Bokator

What it is

Bokator is a Khmer fighting system that works at every distance: punches and kicks, standing grappling, wrestling, ground fighting and weapons. Its Khmer name, lbŏkkâtaô, is commonly translated as the art of pounding the lion, and the older name Kun Bokator is still used. Matches are full contact. Fighters train in clubs and community schools under a teacher called a lok kru. The system is often described as the oldest martial art still practised in Cambodia. Under the name Kun L'Bokator, traditional martial arts in Cambodia, it joined UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2022.

Origins and history

Oral tradition takes Bokator back to the 1st century AD, when early Khmer communities are said to have copied animal movements for hunting and defence, and says an early form was the close-quarter fighting of Khmer armies before Angkor. Carved and written records point to a long martial culture. A 7th century inscription at Vat Phu praises King Jayavarman I for his knowledge of combat. A 9th century inscription describes King Yasovarman I throwing ten strong wrestlers. Two statues of wrestlers from around 930 CE were found at Koh Ker. A 966 inscription records a boxing match ordered by royal decree, with a rice field as the prize.

Court, festivals and suppression

From the 16th century the capital Longvek gathered scholars and martial artists, and training areas remembered in Kampong Chhnang province are still used by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. Later records describe matches at grand festivals, including a 1773 Siamese poem about a Khmer boxer facing a Vietnamese servant. In the 1800s King Norodom watched fights inside the palace with his court. A French official, Auguste Pavie, wrote about stick fighting at festivals in the 1870s, where audiences praised precise strikes, comforted losers and watched men compete in front of their fiancées. In 1920 the colonial administration barred Buddhist monks from teaching or joining Khmer martial arts.

Revival and today

Fighters trained secretly during the Khmer Republic, and under the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979 practitioners were killed, fled or stopped teaching; the Vietnamese occupation that followed outlawed native martial arts. San Kim Sean, who had taught hapkido in Houston and Long Beach after leaving Cambodia, returned in 1995 to promote the art and settled in Phnom Penh in 2001, teaching young people and seeking out surviving lok kru. A first national competition followed in 2006 at the Olympic Stadium with 300 participants. The Cambodia Kun Bokator Federation now oversees the sport, and in 2020 masters from several provinces formed a network to share and record their knowledge.

How Bokator is kept

Instructors, called lok kru, teach students in community schools and clubs. Training covers hand strikes, arm-locks, hand-locks, neck-locks, wrestling, ground work and weapons such as sticks. Before a bout, fighters perform the Kun Kru dance. Older records describe matches on sand, hands wrapped in cloth that might hold sand or broken glass, and audiences who cheered precise strikes rather than heavy ones. Tournaments drew fighters kept by ministers and nobles, who also served as bodyguards. Today around 7,000 people practise, and competitions run under the Cambodia Kun Bokator Federation, which sits under the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia.

When and where

Bokator has no single date. It is practised all year, and competitions once clustered around major festivals, including Khmer New Year in April. In 1930 the king watched matches inside the Royal Palace during those celebrations. The first national competition took place in 2006, and in 2023 the art joined the Southeast Asian Games programme.

Cambodia is its home, with community schools in thirteen provinces and training areas remembered in Kampong Chhnang. The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces still trains in one such area. Phnom Penh hosts the national competition and the federation. Outside Cambodia, Cambodian communities keep it going in the United States, Europe and Australia, and a first national championship was held in Srinagar, India, in 2023.

What Bokator means

For those who keep it, Bokator carries the memory of the Khmer empire: the arm-locks, hand-locks and neck-locks carved on temple walls are the same holds taught today. The Kun Kru dance before a bout is treated as essential, not decoration. Old accounts dwell on restraint, where a controlled strike earned applause and a wild one drew disapproval, and where the loser was comforted. Reviving the art after the Khmer Rouge became a way of restoring something taken away, and the UNESCO listing in 2022 confirmed its place as national heritage.

Days Bokator is marked

Questions people ask about Bokator

See also

Apple bobbingA Halloween game where players try to catch floating apples with their teeth.KambalaAn annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaPehlwaniA traditional discipline of clay-pit wrestling across the Indian subcontinent.Vallam KaliA traditional canoe racing festival held across the waters of Kerala during Onam

Good reading and sources

• Kun Lbokator, traditional martial arts in CambodiaUNESCO, Heritage listing
• Kun Lbokator, traditional martial arts in CambodiaUNESCO, Article

• Bokator on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.