Myanmar boxing culture, known as Lethwei, has now gained significant recognition among foreigners. Some international practitioners and observers are not merely studying techniques such as how to punch, kick, or strike. They are also showing deep interest in the vocabulary, terminology, and historical background of Lethwei culture and identity. Many are actively seeking to learn these aspects, and several are already immersed in such studies.

Understanding Lethwei Culture and Identity

Under these circumstances, some local spectators and critics evaluate Lethwei based only on its current state, forming narrow opinions and conclusions. By forgetting the Lethwei history and inherent resilience of the sport, they become overly impressed by other martial arts. It is common to hear claims that Lethwei traditions handed down through generations are an undisciplined and useless fighting art that lacks systems or competitive strategies. 

In reality, Lethwei is not inferior in effectiveness when compared to other world-class combat sports. One could even argue that the efficiency and return on investment within the Lethwei sector (referring to results rather than financial profit) remain remarkably high.

It is disheartening to observe that the majority of those who disparage Lethwei are not foreigners, but Myanmar people themselves. The perceived weaknesses of Lethwei compared to other martial arts are largely due to local conditions, specifically a lack of sector investment and formal documentation.

These issues cannot be resolved overnight. They require long-term commitment. Success depends on collective action from all levels of society rather than the efforts of a single individual. Just as the city of Rome began with a single brick, it is recommendable that we should start with small, manageable actions.

Consider one practical example. When news presenters and critics report on competitions where Lethwei fighters participate in other combat formats, they should use Myanmar terminology. Instead of relying on English terms or “myanglish” style hybrids, they could present using Myanmar words or a combination of both. It is understood that some concepts only exist in English, and finding a direct Myanmar equivalent can be difficult. 

However, where a strong Myanmar term exists, it should be prioritized.

Important Terms of Lethwei

For example, it would be beneficial to use traditional Lethwei terms such as:

• Clinching: Achoke Athine အချုပ်အသိုင်း
• Low Kick: Auk Khat အောက်ခတ်
• High Kick: Amyint Khat အမြင့်ခတ်
• Flying Knee: Du Pyan ဒူးပျံ or Pyit Duu ပစ်ဒူး
• Clinching Knee: Choke Duu ချုပ်ဒူး
• Push Kick: Nin Chay နင်းခြေ or Tarr Chay တားခြေ
• Spinning Elbow: Tadaung Pyan တံတောင်ပြန် or Pat Tadaung ပတ်တံတောင်
• Left Hook: Bal Wike Let Thee ဘယ်ဝိုက်လက်သီး
• Right Hook: Nyar Wike Let Thee ညာဝိုက်လက်သီး 
• Upper Cut: Pint Let Thee ပင့်လက်သီး
• Footwork: Chay Gwet ခြေကွက်
• Headbutt: Gaung Tike ခေါင်းတိုက်

These are not new inventions. They are vocabulary words that have been used traditionally within the Lethwei community for many years. These are just a few examples.

This is not a rejection of the English language. Rather, it is a request to help demonstrate that Myanmar possesses its own rich terminology. This is merely the first brick in building our “Rome.”

Furthermore, it is worth noting that some foreigners who study Lethwei deeply (those not motivated solely by competition, income, or fame) respectfully use Myanmar names for techniques. They do not just learn basic fighting terms; they also study traditional Lethwei proverbs and rhymes. They value these expressions and take pride in reciting them. 

For instance, they proudly quote famous maxims such as –

“If you master the clinch, you win every time” (achoke athine pine yin lote tine naing tal) အချုပ်အသိုင်းပိုင်ရင် လုပ်တိုင်းနိုင်တယ် 

or “If your opponent has a strong fist, block it with your headbutt to break it” (let thee kaung gaung choe) လက်သီးကောင်း ခေါင်းချိုး

Many of these individuals are native English speakers. If Myanmar media outlets participate by using standard Myanmar terminology, it will significantly support the authenticity and global perception of Lethwei in its original form.

In conclusion, just as Rome began with a single brick, everyone is urged to contribute to the promotion of Lethwei through this simple and achievable action.