Burmese swords

[george stando]

Cool fast clip of some burmese sword work:

YouTube - staff and swords

[Tee Sok]

Thanks, cool clip!

There are some small similarities with Lanna like the round movements.

Are these traditional Burmese tattoos on the legs?

Here is a nice Lanna sword video (starts around minute 3), it's a
ceremonial one but you can see the difference of movement with other
KK demos.
It comes from the Burmese sword, it flows beautifully.

YouTube - Fon Jerng Lanna2

[george stando]

Lanna movement is beautiful to watch and i see what you are saying about the rounded movements of the burmese.

I think those are the tradtionl tattoos on their legs, they are sort of unique because you dont see those type in thailand or cambodia. I kind of like them.

[Tee Sok]

Yes the whole movement is beautiful.
I saw good Burmese sword and martial arts on the Kachin dvd by Vincent Giordano, that's where I saw the close connection between Lanna and Burma. I don't think there's other material on that, it seems to be a very rare thing.

I had never seen tattoos like that, kind of unique.

[george stando]

I saw a traditional type of lanna sword dance show, it was more for entertainment but so beautiful and almost hypnotic. The burmese have the same hypnotic type of effect.

[Tee Sok]

Hypnotic indeed, also because of that music which is very different from the usual Thai one.

I'm interested in the usage of the Burmese swords and tactics, they were able to invade Siam twice and this says enough in my opinion. So yes Lanna sword is kind of a nice blending of the Burmese and Thai sword systems which makes it unique in the Thai landscape, plus I heard some Thai tribes near the Burmese border still employ swords and guns in guerilla-type actions to defend themselves, which to me kind of draws a distinct line that separates the true usage and tactics and the modern usage in which the original work is lost.

[george stando]

Up on the border between thailand and burma, there was alot of fighting and commerce, and probably it still goes on when things flare up. One thai teacher told me he actually learned from a burmese teacher and thats makes sense. They battled each other in so close a space that the influences and the ability to counter each other was probably very strong.

[Tee Sok]

That's interesting! Maybe you can learn some of that material which is true and priceless.

Things seem to be flaring up right now, what the junta wants to do is ethnic cleansing or enslave the minorities, as they have done with the Karens.

Bangkok Post : Burma fighting raises civil war fears: analysts

[george stando]

I was just watching CNN, fighting is breaking out all over the place in burma. The ethnic groups are fighting against the junta after a long ceasefire. The elections are coming so they are trying to create instability in the country.

[Tee Sok]

It's all messed up. The country is very poor and the junta doesn't do anything to improve it. They make deals with North Korea to start a nuclear program instead!
I seriously doubt the elections will be fair.

[george stando]

Yes, its a very sad situation. I know the martial arts are affected as well, so even sports wise its a bad situation for the people who want to train and fight.

[george stando]

YouTube - Myanmar Thain Ancient Martial Art - Banshay (6)

[Tee Sok]

Very nice form, thank you.

[Tee Sok]

I just got this from a friend, I think it's a very beautiful dha and its length is just great, I usually feel more confortable using short swords like this than longer swords:

Dha - Swords, Knives and Daggers - Object 1968.23.55 Pitt Rivers Museum

[Tee Sok]

And here there's a nice display of old Malaysian, Khmer and Thai weapons, the prices are out of this world:

http://www.fareastasianart.com/directory/Southeast_Asian:Edged_Weapons.html