Reference
GLOSSARY
Every Burmese term you will encounter in the rest of this guide, with pronunciation and meaning.
8 min readUpdated: 2026-04
Lethwei is steeped in Burmese language. Because it developed in isolation from English-speaking martial arts, many of its terms have no clean translation. This glossary gives you the original term, the Burmese script, a phonetic pronunciation, and a working definition. Skim it once before reading the rest of the guide and come back whenever a word stops you.
A
- Art of Nine Limbsကိုးအင်္ဂါ အနုပညာ[koh-ing-ga a-nu-pyin-nya]Art
- Nickname for Lethwei. The nine striking weapons are two fists, two elbows, two knees, two feet, and the head.
B
- Bandoဗန်ဒို/bàɴdò/[ban-doh]Art
- One of the traditional Myanmar martial arts grouped under the term thaing, alongside banshay, naban, shan gyi and Lethwei.See also:Thaing
- BareknuckleRule
- Fighting without boxing gloves. Hands are wrapped in gauze and tape for knuckle protection but the striking surface remains exposed, demanding greater precision.
C
- Clinchချုပ်ကိုင်Technique
- Close-range grappling position where fighters grip each other's head and neck to control posture and land knees, elbows and headbutts.
- Corner Manကျောထောက်ဖက်[kyaw-htauk-phet]People
- A fighter's ringside support person responsible for advice between rounds and, under traditional rules, the decision whether to use the two-minute timeout.See also:Two-Minute Timeout
D
- Dave LeducPeople
- Canadian fighter who became the first non-Myanmar Openweight Golden Belt champion in December 2016. Six-time Lethwei world champion and global ambassador for the sport.
- Dump ThrowTechnique
- A clinch takedown in which the fighter hooks or lifts the opponent and throws them forcefully to the ground. Throws and take-downs are legal under Lethwei rules.
E
- Elbow SlashTechnique
- A downward cutting elbow strike delivered from above, aimed at slicing the opponent's forehead or brow to cause a cut and impair vision with blood.See also:Sok
G
- Gauze WrapsEquipment
- The only hand protection allowed in traditional Lethwei. Strips of gauze and tape are wrapped over the knuckles and wrists; no gloves are worn.
- Golden Beltရွှေခါးပတ်[shwe-kah-bat]Event
- The traditional Lethwei Golden Belt is regarded as the highest and most prestigious award for Lethwei fighters. There is one Golden Belt champion for each weight category, and the Openweight champion is the equivalent of the pound-for-pound champion in Lethwei.
H
- Headbuttခေါင်းတိုက်[gaung-taik]Technique
- The ninth limb. Legal under traditional and most modern Lethwei rules. Delivered from the clinch or closing from punching range, using the hard frontal bone of the skull.
- Hneနှဲ[hne]Music
- A conical double-reed wind instrument (shawm) of the hsaing waing orchestra.
- Hpa-Anဘားအံ[pa-an]Place
- Capital of Kayin (Karen) State in southeastern Myanmar. WLC 8: Karen Spirit was held there on 5 May 2019, the first major Lethwei event held in Kayin State.See also:Karen
I
- IFMAEvent
- International Federation of Muaythai Associations, a Muay Thai federation.
K
- Kao LoiTechnique
- Flying knee. A knee strike delivered in the air, usually in the clinch or closing a gap.
- Karenကရင်People
- An ethnic group of Myanmar. Lethwei has been primarily and historically associated with the Karen people of Kayin State; a 2001 encyclopedia is the cited source for the statement that the vast majority of competitive Lethwei fighters are of Karen descent, a claim that is not quantified.
- Knockoutနော့ခ်အောက်Rule
- The only method of victory under traditional Lethwei rules. A fighter wins only by rendering the opponent unable to continue. No judges' scorecards, no decisions.
- Kyar Ba Nyeinကျား ဘငြိမ်းPeople
- Former Olympic boxer (1952) and a pioneer of modern competitive Lethwei. Drew up the rules used for Lethwei since 1953.
L
- Lekkha Mounလက်ခမောင်း[let-khah-moun]Ritual
- The traditional challenge gesture of Lethwei fighters: three claps of the cupped right palm into the hollow of the bent left elbow, done at the start of the lethwei yay.
- Lethweiလက်ဝှေ့/lɛʔ.we/[let-way]Art
- Myanmar's traditional bareknuckle boxing, called the Art of Nine Limbs because it permits headbutts in addition to the eight limbs used in Muay Thai.
- Lethwei Yayလက်ဝှေ့ရေ/lɛʔ.we.je/[let-way yay]Ritual
- The Lethwei "fight dance", performed before the fight to showcase the fighter's skills and as a victory dance after the fight. The lekkha moun is done along with it.
- Low KickTechnique
- A powerful shin kick delivered to the opponent's outer or inner thigh, designed to damage the leg muscles and reduce mobility over the course of a fight.
M
- Mae Sotမဲဆောက်[may-sawt]Place
- A Thai border town in Tak Province opposite Myawaddy, Myanmar, connected to it by the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge.
- Mandalayမန္တလေးPlace
- Cultural capital of Upper Myanmar. WLC 7, WLC 9 and WLC 10 were held there.
- MTLFEvent
- Myanmar Traditional Lethwei Federation, a branch of Myanmar's Ministry of Health and Sports. In 1996 it created the tournament ruleset for the inaugural Golden Belt Championship tournament, the ruleset the WLC later adopted.
N
- Nabanနပန်း[na-ban]Art
- Myanmar's traditional form of wrestling. Shares the thaing umbrella with Lethwei.See also:Thaing
- Natနတ်/naʔ/[nat]Ritual
- God-like spirits venerated in Myanmar in conjunction with Buddhism.
- Naypyidawနေပြည်တော်/nèpjìdɔ̀/[nay-pyi-daw]Place
- Capital city of Myanmar. WLC 4: Bareknuckle-King was held at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium in Naypyidaw on 17 February 2018.See also:WLC
O
- OpenweightRule
- A division with no upper weight limit. The Openweight Golden Belt champion is considered the strongest fighter in Myanmar and the equivalent of the pound-for-pound champion in Lethwei.
P
- Pagoda Festivalဘုရားပွဲ[pya-bweh]Ritual
- Buddhist pagoda festival in Myanmar. Lethwei fights have been fought at pagoda festivals and other religious festivals.
- Pat Waingပတ်ဝိုင်း[pat-waing]Music
- Circular set of tuned drums played by a single musician at the center of the hsaing waing orchestra.
R
- Ring Doctorကွင်းဆရာဝန်[gwin-hsaya-wun]People
- The doctor at a Lethwei bout. When a fighter has an injury or is in a position that could severely harm them, the ring doctor is consulted and makes the decision on stopping the fight.
S
- SandpitPlace
- The traditional Lethwei fighting venue: in earlier times matches took place in sand pits instead of rings.
- Sayarဆရာ[sa-ya]People
- Trainer or master in Myanmar martial arts.
- SokTechnique
- Elbow strike. All elbow strikes are permitted in Lethwei.
- Spinning BackfistTechnique
- A rotational striking technique where the fighter spins 180 degrees and delivers a backfist to the opponent's head. High risk, high reward.
- Sweeps & ThrowsTechnique
- Off-balancing techniques legal in Lethwei: sweeps, throws and take-downs.
T
- Tapnyaတပည့်[ta-pyae]People
- Disciple or student.
- TeepTechnique
- Front push-kick with the sole or ball of the foot, used to maintain range and disrupt an opponent's rhythm. Shared with Muay Thai.
- Thaingသိုင်း[thaing]Art
- Umbrella term for all Myanmar martial arts. Lethwei is the bareknuckle striking branch of thaing; Bando, Banshay, and Naban are sister disciplines.
- Thanakaသနပ်ခါး[tha-na-kha]Ritual
- A yellowish-white cosmetic paste made from ground bark, worn on the face by many Myanmar people.
- Thein Pyu StadiumPlace
- Stadium in Yangon. WLC 11: Battlebones was held there on 31 January 2020, as was the Dave Leduc vs Tun Tun Min trilogy fight on 16 December 2018.
- Thingyanသင်္ကြန်/θɪ̀ɴdʑàɴ/[thin-jan]Ritual
- The Myanmar New Year water festival, which usually occurs in the middle of April. Traditional Lethwei matches are still fought throughout Myanmar, especially during festivals like Thingyan.
- Too TooPeople
- Burmese Lethwei fighter and former WLC Middleweight World champion. His death in military custody on 26 April 2023 was reported by Burmese outlets but has never been officially confirmed.
- Tun Tun Minထွန်းထွန်းမင်းPeople
- Myanmar Lethwei fighter who won the Openweight Golden Belt at 21 and held it from 2014 to 2016. Fought the most-watched bouts in Lethwei history against Dave Leduc.
- Two-Minute TimeoutRule
- A rule of traditional Lethwei: each corner is allowed one two-minute timeout per fight to revive a knocked-out fighter, who then chooses whether to continue. It cannot be used in the fifth round. The tournament ruleset created by the MTLF in 1996 removed it, and the WLC used that ruleset, so WLC bouts had no two-minute timeout.
U
- UFC Fight PassEvent
- The streaming service on which World Lethwei Championship WLC 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 were carried. WLC 7 in 2019 was the first Lethwei event broadcast internationally live on it.
W
- WLCEvent
- World Lethwei Championship. A modern international Lethwei promotion based in Yangon. Its first card, WLC 1, was held on 3 March 2017 and it stopped holding events in 2020. Its events were available in over 100 countries, and WLC 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 were carried on UFC Fight Pass. It used the 1996 MTLF tournament ruleset, which has judges and no two-minute timeout.
Y
- Yangonရန်ကုန်Place
- Former capital and largest city of Myanmar. The World Lethwei Championship was based in Yangon.
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