Kun Khmer (Pradal Serey)
ប្រដាល់សេរីCambodian ring boxing with punches, kicks, elbows and knees, also called pradal serey, whose origin Cambodia and Thailand dispute.
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Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Kun Khmer (Pradal Serey)
Kun Khmer, also called pradal serey, is Cambodian ring boxing with punches, kicks, elbows and knees. According to Vice magazine it is the national sport of Cambodia, and the name pradal serey means free fighting. The 2017 national inventory of intangible heritage lists it as the popular national sport Prodal Kbach Khmer, traditional Khmer boxing. We have not found a founder or a year of origin in the sources.
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Green, in the encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World, writes that thousands of depictions of fighting people at Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom suggest a long history of martial arts, but he names no specific style. The Cambodia Daily described bouts in Battambang at the beginning of the twentieth century that lasted until one of the fighters died. According to Vice, the sport was banned under the Khmer Rouge, many boxers were executed, and the tradition was revived after the fall of the regime in the late nineteen-seventies. Cambodia and Thailand dispute its origin. According to the Phnom Penh Post, Cambodian supporters claim that muay thai came out of traditional Khmer arts, while Thailand claims that Kun Khmer was taken over from muay thai. At the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh the discipline was called Kun Khmer, and according to The Nation the Thai Olympic Committee announced that Thai athletes would not compete in it. The International Kun Khmer Federation held the fourth world championship in Siem Reap in November 2023 and seeks inclusion in the Olympic Games. In June 2026 the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, according to Cambodianess, ordered a halt to competitions for minors that violate the principles of safe sport and child protection.
History
Vice magazine states in 2016 that the national sport of Cambodia is locally called Kun Khmer or pradal serey, which means free fighting in Khmer. The 2017 national inventory of intangible heritage writes that Khmer martial arts gave rise to the popular national sport Prodal Kbach Khmer, traditional Khmer boxing. Green, in Martial Arts of the World, states that thousands of depictions of fighting people from the time of the Khmer Empire at Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and the Bayon temple suggest a long history of martial arts. According to him, the statues and reliefs resemble the stances of Chinese boxing more than Indian arts.
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The Cambodia Daily described bouts in Battambang at the beginning of the twentieth century that lasted until one of the fighters died, and states that twelfth-century reliefs at the Bayon depict Khmer kickboxing. According to Vice, the sport was banned under the Khmer Rouge, many boxers were executed, and the tradition was revived after the fall of the regime in the late nineteen-seventies. The dispute over the name is older than the 2023 Southeast Asian Games. Radio Free Asia, citing the Asian MMA website, states that in 1995 Cambodia unsuccessfully proposed at an ASEAN meeting to rename the sport Sovannaphum Boxing, and in 2005 refused to send a team because the discipline was called muay thai. According to the Phnom Penh Post, kickboxing appeared at the games in 2007 and Cambodia first entered it in 2017, when Khim Dima won gold.
How it differs
The relationship to Thai muay thai is disputed and the sources give both sides. According to the Phnom Penh Post, Cambodian supporters claim that muay thai came out of traditional Khmer martial arts, while Thailand claims that Kun Khmer was taken over from muay thai. Vice magazine writes that many Cambodians place the origin of Thai boxing in Cambodia, in the Funan empire before the Angkor era. Radio Free Asia in January 2023 quoted Vath Chamroeun of the Cambodian organising committee of the games, according to whom the Khmer name of a Khmer martial art affects no Thai sport, and the secretary general of the Thai amateur muay thai association, Charoen Limwattana, according to whom Thai athletes will not go because Kun Khmer is not an IFMA discipline. Technically the two sports are close, according to Vice, differing mainly in more frequent elbows.
Technique
We have not found a detailed technical description of Kun Khmer in sources of higher reliability. Vice magazine states in 2016 that pradal serey follows the same rules as muay thai and that the most distinct difference is more frequent use of elbows. Radio Free Asia cites a 2019 Phnom Penh Post report according to which there are no big differences between the two sports, the rules are the same with a small difference in scoring, and Cambodian fighters are known for hard elbows and knees, whereas Thai fighters are more technical.
Who it suits
The Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, according to Cambodianess, ordered on 25 June 2026 an immediate halt to Kun Khmer competitions for minors that violate the principles of safe sport and child protection. It was preceded by a competition at the Mesar Brachan pagoda in Prey Veng province. A team of the Kun Khmer federation found that the pairs had not been matched by ability, experience and weight, and that the organisers, technicians and referees had no training or certification recognised by the federation, which had not approved the event. The Cambodia Daily quoted ringside doctor Chhoeung Yavyen of the Cambodian amateur boxing association, according to whom thirty fighters were seriously injured in the ring over five years.
Competition
The Cambodia Daily states that Cambodia had eight weight categories and held nationwide selection bouts every October, and that Cambodia, Laos and Burma did not join the International Muay Thai Federation. For the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, according to the Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia decided in January 2023 to drop the word muay from the programme and call the discipline Kun Khmer, with the rules then set by the Cambodian boxing federation. The Thai Olympic Committee, according to The Nation, announced that Thai athletes would not compete in kickboxing, and its representatives said that Cambodia had swapped the supervising federation IFMA for the International Kun Khmer Federation, which neither the IOC nor the Olympic Council of Asia recognises. IFMA stated in a press release that it has no dispute with Kun Khmer, but that it is not recognised in the Olympic movement. According to the Phnom Penh Post, the International Kun Khmer Federation held the fourth world championship in Siem Reap province on 26 to 28 November 2023 and wants to seek recognition at the Asian Games and then at the Olympic Games. Vath Chamroeun of the Cambodian Olympic committee named the 2032 Olympic Games in Australia as the goal.
Gear
We have not found rules on gear in sources of higher reliability. The Cambodia Daily writes that the first fighters protected their hands with gloves made of snail shells.
Philosophy
Vice magazine described in 2016 that before a bout the fighters greet each corner of the ring by bowing their heads three times to Buddha, Rama and the community of monks. The bout is accompanied by music played without a break by three men on the sralai, an oboe-like instrument, the skor yaul drum and the chhing instrument.
Today
The Cambodia Daily wrote that Prime Minister Hun Sen signed on 23 June the establishment of a nineteen-member committee led by Minister of Culture Him Chhem, which was to study and document Khmer kickboxing in order to obtain inscription on the UNESCO intangible heritage list. The year is not given on the available page of the article. According to the Phnom Penh Post, an international friendly event took place in the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap in September 2025, in which athletes from Cambodia, the United States, China and Malaysia fought. In June 2026 the Ministry of Education halted competitions for minors that violated the principles of child protection.
Did you know
The Cambodia Daily states that the first fighters protected their hands with gloves made of snail shells. Vice magazine described that bouts are broadcast by television studios, for example Bayon TV in Phnom Penh, and spectators watch in the studio for free. At the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, according to the Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia won one gold and six bronzes in kickboxing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Kun Khmer and muay thai?
According to Vice magazine, pradal serey follows the same rules as muay thai and differs mainly in more frequent elbows. Cambodia and Thailand dispute the origin of both sports.
What does pradal serey mean?
Vice magazine states that pradal serey means free fighting in Khmer. It is the second local name of Cambodian ring boxing besides the name Kun Khmer.
Why did Thailand boycott Kun Khmer at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games?
Cambodia, as host, named the discipline Kun Khmer instead of muay. According to Radio Free Asia and The Nation, the Thai side said that Kun Khmer is not an IFMA discipline and that its federation is not recognised by the IOC.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.