Heroism of former Kings, the great men of ancient Khmer martial arts, will be exhibited during the upcoming Samdech Thipadei Award for Khmer Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Championships, pointed out the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC).
The display is aimed to worship the former Kings who were the top Khmer martial artists, the NOCC stressed in a news release this afternoon.
The Samdech Thipadei Award for Khmer Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Championships, the first of its kind, will take place in Phnom Penh from Oct. 18 to 20, 2024. The sports event will reinstate Cambodia’s richness of the arts as well as the pride of the past, said recently H.E. Vath Chamroeun, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Commission for Organising the MMA Championships.
Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet initiated and supported the event to bring to life as many Khmer martial arts as possible so that Cambodians of all generations continue to remember and value them, he told AKP.
Research and studies, he added, s
how that martial arts were deeply rooted in Cambodian culture and played an important role in allowing the ancient Khmers to build a great empire since the pre-Angkorian era.
Four sports federations have been engaged in organising the event, including the Khmer Boxing Federation, the Cambodian Mixed Martial Arts Federation, the Yutkromkhorm Federation of Cambodia, and the Cambodia Kun Bokator Federation.
One of the two competitions is the Khmer traditional martial art performance, which is open to athletes and volunteers from 18 to 65 years old and aims to open an opportunity for elder athletes to showcase their knowledge of the sport.
Another competition, fighting, includes seven categories for men and five for women.
According to H.E. Dr. Thong Khon, senior minister tasked to lead the event, the first Khmer MMA Championships will be organised in Phnom Penh, but the subsequent events will take place in the provinces such as Siem Reap and Battambang, among others.
Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse