The Self-Made Man
And The Origins of Fight Smart
Lethwei is a Burmese martial art... and it's bananas. Absolutely bananas; which is a pun because they kick down banana trees as part of their training.
(Here's an old video of Buakaw doing exactly that.)
Additionally, it's a bare knuckle style, and it allows head butts... or head knuckles... if you will.
There is no padding to protect you from the hardest parts of your opponents body; the gauze that sits underneath the electrical tape on your knuckles is merely to stop them from breaking.
But perhaps the "deadliest" part of Lethwei is the 'revival rule.'
In MMA if you get knocked out, the ref stops further brain damage almost instantly.
In boxing, if you get knocked out, you usually at least get ten seconds to get back up... but when the ref sees your soul leave your body, he calls the fight.
In Lethwei, your eyes could roll into the back of your skull, your dangling tongue maybe have been stepped on by your celebrating opponent as he walked from your quivering body, and no matter what... your team will have ONE chance to revive your unconscious body.
They get TWO minutes...
TWO MINUTES to peel your clammy body off of the canvas, and throw you back in front of the man who just horribly damaged your brain.
So when Cyrus Washington absolutely floored Tun Tun Min with a spinning back elbow, it wasn't looking good... especially when he was dragged toe-down back to the stool in his corner after about 30 seconds of unconsciousness.
He still wasn't awake as he was being dragged.
But... uh... this email is called 'the greatest comeback in the history of combat sports'... so.... maybe it wasn't really over?
I guess you have to click here to find out. It's one for the memory banks.
HEY... have a fantastic weekend, you wonderful savage!
Trav