Will Jivcoff

Mr. Ly's Gym - Siem Reap, Cambodia 

I was unknowingly eating lunch next door to Mr. Ly’s gym one day when I heard the unmistakable boxing-gym soundtrack of padded gloves beating against a punching bag. I had to wander over and pop my head in, and there I found myself chatting with Mr. Ly himself.

It turned out the gym was relatively new to the building having only been there for two years, and their main goal was to offer a low-barrier, low-cost gym to anyone wanting to work out and/or train Kun Khmer, a Cambodian style of kickboxing.

Due to the Khmer Rouge’s brutal policies in the 1970s, Kun Khmer was nearly a lost sport. Traditional martial arts were banned and athletes were either executed or worked to death in rural labour camps.

Since the overthrow of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime, the sport has made a major comeback, and Mr. Ly said that the youth — especially in Siem Reap — have been getting more involved and breathing new life into it. ‘Oftentimes, parents and other adults look down on Kun Khmer as the absolute last resort a person takes to make a bit of money, but we’re providing the kids a space for exercising, discipline and socialising,’ he told me.

It goes without saying that play and sport can be profound positive forces in the lives of young people. This is particularly true in a country like Cambodia, haunted as it is by the lingering effects of a past genocide, poverty and high youth unemployment. Here especially, it’s vital that spaces like Mr. Ly’s gym exist.