Lethwei in Kayin State
3-Day Thingyan Lethwei Tournament near Eindu, Kayin State
Image Series and Video Clips Part 5
The video above shows parts of three more extremely exiting and fast-paced bouts of the Thingyan 2013 Eindu Flag Tournament. In the first sequence, one of the fighters does not even wear handwraps - full contact with pure bare knuckles!
The third part shows the fierce battle of another Cement Factory Gym's Boxer and his taller, outranging opponent. Though the Cement Factory Boxer already hits the canvas after a heavy knockout in the middle of round two, he comes back into the fight after a refreshment-timeout demanded by his cornermen. This kind of extra intermissions is another particularity of Burmese Boxing Tournament Rules and as one can see, the round is continued after the break for its last remaining minute. The taller boxer finally wins the fight by a second K.O. in round three.
As already mentioned in the "Lethwei Fightnight in Thaton" chapter, another characteristic feature of Burmese Boxing is the fight-accompanying music called Sayensia*. Here in this tournament, the traditional orchestra was enhanced by a female singer and a guitar player, performing modern-style Burmese pop songs during the intermissions, as one can see and hear in the beginning of the video above.
The image series below gives some more impressions of the music ensemble, shows some of the bloody endings of the third tournament day's bouts and provides a few snapshots of one of the the "Tournament Flag Winner's" ceremonies.
*spelling adopted from the book "Traditional Burmese Boxing - Ancient and Modern Methods from Burma's Training Camps" (2003), written by Zoran Rebac, who provides interesting descriptions of Lethwei rules, ceremonies and different tournament types as they were standard in the past decades.
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