“Three inches power, that’s all you need.” Grand Master San Kim Sean, gold kroma, and father of the modern Boxkator system effortlessly lifts his right leg up three inches from his target, twists his hips, kicks, and sends a young student unlucky enough to be holding the kicking pad, sailing across the mat then turns to me and smiles. “See?” If you haven’t heard of Boxkator before, you will soon.
Anyone that has the slightest interest in martial arts or action films has undoubtedly come across the actor, Tony Jaa. In his films he showcases a particular martial art rarely seen before by the rest of the world called Muay Boran. In the films and advertisements they call it Muay Thai, but it is Muay Boran. “Muay” is Thai for fighting and “boran” means ancient. This martial art has gained an enormous amount of popularity over the past several years and the Thais have welcomed the notoriety just as they welcomed the surge of interest and the influx of foreigners coming to Thailand to train in Muay Thai (the stripped down style of Muay Boran used in competitive sport fighting). This is all well and good for Thailand and for those wishing to train in those particular styles, but just as studying the history of Muay Thai will lead you to Muay Boran, looking into Muay Boran will ultimately lead you back to Khmer culture and to Boxkator.
Boxkator is not a martial art like Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, or any other martial art that I have come across. It is not a martial art that has been modified or watered down over the years so that it could be used as sport or point based fighting. It is a combat art that, if executed correctly, should leave an opponent incapacitated within seconds. I’m sure there are practitioners of the martial arts mentioned above that might come across this review and want to reply with a history of the effectiveness of Karate etc., and I’m not trying to dispute that by any means. Boxkator is simply a different animal all together. Grand Master San Kim Sean says that this is the art that Khmer warriors and farmers alike practiced to kill on the battle field as well as in the jungles, fighting off lions… that’s right, lions. In this brutal art there is also much beauty and thousands of years of history, culture, and refinement. Of the relatively few westerners that have discovered this martial, virtually all have used one word to describe it.
Complete.
Boxkator includes stand-up fighting at high, middle, and low positions using hands, elbows, knees, feet, and shins. There are hundreds of joint locks, pressure point manipulation techniques, breaks, chokes, ground fighting techniques, and even fighting from the sitting position (Indian style for the westerners, lotus position for the easterners). All of these fighting techniques are contained in forms and animal styles (horse, duck, dragon, bird, crab, elephant etc.). Boxkator also has a weapons system that includes short stick, long stick, knife, short sword, long sword, and a very unique weapon about six inches long called the lotus stick.
I came to Phnom Penh and trained six to seven days a week, eight hours a day, for one month. Grand Master and his instructors trained me in the unarmed fighting techniques, the five basic animal forms (duck, crab, bird, horse, and dragon) as well as the basic short course with a single short stick and the lotus stick. I would highly recommend anyone coming to train Boxkator to dedicate at least two weeks to full time training. This isn’t a “Mc Dojo” as they are so affectionately called these days. From day one Grand Master and his instructors focus on proper technique from the ground up. You must master the basics to progress, even if you are training for a few days. When Jason and I started training together he trained both of us in the same manner even though I was staying for an entire month and Jason was only in town for a few days. The Boxkator Academy in Phnom Penh strictly adheres to the “walk before you run” philosophy. The funny thing about this (and what makes training there so great) is that Grand Master will not hesitate to demonstrate advanced techniques to show you what your basic skills are leading toward. He is also more than happy to answer any questions you have about the techniques you are learning.
There is a great atmosphere at the school. There isn’t any of the macho pretentiousness that seems to plague a lot of western martial arts schools (and Thai boxing camps). Everyone there is more than willing to help you with your technique and/or stand in as a practice dummy to perfect your techniques. A month’s worth of training like mine costs $120 a month. That includes a couple of hours a day of direct, one on one instruction under the Grand Master. This kind of education and instruction is very rare, even if you have a lot of money and are able to afford the direct instructions of a Grand Master, but for $120 a month it is an amazing opportunity not to pass up if you find yourself anywhere close to Phnom Penh. After mastering the basic punches, blocks, kicks, knees, elbows, animal stances, and foot movements new students can expect to learn new fighting movements in each animal style as well as forms every day they train. They teach the “art” of Boxkator Monday – Thursday. On Fridays Grand Master teaches straightforward fighting techniques. There are open classes Saturdays and Sundays that serve as catch-all classes where you’re never really sure what you will learn, but you can bet it will be interesting.
I cannot recommend this place enough. I could write another 1,000 words on what I learned and not even scratch the surface. For anyone looking for a truly unique experience in the world of martial arts, this is the place.
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