The FCC Newsletter, The Wires, ran a story in their June issue about the resurgence of Kun Khmer.

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The Emergence of Kun Khmer
After decades in the doldrums, Cambodian boxing is in the midst of a renaissance.

To the ire of Cambodians everywhere, what the world knows about the sport of Southeast Asian kickboxing comes from exposure to its Thai brand name. Even most professional fighters know little of the sport’s origins.

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand all claim kickboxing as national heritage. Yet over the last half century — largely due to the political tragedies that engulfed her neighbors — only Thailand found much success in marketing the sport to the world.

Cambodian boxing supporters grimace at the name Muay Thai. They point to bas reliefs at Angkor Wat, a temple that predates the Kingdom of Thailand by more than 300 years, as evidence that the sport is authentic Khmer martial art.

So to many Cambodians the revival of the sport now underway is not merely a hard-won victory; it’s manifest destiny, an inevitable step on the path to reclaiming the sport for its original masters.

Continue reading at the FCC web site.