Myanmar has a tradition of kickboxing that’s said to date back to the Bagan era, although the oldest written references are found in chronicles of warfare between Myanmar and Thailand during the 15th and 16th centuries. Myanmar kickboxing (Myanma Let-hwei) is very similar in style to Siamese kickboxing or Muay Thai. The martial art’s status has raised perceptibly and nowadays occasional championship matches are also occasionally held at Aung San Stadium and Thuwanna Indoor Stadium in Yangon. Rules & Regulations Anything goes in the ring. All surfaces of the body are considered fair targets and any part of the body except the head may be used to strike an opponent. Common blows include high kicks to the neck, elbow thrusts to the face and head, knee hooks to the ribs and low crescent kicks to the calf. A contestant may even grasp an opponent’s head between his hands and pull it down to meet an upward knee thrust. Punching is considered the weakest of all blows and kicking merely a way to ‘soften up’ one’s opponent; knee and elbow strikes are decisive in most matches. The structure and limitations of each match varies with its context and with the calibre of the participants. Unlike Thai boxing, which has borrowed a great deal from the Queensbury rules in international or Western boxing, Myanmar boxing represents a more traditional form once shared by the two countries. Rules tend to follow situational norms; fighters, managers and judges get together before each match and …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
25 comments
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Dieg0Sp says:
May 16, 2011 at 7:28 am (UTC 0)
esses caras batem em muitos famozinhos do UFC
Twist3Ds1sT3r says:
May 16, 2011 at 7:43 am (UTC 0)
have you ever hit somebody in the head with your fist? it only takes once to learn not to do that again. it will f8ck up your hand. i learned that in my early teens. Skilled fist fighting takes alot to learn. you have to use your head. not all fighting is common sense.
kingstaffy says:
May 16, 2011 at 7:49 am (UTC 0)
@richiesaw yeh lone chaw ans shwe saing are from burma, they do not live in thailand as refugees. i live in australia, i know there are a lot of karens here in australia now. i also know karens live in USA and other countries. FUCK thanshwe.
richiesaw says:
May 16, 2011 at 8:10 am (UTC 0)
@kingstaffy is it Long Chaew from NaunDong n Shwe Sai from MyainGyiNgu. surely they are not from refugees camp n they are not Bob Malley reggae man. Last 2yr ago most of the refugees are now resident of Canada, Auzzy, or U.S.AND A. They are so enjoying n cellibrate with stable job n familly life. No longer fight or no longer kiss THANSHWE fat asS. THANK U.
yamunasunrise says:
May 16, 2011 at 9:04 am (UTC 0)
Nice, thanks for the info/history on the side too. I don’t get all you detractors on here. This is hard core.
Zokeganado says:
May 16, 2011 at 9:55 am (UTC 0)
I don’t think that guy is Thai his skill is not look like
and this is original Muay That means No gloves
ok?
shuriken86 says:
May 16, 2011 at 10:07 am (UTC 0)
i agree no gloves full contact is stupid and almost like real streetfighting, this isnt sport anymore without the gloves and the rules.
KurecuwiTubynis says:
May 16, 2011 at 10:18 am (UTC 0)
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PunKilla911 says:
May 16, 2011 at 11:17 am (UTC 0)
Muay Thai hits are all straight and simple- not taking any risks, round kicks dont go there anyway
furrynes says:
May 16, 2011 at 11:42 am (UTC 0)
having no gloves makes all the difference, that is why they do not round kick as much as muay thai because the counter punch is bone on bone when it lands. Much too risky!
yamasnik says:
May 16, 2011 at 12:24 pm (UTC 0)
Its more brutal only for the hands are wrapped with ropes or what ever it is.
their standup skills didn’t impress me much, amature boxing and not using kicking, allmsotonly front kick…..
kingstaffy says:
May 16, 2011 at 1:22 pm (UTC 0)
they dont need to kick hard, they can use other weapons and find other ways of winning. Search myanmar lethwei vs muay thai, there are 3 matches uploaded where thai fighters went over to burma to fight. 3 of the thais got knocked out. One got ko’d by slams, another got ko’d by punches and the other lost by getting headbutted
kingstaffy says:
May 16, 2011 at 1:33 pm (UTC 0)
its called lethwei. Its more brutal than muay thai as u can see
suarneduj says:
May 16, 2011 at 1:45 pm (UTC 0)
It’s morte like a cock (rooster)fight
yamasnik says:
May 16, 2011 at 2:01 pm (UTC 0)
Ohhh….that’s the Burma’s martial art…
I forgot how they call it, similar to Muay Thai but much less better as u can see…
thuzardpipz says:
May 16, 2011 at 2:19 pm (UTC 0)
a catfight,.. what kind of fight is this???
they kick like girls man,. WTF
wtfhellas says:
May 16, 2011 at 3:00 pm (UTC 0)
what does the announcer say when they hit each other? something like aayooaahh.. makes it more interesting!
kingstaffy says:
May 16, 2011 at 3:52 pm (UTC 0)
kkkkazin, i read ur comment but im sure wat exactly u sed. When u sed ‘n du won too’ are u saying that ‘n du’ is a fighter n burma?
kingstaffy says:
May 16, 2011 at 3:58 pm (UTC 0)
yes the fighter in blue and white is lone chaw and the other fighter is shwe sine. I thought that initially and at the start of the video as well as at 34 seconds the commentator confirms this when he announces the fighters. They are both karen fighters and i assume by the looks of the crowd and ring, the fight was held in a village, most likely in the karen state near the border.
BF1 says:
May 16, 2011 at 4:39 pm (UTC 0)
Hard to tell but was the guy in blue and white Lone Chaw? I can see his characteristic flying knee after a straight MTB punch. YOu also forgot Wan CHine. There are many others but yes you named some of the greats.
lpbmartialartsfan says:
May 16, 2011 at 5:09 pm (UTC 0)
I think any martial art whether in sports of practiced traditionaly is effective, remember these techniques came from and older form of fight and was then turned into sport. But I agree all martial arts are fantastic when practised by a skilled prationer.
kkkkajin says:
May 16, 2011 at 5:22 pm (UTC 0)
n du won too
he is greater fighter in burma…
i like burmese lethwei batter thou…
compop says:
May 16, 2011 at 5:47 pm (UTC 0)
Bando is not Lethwei!!!
mitsosfantasia says:
May 16, 2011 at 5:50 pm (UTC 0)
the art is as only as the person who is practising the technique….say someone has 10 years of karate expirience and fighting in olympics,and other fighting competitions. And you take a muay thai fighter with say 1 year expirience. who do you think is going to win? …..each technique has its own, personally i like muay thai, because of the conditioning behind it.
boxsterandwelby says:
May 16, 2011 at 6:38 pm (UTC 0)
Oh, I didn’t know that. But, likewise all the videos on youtube are highlights of lethwei fighters. Ofcourse all the videos are of the great lethwei fighters winning. Some uneducated people watch those videos and think it’s the end all of muay thai vs. lethwei and then post comments like muay thai isn’t real and the fighters from thailand are weak. I just hope people study both sides before saying talking. I think if people saw both sides they would refrain from making these crazy statements.