Banshay (Burmese Weapon Fighting)

Quick Facts

Country of OriginMyanmar

RegionAsia

Primary FocusWeapons

Character & Origin

Training

Who It Suits

Organisation & Competition

What the style is built from

Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.

Catalogs & Databases for Banshay (Burmese Weapon Fighting)

About Banshay (Burmese Weapon Fighting)

Banshay is the Burmese term for traditional weapon-fighting systems. In the encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World, Green states that training includes both unarmed defence against a weapon and fighting with a weapon, and that the most common weapons are the staff, the sword and the spear. According to him, banshay is an integral part of the umbrella term thaing, which also includes unarmed bando, lethwei boxing and naban wrestling. We have not found a founder or a year of origin in the sources.

History

In the encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World, Green describes banshay as the Burmese term for armed methods, an integral part of thaing. According to him, training includes both unarmed defence against a weapon and fighting with a weapon, and the sources of banshay reportedly come from both India and China. In his paragraph on Burmese weapon systems he states that around 1549 Burmese soldiers besieging Thai forces at Ayutthaya performed sword dances in camp, but their nature and purpose were not recorded. According to Green, the decline of the Burmese martial arts began under the British occupation, because the British banned training with swords and spears in order to fight guerrillas. The New Straits Times states that the ban on training with swords and spears came after Myanmar became a province of British India in 1886. The Council for Traditional Sports and Games ICTSG writes that banshay arose from military training under the Burmese dynasties and was preserved in monastic education and in families.

How it differs

The UNESCO ICM centre states that thaing includes unarmed bando and banshay with weapons and that today it is practised mainly in these two forms. The American Bando Association writes of itself that in Myanmar empty-hand fighting is traditionally called bando and fighting with weapons banshay, and that the association combines both into one discipline. English Wikipedia, again without citing a source, places banshay among the relatives of Thai krabi krabong, the Cambodian martial arts and silat.

Technique

Green lists the banshay arsenal in detail. Among staves and blunt weapons he names a small stick held in the fist, short and medium truncheons called dhot, walking sticks, clubs, spears and shields. Among blades he lists knives, machetes including the kukri, dha swords with blades from heavy Malay to slimmer ones, battle axes and combat spears. The bow and crossbow also play a role, he says, and the arsenal includes ropes, chains, belts, whips, shoes and clothing. Among the Shan, Green says, weapon systems appear as fight dances, one with a pair of Burmese swords, the other with a staff with burning ends, sometimes practised in pairs. English Wikipedia states that banshay makes heavy use of paired dha swords, has thirty-seven sword forms and is practised with the sword sheathed, but none of these claims cites a source.

Training

We have not found a specific banshay syllabus in more reliable sources. The master Rupa Thein of the Myanmar Thaing Federation told the New Straits Times that she learned the techniques of thaing first in forms, then with a partner or partners and finally in competition, and that her daily routine included a morning run, practice with weapons, and techniques with and without a weapon. The American Bando Association says of itself that in its schools it introduces the staff at green belt level, the kukri at brown belt level and the dagger and sword usually only above black belt.

Competition

Reports of competitions with weapons come only from weaker sources. English Wikipedia, without citing a source, writes that at the all-Burma thaing competition celebrating independence in January 1948, U Khin Maung, a student of U Chit Than, won the competition with one sword and with a staff and was second in the sword duel. The American Bando Association says of itself that it holds a national weapons tournament under safety rules.

Today

In 2019 the New Straits Times published a photo of the master Rupa Thein, the only woman master on the executive committee of the Myanmar Thaing Federation, practising banshay with two swords with her students, and stated that in 1996 she taught secondary-school girls to use umbrellas as a weapon. The Council for Traditional Sports and Games ICTSG writes that banshay is regarded as a living performing art and is often demonstrated at national festivals. The UNESCO ICM centre states that thaing is today practised mainly as bando and banshay.

Did you know

Green retells a story from the Glass Palace Chronicle, according to which Prince Sawhti, whom a hermit had taught archery, saved the Pagan Kingdom from four giant monsters, a bird, a boar, a tiger and a squirrel. A photo caption in Green states that the dha sword is the traditional weapon for practising thaing, and shows members of the Kachin tribe near Bhamo around 1886.

Frequently asked questions

Similar styles

Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.