Talk:Burmese martial arts

Bando
The section on Bando should be moved to Bando. Thaing should be a redirect to this article. I'll do that in a few days if there is no objection.Peter Rehse 06:18, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Merge
Thaing is the local word refering to Burmese martial arts. The two terms are synonomous - refer to the same thing.Peter Rehse 07:50, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Japanese Influence
The Japanese arts can not trace the written records of thier arts back as far as the Burmese. The Burmese can trace thier fighting arts back to the Pyu empire and before (to around the time of Christ or approxamately 2000 years). With many books and historical accounts indicating that the Warrior Arts of India migrated throughout Asia through Burma, China, Siam (Thailand), Indonesia, etc... and the Okinawan arts trace thier roots to China as documented you will find that the original translation of Karate is equivalent to "China Hand". The Japanese did have some influence during thier occupation of Burma during WWII. They also assisted in promoting the resurgence of indininous arts in Burma during this time, but the Burmese had a much longer history of interaction with China, Siam (Thailand), Tibet, India and other Asian countries. By the time of the 1600's Burmese arts were well into development and practice in constant warfare between the surounding countries (mainly Siam and China), and repelling the Mongol invasions (which mercifully the Japanese were imune from). I find any claim of great influence from the Japanese on the indiginous arts of Burma to be extremely ethnocentric and it diminishes the rich culture and heritage of the Burmese Fighting Systems. TheUglyAmerican 14:44, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree with what you're saying and the extent of Japanese influence was probably exaggerated. However, I think that it deserves even a small mention. Like you said it could have been the other way around or even a two-way influence. Either way the similarities are too numerous to be coincidence. Japanese/Okinawan styles influenced krabi krabong and silat in countries that Myanmar had close contact with. It may have been through them that the Japanese influence was brought to bando. In my opinion it should be noted even in just one sentence. Morinae 08:56, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree that there was contact with Japanese, primarily during WWII and probably some impact (although specifics would be hard to document). During this period the Japanese did begin to encourage the Burmese to reclaim their heritage and culture (including their Martial Arts) after nearly a century of having to practice in secret. To what extent the Japanese "influenced" the techniques and styles is debatable, and considering the 2000+ year Martial history of the region, it seems improbable that the Japanese had much influence if any. The primary influences are from India, Tibet, China, and other neighboring countries. I personally find it offensive that when Martial Arts are discussed, people seem to attribute the Japanese with more than thier fair share of influence. All martial arts did not emanate from Japan. They were influenced more from mainland Asia than the otherway around. They adapted their techniques to their specific needs, as with the development of all martial arts. After WWII, the Japanese did in fact play a huge part in spreading the "godspell" of Martial Arts, but in history, they were actually late commers to the concept. It's like saying Brazilians influenced Kungfu because they refined the Japanese system of Jiu Jitsu. Did the Brazilians have an impact on martial arts practice in general? Yes. Influence on long standing traditional systems? No. Relevant to combatives in general? Yes. The same is true for Japanese systems, but lets not get carried away. Where the Japanese were inovative, others may have adopted techniques or principals, but the opposite is true as well. Because Burmese martial arts are not widely known, does not mean it does not have a long history of it's own.TheUglyAmerican 18:58, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Burma borders "Tamara" and "Frankie"?
I'm no geography expert, but I think that could be vandalism... Also, whether Burma is known as "Seven Purple Pineapples", I don't know, but the Google search engine has zero hits for the search string. 62.16.243.124 (talk) 14:27, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Merge proposal
I don't see what the difference is between Thaing (Burmese) and this article, and propose merging that article here. Especially since Thaing unmodified redirects here. —Angr 12:45, 4 December 2008 (UTC)