Praday serey

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Pradal Serey

A Khmer boxing match before the western ring was introduced
Also known as Kun Khmer, Khmer Boxing, Bradal Serey, Kbachkun Pradal Khmer
Focus striking
Hardness full-contact
Country of origin Cambodia
Famous practitioners Eh Phoutong, Bun Sothea
Parenthood Kbachkun boraan khmer, Yuthakun Khmer Khom
Olympic sport no

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Pradal serey (or Kun Khmer), bradahl serei 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 (or Kun Khmer) is now one of Cambodia's nationalsports. Its moves have been slightly altered to comply with the modern rules.
Pradal serey (or Kun Khmer) is mostly the same as unarmed kbachkun boraan except it does not include mae (core techniques), tvear (door system that emphasizes footwork). Instead, it focuses more on winning a bout. While most well-known for its kicking technique, which generates power from hip rotation rather than snapping theleg, pradal serey (or Kun Khmer) consists of four types of strikes: punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes. The clinch is also used to wear down the opponent. Compared to other forms of Southeast Asian kickboxing, pradal serey (or Kun Khmer) emphasizes more elusive and shifty fighting stances. The Cambodian style also tends to utilize more elbows than that of other regions. More victories comeby way of an elbow technique than any other strikes.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Downfall and revival of pradal serey
1.2 Pradal serey (or Kun Khmer) today
1.3 Attempt to unite boxing styles
2 Life as a keilakor (kickboxer)
3 Health risk
4 Rules and match setup
5 Promoters
6 Notable Khmer boxers
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
[edit]History

A scene depicting blocking akick on a bas-relief from the Angkor region.
Fighting has been a constant part of Southeast Asia since ancient times and eventually led to organized fighting forms. In the Angkor era, both armed and unarmed martial arts were practiced by the Khmers. Evidence shows that a style resembling pradal serey (or Kun Khmer) existed around the 12th century, which may be one of the reasons why the Khmerempire was such a dominant force in Southeast Asia. The kingdom of Angkor used an early form of pradal serey (or Kun Khmer), named Yuthakun khmer khom, along with various weapons and war elephants to wage war against their main enemy, the Vietnam-based kingdom of Champa, and later, Siam.[1] Re-enactments of elephant battles are still recreated at the Surin Elephant Round-up.

Khmer warrior using athrust kick on Rahu in a bas-relief from the Banteay Chhmar temple.
At this time, the kingdom of Angkor dominated and controlled most of what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.[2] As a result, Cambodia has influenced much of Thai and Lao culture.[3] This leads the Khmer to believe all Southeast Asian forms of kickboxing started with the early Mon-Khmer people. On top of oral stories fromtheir 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.[4] TheKhmer 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 (or Kun Khmer) 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...