based in Germany, the Fédération des Arts Martiaux Khmers also called FAMK, based in France, the Anh Binh Minh Khmer Martial Arts Association in Vietnam and Kun Khmer Australia based in Australia.
Other newly created organizations can be found in Spain and Italy, while Belgium is in the process of forming its own Khmer boxing organization. The International Sport Kickboxing Association based in the United Kingdom have held matches involving Cambodian boxers. Khmer boxers have fought abroad in countries such as Korea. There have been concerns about the betting and rowdiness among pradal serey fans.[ Cambodian trainer Chiit Sarim had this to say about the difference between the boxing scene then and now, "I traveled from pagoda to pagoda to box at competitions during the water festival. Pagodas were the traditional venue for boxing matches... They act inappropriately. They raise up their hands and scream noisily. They gamble and do not respect the boxers. They think of only winning their bet. During my time, there was no such thing. Fights were organized nicely and were very popular. Now fans have no morality".
Tournaments are screened live on national television. TV5 Cambodia holds live tournaments on Friday and Sunday, CTN holds live tournaments on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Bayon Television holds live kickboxing tournaments on Saturday and Sunday, while TV3 holds a single tournament on Sunday and Apsara TV has added a single tournament on Thursday. Recent exposure to pradal serey in the western world have come from travel journalists and tourists. In addition, pradal serey was featured on The History Channel's Human Weapon and mentioned on the Cambodian episode of Globetrekker. In February, 2009, American footballer Dhani Jones filmed an episode of his series Dhani Tackles the Globe in Phnom Penh, training with Long Salavorn at the Salavorn Keila club and fighting Pan Phanith at the CTN arena.
Songchai Ratanasuban, the number one promoter in Thailand, brought his S1 Promotion to Phnom Penh in June 2005. In the Cambodian S1 World Championship, Bun Sothea won the tournament. He defeated Michael Paszowski, Dzhabar Askerov and Lor Samnang in front of 30,000 people at the Phnom Penh National Olympic Stadium. In 2008 Cambodian Television Network (CTN) screened a pradal serey reality television series called Kun Khmer Champion. The show featured 65 kilogramme boxers and was produced by Ma Serey and Aaron Leverton and co-hosted by Ma Serey and Cambodia's most famous kickboxer, Eh Phoutong. The first series was followed by a second in 2009 and a third in 2010, both co-hosted by Vorn Viva. On August 28, 2008, Cambodian boxers Vorn Viva and Meas Chantha won the ISKA Middleweight and Welterweight world titles in Phnom Penh. It was the first time a Cambodian had held a kickboxing world title.
At an ASEAN meeting in 1995 regarding the upcoming King's Cup Muay Thai competition, Cambodia wanted to rename Muay Thai as "Sovannaphum boxing" or "SEA Boxing", which represented Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Sovannaphum means "golden land" in Khmer and is written as Suwannabhumi in Thai. The name refers to mainland Southeast Asia in the Indian language of Pali. Thailand would not compromise, stating that each Southeast Asian country has its own boxing style and that Thailand was responsible for making its kickboxing an international sport. At the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Cambodia did not enter the Muay Thai event in protest of the name used to refer to the sport.
Most Cambodian boxers come from a poor background and compete to earn money to feed their families and themselves. Their average from age 14 to 25. Top kickboxers can have as many as 300 fights in their careers. Cambodian Boxers were traditionally paid by the crowd. If the crowd appreciated the boxer's efforts, they would reward him with food, alcohol and cash. This practice still continues today but, in line with western practice, bouts pay official fees. Until recently the average purse for a fight was US$15. Today purses are based on experience. A new Cambodian boxer can earn US$25 per fight.
More experienced kick boxers with more than a dozen fights can earn up to $75. "Brand name" kickboxers can earn over $100 a fight. Special purse fights will pay up to $250 with the purse contributed by a corporate sponsor. "International" tournaments, organised by the broadcasters, will pay individual purses of up to $1000, sometimes higher. Some of the best Pradal Serey champions come from the Battambang Province although a number of big name stars have come via Southern Cambodia such as Eh Phoutong from Koh Kong Province, Thun Sophea from Svay Rieng Province and Meas Chantha and Seng Makara from Kandal Province. Cambodian boxers train in a gym under a Pradal Serey kru. Many boxers train 6–8 hours a day and 7 days a week.
As with all contact sports, health risks are a factor. According to Chhoeung Yavyen, a ringside doctor for the Cambodian Amateur Boxing Association, in the past five years 30 kick boxers have sustained serious injury in the ring including broken wrists and arms, broken shins, broken noses, dislodged shoulders, hip injuries and broken jaws. One neak pradal (Cambodian boxer) died in the ring in Svay Rieng Province in 2001, but that death was the result of a heart attack, probably brought on by diet pills consumed to help the neak pradal reduce his weight before the bout. Most of the injuries suffered are curable and don't leave lasting problems. Most neak pradal are allowed to return to the ring after receiving treatment.
A match consists of five three-minute rounds and takes place in a 6.1 meter square boxing ring. A one-and-a-half or two minute break occurs between each round. At the beginning of each match the boxers practice the praying rituals known as the kun kru. Traditional Cambodian music performed with the instruments skor yaul (a type of drum), the sralai (reed flute) and the chhing, is played during the match. Modern boxers wear leather gloves and nylon shorts.
Rules
- A boxer is not allowed to strike his opponent while he is on the ground.
- A boxer is not allowed to bite.
- When an opponent cannot continue, the referee stops the fight.
- Blows to the back of the opponent are not allowed.
- A boxer may not hold on to the ropes.
- Blows to the genitals are prohibited.
Notable Khmer boxers
- Eh Phoutong: TV5 Champion, Khmer Traditional Kickboxing Champion, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen champion
- Yuth Phouthorng: Koh Kong Province governor and original teacher of Eh Phouton
- Thun Sophea: 2006 CTN 67 kg kickboxing champion
- Mike Martelle: 2012 WKF World Super Heavyweight Champion
