Resurgence of Kunbokator at SEA Games | The Express Tribune
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PHNOM PENH: A repurposed Phnom Penh wedding venue becomes a seething pit of pugilism as the Cambodian martial art of kunbokator roars onto the international stage only decades after near-extinction. The ancient form's inclusion in the Southeast Asian Games is the next step in what San Kim Sean – widely known as "The Grand Master" – calls his dream of bringing the sport to the world. "I hope my dream will come true, to me and to the world," he told AFP at the SEA Games , before detailing the story of how the fighting style of the Khmer Empire nearly died. First discouraged by French colonisers, it was then hunted down by the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s, who saw a threat in organised and trained fighters with a stake in defending national culture. "I almost died three times" during the persecution, San Kim Sean told a documentary film out later this month, "Surviving Bokator". Fervent crowds packed the wedding