Information AboutBokator |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BOKATOR | |
| cambodian martial arts | |
| cambodian culture | |
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Bokator/Boxkator, or more formally, '''Labok Katao'''(ល្បុក្កតោ), is a Khmer Martial Art said to be the predecessor of all Southeast Asian kickboxing styles. Depicted in Bas Relief s at Angkor Wat , Bokator was the close quarter combat system used by the ancient Angkor army. Bokator bears much of the responsibility for Cambodia's domination during the Angkorean era. It is believed that Jayavarman VII , the ruler of the Khmer Empire , was a practitioner of Bokator. Bokator weaves together Cambodia's ancient religious traditions of Buddhism and Brahmanism . Unlike Kick Boxing , which is a sport fighting art, Boxkator was a soldier’s art, designed to be used on the battlefield. It can be considered a complete martial art, using strikes, throws, drags, trapping, locking, and some elements of ground fighting. Every single part of the body can be used as a weapon. Boxkator practitioners are trained to strike with knees, hands, elbows, feet, shins, and head. Even the shoulders, hip, jaw, and fingers can be used to fight an opponent to submission or death. When fighting, Bokator practitioners still wear the uniforms of ancient Khmer armies. A kroma (scarf) is folded around their waist and blue and red silk cords called sangvar day, are tied around the combatants head and biceps. In the past it is said that the cords were enchanted to increase strength, although now they are just ceremonial. The kroma shows the fighter’s level of expertise. A series of grades, each taking at least five months to complete training seven days a week and 2 hours a day, are represented by different colors. The first grade is white, followed by green, blue, red, brown and then black which has 10 degrees. After completing their initial training, fighters wear a Black Kroma (scarf) for at least another ten years. To attain the Gold Kroma you must be a true master and must have done something great for Boxkator. And to become a true master it will definitely take some time as just in the unarmed portion of the art there are between 8000 and 10000 different techniques; only 1000 of which you have to learn to attain the black kroma. The art contains 341 different styles some of which are the duck, crab, horse, bird, dragon, eagle, crane, wind, fire, water, earth (or stone,) Monkey King , lion, elephant, apsara (traditional Hindu sacred nymph), and crocodile. Because of its visually similar style, Bokator (Boxkator) is commonly wrongly described as a variant of modern kick boxing. Bokator has many forms based on styles as well as straight practical fighting techniques. While Pradal Serey is a more simplified freestyle fighting system which uses a few of the basic (white kroma) punching, elbow, kicking and kneeing techniques. MODERN DECLINE AND REVIVAL San Kim Sean (English name order: Sean Kim San) is largely credited with reviving Boxkator Khmer and is often referred to as the father of modern Bokator in Cambodia . Unfortunately, during the Pol Pot regime ( 1975 - 1979 ) those who practiced traditional arts were either systematically exterminated by the Khmer Rouge , fled as refugees or stopped teaching and hid. After the Khmer Rouge Regime, the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia began and the martial arts were completely outlawed. During this time San Kim Sean had to flee Cambodia, due to being accused by the Vietnamese of teaching Hapkido and Bokator, which he was, and starting to form an army, which he wasn't. Once in America he started teaching Hapkido at a local YMCA in Houston, Texas and later moved to Long Beach, California . After living in the United Sates and teaching and promoting Hapkido for a while. He found that no one had ever heard of Bokator. This upset him greatly so he left the United States in 1992 and returned to his home country of Cambodia to give Boxkator back to his people and to do his best to make Bokator known to the world. But, when he arrived back in his homeland he found that it was still too dangerous to teach Boxkator. So he went into seclusion in the mountains where he spent his time praying to his Gods and training in Bokator. In 2001 moved back to Phnom Penh and after getting permission from the the new king began teaching Bokator to local youth. That same year in the hopes of bringing all of the remaining living masters together he began traveling the country, seeking out Bokator lakrus, or instructors, who had survived the regime. The few men he found were old ranging from sixty to ninety years of age and weary of 30 years of oppression; many were afraid to teach the art openly. After much persuasion and with government approval, the former masters relented, and Sean effectively reintroduced Boxkator to the Cambodian people. The first ever National Bokator competition was held in Phnom Penh at the Olympic Stadium, from September 26 through the 29, 2006. The competition comprised of 20 lakrus leading teams from 9 provinces. ANIMAL STYLES White Krama Green Krama
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