Khmer traditional wrestling ( - ''Baok Cham Bab'') is a

folk wrestling A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling. Europe Britain Traditionally wrestling has two main centres in Great ...

style from

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. It has been practiced as far back as the

Angkor Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...

period and is depicted on the bas-reliefs of certain temples. The earliest form of Khmer traditional wrestling was called Maloyuth. Maloyuth was created in 788 A.D. by

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

Timu. It evolved to the current form of wrestling, Cham Bab, in the 8th century. Although predominantly a male sport today, Khmer wrestling was once practiced by both sexes as female wrestlers are also displayed on the

Banteay Srei Banteay Srei ( ) is a 10th century CE Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindus, Hindu gods Shiva and Parvati. Located in the area of Angkor, it lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the m ...

temple. In Khmer wrestling, the dancing is as important as the wrestling. There is a pre-match ritual dancing before the match in which the wrestlers dance and move to the music. Matches consists of three rounds. Victory is obtained by forcing the opponent on their back. The person who is able to win two of the three rounds is the winner of the match. After each round the loser is asked if he wishes to continue with the match. The match is accompanied by the music of two drums (called ''skor ngey'' and ''chhmol'' which means female drum and male drum). Traditional matches are held during the

Khmer New Year Cambodian New Year (or Khmer New Year; ), also known as Choul Chnam Thmey (, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; ), Moha Sangkran (, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; ) or Sangkran, is the traditional celebration of the solar new year in Cambodia. A three-day public ho ...

and on other

n holidays. This sport used to be a means of choosing tribal and regional leaders. In the olden times, elders taught the young in their village on the full moon night after harvesting. It would take place on a rice paddy outside the village and under the moonlight. The sport is still practiced today in wrestling clubs in

Pursat Pursat ( ; , ) is the capital of Pursat Province, Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, ...

and Kampong Chhnang. File:Angkorian statue of wrestling apes.jpg File:Khmerwrestlingangkorwat.jpg File:Submission technique.jpg

In-Line Citations

References

*Vanna, Ly
"Khmer Traditional Wrestling"
''Leisure Cambodia'', August 2002, retrieved April 21, 2017. *"Cambodian Bloodsport". ''

Human Weapon ''Human Weapon '' is a television show on History Channel that premiered on July 20, 2007. The hosts, Jason Chambers and Bill Duff, traveled around the world studying the unique martial arts, or styles of fighting, that have origins in the region ...

''.

Bill Duff Bill Duff (born February 24, 1974) is a former National Football League, NFL Europe, and Arena Football League (1987–2008), Arena Football League defensive tackle, and host of ''Human Weapon'' on the History (U.S. TV channel), History Channel ...

Jason Chambers Jason Chambers (born March 23, 1980, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor, mixed martial artist and sports commentator. Chambers is best known for his role as the host of the popular weekly television program '' Human Weapon'' on The Histo ...

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

.16 November 2007. *Taing, Rinith
"The Kingdom’s oldest wrestling form grapples with fading interest"
The Phnom Penh Post, 7 Apr. 2017, retrieved 21 Apr. 2017.

External links

{{folk wrestling Cambodian martial arts Folk wrestling styles

See also

In-Line Citations

References

External links