Episode #78: Dave Leduc, a champion stands with the people
Dave LeDuc loves Myanmar.
Whenever in the country, he chats with monks while enjoying mohinga in the mornings, often plays a game of chinlone with the local boys, and pays respect to elders and teachers. Though at present living in Turkey, he still routinely wears a longyi (the national dress of Myanmar, like a sarong), and carries a Burmese flag to place in any office he enters in his work. 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!
You see, this French Canadian has become Myanmar’s first— and only— foreign champion of Lethwei, a traditional martial arts boxing practice that dates back centuries. Dave first heard about this sport when young, and immediately felt an attraction to it, but he could not find enough information about the details of this Burmese martial art to learn how to compete. Ultimately, Dave’s enthusiasm for Letwhei would animate the deep passion he brings when representing the culture and country of Myanmar around the world.
Growing up in Gatineau, Canada, Dave was drawn to wrestling from a young age. This quickly led to an interest in mixed martial arts, where he trained in a teaching lineage connected to Bruce Lee, and from there he became interested in various traditional Asian forms of combat, including Wing Chun from China and the Muay Thai from Thailand.
Dave eventually landed in Thailand, and began looking for fighting opportunities. He hoped to raise his martial arts profile enough to help him be accepted as a Lethwei trainee, and hopefully gain an invite to compete in Myanmar. An unlikely opportunity came from the Department of Corrections, who invited Dave into a Thai maximum security prison to spar with a convicted felon trying to win his freedom, a controversial custom in Thailand that dates from the 18th century. 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 on this encounter.
Although Dave was on the rise in the Thai fighting circuit, he still felt a yearning to get to the Golden Land and devote himself to Lethwei. However, even with Myanmar then heading into a quasi-democratic transition, it still was not that easy to figure out how to stay in country for an extended time and compete in their martial arts bouts. Amazingly, the stars aligned when Dave reached out to a promoter who happened to have strong connections within Myanmar.
From the moment Dave arrived in Myanmar in 2016, he knew he had found a home! The contrast between what he saw as Burmese cultural norms of kindness, generosity and peacefulness on the one hand, and the fighting spirit found in the Lethwei ring on the other, was especially intriguing for him. “I related to Burmese fighters,” he shares. “Burmese men, in a way, they're very polite and very kind. It's the most polite people I've ever seen in my life… outside of the ring. But then in the ring, they go bare knuckles, no scoring system, kill to win, and head butts allowed! The Burmese invented Lethwei. So I felt this sort of contrast, and that's what I like in life. I don't like neutral. I like contrast and extremism. I'm a very passionate man. So I like the fact that it's all or nothing.”
His first opponent was the undefeated Lethwei champion, Too Too. Amazingly, Dave was victorious, and overnight became a household name in Myanmar, which led to three fights with a fighter who became his arch-enemy, Tun Tun Min. Dave would go on to spar with him three times, winning each bout.
By that time, Dave had become a sort of cultural phenomenon in Myanmar, through the national sport he had mastered. His subsequent marriage to Irina Terehova, arranged as a traditional Burmese wedding ceremony and filmed live by MRTV, was seen by upwards of 30 million people! And yet there was one final element of truly integrating into his adopted community, which his fans were also beginning to call for publicly: tattoos. Receiving traditional Lethwei tattoos is a kind of rite of passage, showing that one truly belongs, and within this tradition, certain tattoos are only permitted if one has shown adequate fortitude signifying that one is indeed worthy. As Dave now held the Golden Belt, there was no question he was deserving. The most respected tattoo maker in the country was a former coach in Mandalay, at that point 75 years old, who had inked the tattoos of many of the Lethwei’s greatest contemporary fighters. Initially expecting the tattoos to be created in the traditional by way of bamboo, Dave was surprised to learn that the master intended to use an electric tattoo machine. Why? The simple answer was that it was far more painful. It is considered an important part of the process for the warrior to withstand this tremendous pain with stoicism. For Dave, the entire process of tattooing both legs lasted a full 24 hours.
“You endure this immense amount of pain,” Dave describes, “Behind the knee, inner thighs, on top of the kneecap, it's very painful. And then, you shouldn't show pain while while getting tattooed, but keep a straight face as much as possible to show that you're able to withstand the pain. It’s a rite of passage to become a man.”
Dave’s penchant for strong, passionate contrasts even encompasses his diet. It is a given that he has to hone an almost animalistic instinct within the ring, but outside it, he looks for ways to cultivate compassion; he avoids all animal products, frequently speaking out against animal cruelty. While Dave once mocked those who avoided meat, and he could never eat his fill of ice cream, he is now a strict vegan. He routinely calls out what he sees as the hypocrisy of those who proclaim to be animal lovers, yet continue to consume meat.
These contrasts that define who Dave LeDuc are reflected in his relationship to the current protest movement in Myanmar. Similar to the great boxer Mohammad Ali and his stance against the Vietnam War, Dave is someone who chooses to engage in a violent sport and is forever improving his fighting prowess, yet sickened by the violence being perpetrated every day by the Burmese military.
“Some people say, ‘How can you be vegan if you fight in the ring and you're punching people?’ Well, the key difference is consent. I’m consenting, my opponent is consenting, we're getting paid. I don't slit his throat at the end of the day, I don't kill him. It's a different thing when we're talking about warfare or when one party is not consenting to this, and the other party has more weapons. If we’re talking about a fight and we're both equally equipped, equally skilled and we're like, ‘Let's see who the best man is, and may the best man win.' But when we have a military that has weapons, guns, tanks and and bulletproof vests, and my brothers and sisters have slingshots with rocks… I feel powerless. I'm outraged and I'm sad. I had moments where I cried. I don't know what to do. The only thing I can do is raise awareness and talk to my people and send them money.”
This is all the more heartbreaking for Dave, as he had been working on initiatives for Lethwei to play a role in supporting Myanmar’s rise in the world, as he had witnessed how Muay Thai put Thailand on the map, opening the region up to tourism and investment. Indeed, Dave remains a proud representative of the country where the sport of Lethwei originated, in spite of no longer living in Myanmar. He oversees martial arts trainings across Europe, and had partnered with Myanmar’s Ministry of Tourism and several large hotels to plan events in 2021. Unfortunately, with the coup, this has all been postponed, and may very well be canceled.
Although Dave realizes he is not facing the same life-or-death stakes as those within the country, he knew that choosing to speak out would have immediate repercussions for his brand, and the livelihood he has been working towards. Like so many other activists today, he realizes that refusing to stay silent has closed 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. This was not a light decision, but it was one that Dave knew he had to make. Through thick and thin, he has decided to stand and fight for the Burmese people.
This is also his direct message that he shares in closing: “Keep fighting, stay strong. You're not alone. There's a lot of love from around the world. People are watching and trying to do their best to help you guys and send money. The most important thing is, evil is always beaten by good, so just stay stay good. Stay with the hope.”