Bando is not always synonymous with Lethwae. Some Bando people have nothing to do with Lethwae and vice versa in Myanmar.
Lethwae is bare knuckle fighting whereas Muay Thai evolved out of the bare knuckle base by embracing western methodology(ring, judges, gloves, referee, point scoring,etc)into a modern ring art. The Burmese remained closed off or resistent to Western influence. In the older methodology of bare knuckle, alot of we view today as part of the match changes, there are no judges and a person must win by KO, stoppage(possibly by cuts or bone break), or the fight is deemed a draw and in each case you are paid accordingly. Even though the opponent is vulnerable until his back hits the ground alot of time in a fast volley, he might be tagged with a hard shot and fearing a knockout or followup blow will go down on his back. The bouts for the major belts or the high money have more a western flair now with the referee intervening a bit more. But some fights are still fought in the sand or dirt with the endless last round. There are not very many what we would call modern training camps in Myanmar as one would get used to in Thailand where they blanket almost every region. Some are just someone's backyard with a minimal of equipment if any at all. Some embrace more modern training methods and equipment, others don't and some a mix of the two.
Fights are also held freely throughout the country but monitored. The smaller bouts in the dirt are carried on in the cultural pockets free from any restraints.
Lerd Rit is a form of military muay thai influenced by the older combative component of krabi krabong and bare knuckle distilled into a fast moving self defense system. Its creator had in depth knowledge of the combative aspects and principles that prevailed through the thai martial arts unifying them into a system for the military. Many people are greatly misinformed about this system. The older forms of pure Muay would bear some resemblance to lethwae with muay boran now existing for the most part as a form of physical education codified by the government physical education department.
Dr. Gyi is an exemplary martial arts teacher and educator. Phil Dunlap likewise is an excellent teacher. Both men are doing their best to elevate the Burmese Arts. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with the teaching or ability of either man. Without Dr. Gyi's help I would not have gotten through half the work that I did so far and continue to do. His amazing faculty for organization and analyzation is remarkable and he is a true scholar.
As far as kosen judo being an influence, I didnt personally find that to be the case. Judo is taught mostly for international competition and I visited with alot of the competitors in the sports training centers in Yangon. If you are talking about the older wrestling forms in Burma as well as the neighboring countries like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and even one time Thailand, you are looking at the influence of the older wrestling systems of India some of which were quite brutal and Mongolia among other countries with other various indigenous innovations added. when in India, I found some of the very old masters who showed me texts of the older systems which involved fish hooking, gouges, etc which seem to mirror the older ways of grappling in the region. In Burma and neighboring countries, alot of the wrestling was held during village festivals and thats how its now carried on for the most part.
I have several DVDs left of an exhibition event in the north of burma which I sold to my vanishing flame list members to support the next trip into Myanmar in January. If anyone wants to buy any remaining copies, they can email me at:
blackdiamondcobra@yahoo.com. I recorded many critical hours of footage through the various regions for my book research and hopefully later on will release them if warranted.
