There has been discussion about Lethwei, whether it really exists, and general interest in the MA of Burma over the years
While everyone goes to Thailand and everyone knows about Muay Thai (or think they do) little is known by most about the MA of the other countries in that part of the world, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, etc
Truth is all these countries have their own indigenous MA, weapons systems, unarmed combat and modern ring sports - this is logical as the only reason they are a country is that they have their sovereignty which they established over years through wars
The JKD community, on an international level, are often the first to uncover, study and pass on a "New" MA from a "new" country - in the case of Burma, their most prominent art is BANDO, and Dan Inosanto was studying this about 20 years ago, and hosted some courses
Bando is a lot like Kung Fu and Karate, if you see it in application, and a Defensive art
Lethwei, as sport gets compared to Muay Thai in that punches, kicks, knees and elbows are used in contest - the main difference is that the HEADBUTT is used as well
Where some people refer to Thai as "the art of 8 limbs", they then refer to Lethwei as "the art of 9 limbs"
In a way, it is closer to the Sport version of Muay Boran with the rope hand covers, as minimal hand coverings are used, as opposed to the boxing gloves used in Thai matches
While a Combat MA, as Boran was, would use the headbutt in a real fight, and train it for that, the same way Kali and Silat do, it was never passed into the Thai ring sport
In Burma, the headbutt is included in Lethwei
As could be expected, fighters are rarer than in other sports, and Burma is the only country where Lethwei matches are legal and can be sanctioned
You could imagine a compatent Lethwei fighter or champion would not want to fight in a match that disallowed the headbutt, taking away his major weapon, and giving a tactical advantage to the other fighter
Essentially, to generalise, if you take Muay Thai, with rope hands not gloves, and add headbutts, you have a Lethwei match
As we are discussing Burmese MA, as well as Lethwei which resembles Muay Thai with headbutts, it also has the following indigenous arts:
Bando, as mentioned, a form of Karate/Kung Fu
Banshay, a weapons arts that resembles Krabi and Silat, primarily double swords
Naban, a grappling art that resembles Judo, and based apparently on Indian wrestling
Those of you up to date with events will know that Burma has been known as the Republic of Myannar since the early 90s, just as Thailand was once Siam, and you can no longer find Yugoslavia where Serbia and Croatia, etc are
here are some clips
As you can see, it really is Thai boxing with headbutts, with the element that there are no boxing gloves, just wraps and tape
People are calling in the world's most brutal combat sport
Headbutts clip
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEio4ccepKw&t=2s
Dave Leduc- the only non Burmese Lethwei fighter to win a world title
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yxcb6W__cU
interesting training in this clip, we see him headbutting the focus pads as part of his drills, breaking fruit, and doing neck strengthening
