Pradal Serey or Kun Khmer is a full-combat martial art based fighting sport that originated and is practiced in Cambodia. The sport which literally translates as "free fighting" consists of both stand-up striking and clinch fighting.
In pradal serey, fighters use four main types of strikes, which are, kicks, punches, elbows strikes, and knee strikes. Clinch is mainly used to wear the opponent down and to gain a dominant position for a close range strike. In pradal surrey fighters are known to use the elbow more frequently than other types of martial arts. In fact, fighters are known to win most bouts using the elbow strike than the other types of strikes.
Modern pradal serey fights are conducted in boxing rings with fighters wearing boxing gloves. A fight is conducted in a five rounds format, where each round lasts for three minutes, with a 2-minute break between rounds.
A fighter can win the fight in three different ways, a knockout, a technical knockout, or by decision based on the points. If at the end of the fight both fighters have the same score the fight is declared as a draw. Blows to the back and low blows are prohibited and results in disqualification.
Similar Sports
- Kickboxing —a group of stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching.
- Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) — a full-contact individual combat sport that includes aspects of several other combat sports and martial arts.
- Pencak Silat — a fighting sport from Indonesia which collectively encompasses martial arts of various styles.
- Lethwei — an unarmed Burmese martial art similar to other kickboxing styles from the region.
- Sikaran — a form of kickboxing from the Philippines, which utilizes only the feet, the hands are only used for blocking.
Related Pages
- Sport in Cambodia
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports