Ancient martial art that spawned Muay Thai undergoes a rebirth in Cambodia thanks to a tireless grandmaster

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Marissa Carruthers

 

Thought to date back 2,000 years and depicted on temple walls at Angkor, bokator was almost wiped out by the Khmer Rouge. One man, San Kim Sean, has devoted his life to reviving it, and slowly but surely it is gaining recognition

 

 

Grandmaster San Kim Sean closes his soft brown eyes and pauses. He takes a sharp breath and forces a smile before recalling how he survived the hell that Cambodia was plunged into during the Pol Pot-led Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. During that time, almost a quarter of the country’s population perished.

 

The grandmaster sits on a stool in the centre of his bokator academy in Siem Reap, a basic set-up with a tin roof, whirling ceiling fans, training mats, some battered wooden benches and a stash of ageing wooden weapons propped up in a corner. He becomes animated as he talks about his lifelong passion for the traditional Cambodian martial art, whose name translates as “pounding of the lion”.

 

read more http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2142056/ancient-martial-art-spawned-muay-thai-undergoes-rebirth-cambodia-thanks

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For those that enjoy martial arts action movies, there's a low budget 2017 Khmer movie "Jailbreak" featuring bokator.