Dave Leduc: A champion stands with the people
Insight Myanmar15 Nov 2021

Dave Leduc: A champion stands with the people

Dave LeDuc loves all things Myanmar.

But maybe more than anything, Dave loves stepping into a fighting pit without gloves or shoes, and giving well-placed head butts that knock an opponent cold! Dave is Myanmar’s first— and only— foreign champion of Lethwei, a traditional martial arts boxing practice that dates back centuries.

Dave became interested in mixed martial arts and trained in a variety of forms. He eventually went to Thailand, and began looking for fighting opportunities. He landed a controversial bout through the Department of Corrections, which invited Dave into a Thai maximum security prison to spar with a convicted felon. The stakes were high: if the criminal beat Dave, he would be released from prison. But Dave won, and is currently in talks about a movie being made about that encounter. That bout was also the springboard for him to enter Myanmar and learn Lethwei.

From the moment he arrived in Myanmar in 2016, he knew he had found a home. His first opponent was the then-undefeated Lethwei champion, Too Too, and after beating him became a cultural phenomenon in Myanmar. He even got the very painful Lethwei tattoos, a rite of passage in the sport.

Now living in Turkey, Dave was, like so many, horrified when the coup broke in February. He knew that refusing to stay silent would close off any potential business he hopes to build in Myanmar, along with ensuring that he won’t personally be able to visit for the foreseeable future. And yet he has chosen to speak out, highlighting the struggles of the democracy movement in light of the naked aggression faced by the Burmese military. He closes with, “Keep fighting, stay strong! You're not alone. There's a lot of love from around the world.”

Avsnitt(540)

Dreaming Forward

Dreaming Forward

Episode #502: This episode, part of the Decolonizing Southeast Asian Studies Conference series, features two powerful voices—Shakil Ahmed and Tümüzo Katiry—who approach decolonization from distinct bu...

16 Mars 1h 12min

The Train Wreck Ahead

The Train Wreck Ahead

Episode #501: “There were events going on in the world that I really cared about,” says investigative journalist Emanuel Stoakes as he reflects on the path that eventually drew him into reporting on M...

13 Mars 1h 55min

A Second Renunciation

A Second Renunciation

Episode #500: “If my story offers anything, I really hope that it offers permission to question sincerely, to grow beyond structures that once served us and to hold both gratitude and discernment at t...

12 Mars 1h 59min

The Fire Next Time

The Fire Next Time

Episode #499: Paul Vrieze, a Dutch journalist and PhD researcher specializing in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution, has observed the country’s political trajectory for over 15 years. Drawn to Myanmar’s open...

10 Mars 1h 14min

An Undisciplined Democracy

An Undisciplined Democracy

Episode #498: Caleb, a research coordinator with the Myanmar-based research group Myanography, argues that participation in the military’s 2025–2026 election functioned less as a democratic exercise t...

9 Mars 1h 29min

Returning to the Source

Returning to the Source

Episode #497: “This is my life. Life is so precious, and I need to take responsibility for what I’m doing,” says Oliver Tanner, a long-term meditation practitioner and Buddhist scholar whose PhD focus...

6 Mars 2h 19min

Let the Circle Be Unbroken

Let the Circle Be Unbroken

Episode #496: Jak Bazino, a French novelist with more than a decade of lived experience in Myanmar, discusses his novel Breaking the Cycle as an attempt to make sense of the country’s Spring Revolutio...

5 Mars 1h 19min

Maple Leaf Diplomacy

Maple Leaf Diplomacy

Episode #495: Mark McDowell, a Canadian foreign service officer and former ambassador in Yangon from 2013 to 2016, traces Myanmar through a set of mismatches between how the country is narrated abroad...

3 Mars 2h 32min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
svenska-fall
rss-krimstad
p3-krim
flashback-forever
politiken
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-daily
blenda-2
spar
rss-vad-fan-hande
motiv
rss-krimreportrarna
dagens-eko
rss-flodet
rss-frandfors-horna
svd-ledarredaktionen
spotlight
olyckan-inifran
rss-aftonbladet-krim