http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/contact_sheet/24061 While traditional kickboxing in Myanmar is starting to incorporate international rules, often, fighters still fight the way they have for centuries – without protections, without gloves, without stopping until one fighter really cannot get up anymore. The violence is extreme, raw, and real. There is a peculiar discrepancy between the medical checks before the fight, as well as the family-friendly atmosphere, the happy chatter all around the ring, and the brutal violence going on inside it. But when a fight picks up speed, the audience is mesmerized - everyone, old and young, is fascinated. It touches on our basic human nature. The universal human fascination with violence comes to the surface here, and becomes palpable, visible in the eyes of the audience. http://www.lightstalkers.org en-us http://images.lightstalkers.org/avatars/33144/about_virginie_small.jpg http://www.lightstalkers.org/Virginie Noel <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/991389/lethwei-001_small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/991389'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/991389 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:12:59 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/991389 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/991389/lethwei-001_small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/991389'>view full-size image</a> Virginie Noel