After the Pol Pot era, San Kim Sean had to flee Cambodia to the United States under accusations by the Vietnamese of teaching martial arts.

Once in America, San Kim Sean started teaching hapkido at a local YMCA in Houston, Texas and later moved to Long Beach, California.

[5] In 2001, San Kim Sean settled in Phnom Penh and after getting permission from the new King Norodom Sihanouk to begin teaching bokator to the local youth.

That same year in the hopes of bringing all of the remaining living masters together San Kim Sean began traveling the country seeking out Bokator lok kru (instructors) who had survived the Khmer Rouge regime.

The few masters San Kim Sean found were old, ranging from sixty to ninety years of age; many were afraid to teach the art of Bokator openly.