Vath Chamroeun, who heads the sports department at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, has hailed plans to establish the “Kun Khmer Training Institute” as a historic achievement. He described the institute — being developed with Chinese support — as marking a turning point in the promotion of the Kingdom’s national martial art on the international stage.
As he addressed a July 24 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony with Cambodian Noon Fear Moon Seng Co., Ltd, a major sponsor of the initiative, Chamroeun explained that it was the first official step to establishing the institute. The goal is to train coaches who will be deployed to martial arts clubs in China and other countries around the world.
“Today’s agreement marks a new era and a new historical record for Kun Khmer and for our national sport. It will expand Kun Khmer globally by strengthening our human resources — including trainers, athletes and coaches,” he said.
The signing ceremony took place at the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC).
Chamroeun expressed his gratitude to representatives of the Chinese company for investing in the creation of the training institute, emphasising that the ministry seeks collaborative, skill-based development to enrich Kun Khmer human resources, especially as international interest in the sport continues to grow.
He also highlighted a recent Chinese visit by a Kun Khmer delegation. It was led by Khov Chhay, president of the Cambodian Kun Khmer Boxing Federation. During the trip visit, international friendlies were organised, and Chai succeeded in persuading several boxing clubs in Sichuan province to start training in Kun Khmer.
“Just days ago, Chhay secured cooperation with several clubs in China, which is a major step forward in turning Kun Khmer into a world-class martial art and potentially an Olympic sport in the future,” added Chamroeun.
He confirmed that the Kun Khmer Training Institute — set to launch in September — will not just train coaches for China, the primary sponsor, but is intended to meet global demand.
“The new institute will not only produce coaches for China—it will serve global training needs,” he said.
“Trainers graduating from this institute will be certified professionals with solid knowledge of Kun Khmer, officially recognised by the institute and assessed by the education ministry. These will be highly qualified coaches ready to train abroad, where demand already numbers in the hundreds or thousands. This is a pivotal turning point for Kun Khmer, our national sport,” he added.
Khov Chhay, also acting secretary-general of the International Kun Khmer Federation, noted that there is currently strong global demand for Kun Khmer coaches. Cooperating with China to launch the first-ever Kun Khmer training institute marks an important foundation for producing skilled human resources — trainers with proper pedagogical knowledge — who can teach overseas in the long term.
“This is a new chapter in our history, creating a formal foundation for Kun Khmer training with joint investment between China and the federation. I am confident this institute will allow us to produce more coaches and referees to spread Kun Khmer internationally,” he said.
“Our goal is to make Kun Khmer an Olympic sport. To qualify, we need at least 75 member countries. To reach that, we must have more qualified coaches. We can’t build federations around the world without sending out trainers. If we did that, the federations wouldn’t function. That’s why we must develop more coaches — to send to our partner countries around the globe,” he explained.
