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Let Whay (Lethwei) ((ビルマ語:လက်ဝှေ့), ) is an unarmed Burmese martial art. It is similar to related styles of Indochinese kickboxing, namely Muay Thai from Thailand, Pradal Serey from Cambodia, Muay Lao from Laos and Tomoi from Malaysia. ==History== In ancient times, matches were held for entertainment and were popular with every strata of society. Participation was opened to any male, whether king or commoner. At that time, matches took place in sandpits instead of rings. Boxers fought without protective equipment, only wrapping their hands in hemp or gauze. There were no draws and no point system—the fight went on until one of the participants was knocked out or could no longer continue. Back then, Burmese boxing champions would enter the ring and call for open challenges. Kyar Ba Nyein, who participated in boxing at the 1952 Summer Olympics, pioneered modern lethwei by setting in place modern rules and regulations. He travelled around Myanmar, especially the Mon and Karen states where a lot of villagers were still actively practicing lethwei. Kyar Ba Nyein brought them back to Mandalay and Rangoon and, after training with them, encouraged them to compete in the matches he organised. The Myanmar government has made some organisational changes to make Burmese boxing more marketable internationally. There are a number of Burmese boxers who do compete in Thailand professionally with varying degrees of success. Image:dance0.jpg|The ''lai ka'' or "fight-dance" Image:percut0.jpg|''Let Khamonghkhat'' Image:provoc0.jpg|Slapping the palm three times to the right elbow Image:Cardio1.jpg|Back kick The first lethwei championship tournament was held in 2000. In ordinary matches there is no scoring system, but it was adopted then. The official title matches have not been held since the championship so those who knocked out the tournament winners are considered the unofficial champions. Although only two or three official events are held by the government each year, unofficial matches take place at festivals around the country every month. In government-sponsored fights, both competitors are given belts as commemorative gifts. The winners are given black-coloured belts, and the losers are given white-coloured belts. The first international lethwei event was held in June 2001 when three kickboxers from the USA competed against lethwei practitioners. They were Shannon Ritch, Albert Ramirez and Doug Evans. All three Americans were knocked out in the first round. The second of these events took place on July 10–11, 2004 when four Japanese fighters were offered to fight against Burmese boxers. They were Akitoshi Tamura, Yoshitaro Niimi, Takeharu Yamamoto and Naruji Wakasugi. Tamura, a mixed martial artist, knocked out Aya Bo Sein in the second round and became the first foreigner to beat a lethwei practitioner in an official match. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lethwei」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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