Without going into too much detail I was recently in Cambodia and the local guide showing me around the Angkor Wat Temples in Siem Reap went off on a passionate speech about the origins of their local fighting style and how everything related to Muay Thai stemmed from the Khmer Empire as far back as the 9th century.
The guide explained to me that the Khmer Empire or Angkor Kingdom at its peak covered what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It is thought much of the martial arts in these countries now is descended from the Angkor Kingdom.
I was always under the impression that Muay Thai was originally from Thailand alone but looking deeper into the history we can see that the fighting style has its roots in more than just Thailand. The Thai history talks about fighting soldiers to protect their king as far back as the 13th century yet in Siem Reap we see evidence of similar style being used that of the Khmer people further back in the 9th century. In fact in the carvings we also see evidence of Chinese fighting alongside the Khmer people; no doubt they brought influence too. That said in more recent history Thailand has been at the forefront in developing the sport and promoting it internationally.
Boxing in Cambodia (a similar style to Muay Thai) is now known as Pradal Serey literally translated as Free Boxing. The guide showed me some carvings around the temples in Angkor Wat. These stone carvings were telling the story of the Khmer Empire fighting off attacks from their neighbours now Vietnam. The style shown in the carvings is an early form of Pradal Serey known as Bokator. It’s interesting to see in the picture below the clear use of the Muay Thai stance.
My visit to Cambodia was short but sweet. The Khmer people were very proud of their roots and history. Apart from the obvious tragedy of the Khmer Rouge rule it was also such a shame to see so much loss of history and culture. I wonder where Pradal Serey would have been today in comparison to Muay Thai if Pol Pot never got to power.
