Comments on: Lethwei

By: ercan gurgoze

ercan gurgoze — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:56:29 +0000

-the rules different?…previously there were 2 referees in the ring which was strange in the ring sports (during 1980’s) …however, it seems that they renoved and it seems that there is one referee mostly in the ring…
-to compare “burmese “fighter with “top mt fighters “from “lumpini,raja “etc is not fair since the “burmese ” were not developed in this field and they just entered the ring 2-3 times generaly.,mostly after the collection time of rice and grains…at least ,it was so during 1990 s…however, it seems that they started to develop and create profi segment in this concern…
-the difference between “profi mt” and “lethwai” is that the “mt fighters ” are mostly oriented to show a good apperenance with rich techniques whereas the burmese were trying to get the result with “targeted techics ” where the “fists ” are playing the important task generaly…

By: spydaman

spydaman — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:14:51 +0000

Gazda, Nobody said that MT fighters were better than Burmese fighters. No need to get defensive.

Lakokoaye, Those fights do often look one sided…so it is possible that what you are saying is true.

TKO_80, “They can’t fight properly with gloves”???? That’s like saying that Yodsanklai wouldn’t be able to fight with Shin Guards, nonsense!!
Headbutts are seldom used in Lethwei so let’s not use that as an excuse.
Most Thai vs Burmese fights I have seen have not gone the distance so let’s not blame it on the rules and regulations.

“For them to fight in MT rings are like letting a K-1 boxer fight in traditional boxing matches.” No!…For them It’s like a Muay Thai fighter fighting in K1 ( and Buakaw seems to be doin just fine!) as a matter of fact a Thai fighter in K1 has it worst than a Lethwei fighter in Muay thai as K1 prohibits the use of elbows which is actually one of MT’s main weapons (limb) whereas The main weapons in Lethwei are all available (head is not a main weapon).
Other people were making valid comments but I think you’re just making excuses. I have never seen a fight ended with an Elbow to the back..so I really doubt it makes a big difference.

and YES…I DO THINK MT AS A WHOLE HAS MORE FINESS IN THEIR TECHNIQUES THAN LETHWEI. I haven’t found a Samart, Yod or Seanchai in Lethwei but if you guys know of anyone please inform me of who they are so I can do some research on them. THANK YOU!!! ;-)

By: tko_80

tko_80 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:20:19 +0000

Letwhei has totally different ring rules and regulations. They let the headbutts, elbow to the back etc and not very professional. It’s also similar to Muay Boran. Those Burmese Letwhei boxers who came to Thailand to fight didn’t make much. Since the rules are different, they got owned by MT fighters. They can’t fight properly with gloves. For them to fight in MT rings are like letting a K-1 boxer fight in traditional boxing matches. If a Muay Thai boxer goes to Burma and fight with Lethwei rules… it would be another story.

By: Capoeira as Sport?

Capoeira as Sport? — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:06:30 +0000

[...] I’m particularly interested in the lesser known MA’s. I’ve done posts on Lethwei, Savate, and Yaw Yan. Today I came across a this Capoeira [...]

By: LATKOKOAYE

LATKOKOAYE — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:50:46 +0000

Brother. If you really wanna know about Burmese Boxing, log into you tube and just type “Myanmar”. You will be able to see quite a number of fight between Burmese and Thais. You will see the difference. Competitions held in Thailand are just for Thais to beat Burmese cause Burmese boxers there are totally refugees. They just go into the ring for some bacon they are given for the fight. So, it is not a fair competition.

By: Gazda

Gazda — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:54:51 +0000

This is burmese boxing. The picture is from book cover from Mr. Zoran Rebac about Burmese boxing. The tehniques are similar to MT, but because of no gloves they going for a quick k.o.
And MT fighters are not bether then Burmees, ony they fight profesional, and in Burma there is only few profesionals.

By: USNCorpsman

USNCorpsman — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:10:54 +0000

jus wondering if this is more similar to Muay Boran?

By: Tong Po

Tong Po — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 17:59:53 +0000

Looks more like a brawl than anything else, but with some amount of technique. I prefer MT, but I think Lethwei is cool too.

By: SpydaMan

SpydaMan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:01:32 +0000

Yes…Josh is right, once a year they allow The Thai official “allows” Burmese fighters to come through the Thai borders for a competition (MT vs Leithwei)….I don’t wanna turn this into a “which style is better” convo, but from what I have seen Leithwei fighters mostly get their ass handed to them by MT fighters. To me Leithwei is just a slightly different version of MT with no specific techniques or finess, I have read that Thai call Lethwei the “art of fighting without your head”…which means…they just primitively go for the kill by just launching numerous attacks without planning or so.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:57:21 +0000

I have some VCDs from Thailand with Thai vs. Burma bare knuckle fights. They do have a ram muay but it is a lot faster and frantic looking. Mostly though the Thais school the Burmese thouroughly.