Burmese bare-knuckle kick-boxing goes mainstream as foreigners discover ancient combat sport
Once looked down on as a sport enjoyed by the rural people of Myanmar, lethwei is enjoying the spotlight after fighters from Japan to Canada entered the arena
The combatants circle each other. Hands up around their temples, they repeatedly raise their knees, readying themselves to throw a leg strike or a knee, or to block one.
Spurred on by the baying crowd and the rising tempo of a cacophony issued from flutes, bronze gongs and warlekkoke – bamboo clappers – the fighters come together in the centre of the ring, throwing fists and following with flurries of knees and elbows in the clinch.
Digging to the body with a vicious right hook, then going to the head with the left, one fighter seems poised to cap the combination with an overhand right. Instead, he throws the crown of his head dead into his opponent’s face in a thudding blow, opening up a deep, blood-venting gash. A spinning back fist follows, buckling his adversary, leaving him staring dead-eyed into the bright lights overhead.
The thousands in attendance rise to their feet, raucously imploring the downed man to get up. He’s out cold, but the fight is not over …
It’s December; the dry season in flood- and disaster-prone Myanmar and a time of Buddhist temple festivals and Karen New Year celebrations. The festivities are marked not least by bloody bare-knuckle bouts in urban arenas such as this, Yangon’s Thein Phyu Stadium, and makeshift rings set up in lots throughout the provinces.