Dha Swordsmanship

Scott M. Rodell · Post by **Scott M. Rodell** » Fri May 11, 2007 6:31 pm

I've been traveling around the world of Antique Arms Collectors for many years & was often asked if I knew anything about Dha Swordsmanship, which I don't... then I stumbled across this video:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?doc ... hine+bando

There are sword forms toward the beginning & some two man sets towards the end...

Linda Heenan · Post by **Linda Heenan** » Mon May 14, 2007 3:56 am

Well .... the first time I tried to watch it, I almost turned it off when they started slicing vegetables on people's throats, and definitely turned it off when they ran swords over people's tongues. It would take just one little bit of concentration loss during one of those circus tricks and some trusting student would be dead or maimed....

Why do people do things like that? Is it for making money by running a show, or something?

Yes, I know this is up to look at the swordsmanship displays, but ..... well .... I'm just glad we get to train only in real skill and not circus performances.

jonpalombi · Post by **jonpalombi** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:02 pm

Linda Heenan wrote:
Why do people do things like that? Is it for making money by running a show, or something?

Yes, I know this is up to look at the swordsmanship displays, but ..... well .... I'm just glad we get to train only in real skill and not circus performances.

I agree, whole-heartedly! However, some of the techniques look authentic. Very interesting stuff. The demos are for money, attention, drama...I for one, don't want to become a circus monkey. Thanks to Laoshi, none of us have to.

Yours in Martial Spirit, Jon Palombi

jonpalombi · Post by **jonpalombi** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:32 pm

jonpalombi wrote: I for one, don't want to become a circus monkey. Thanks to Laoshi, none of us have to.

Yours in Martial Spirit, Jon Palombi

After re-reading my previous statement, I want to make it clear that I am not making light of Thai/ Myanmar swordsmanship. It's not easy to cut bananas off of some body's neck. It takes timing, speed and pulling the blade back at the last second. My Kumdo teacher used to do the same thing with a watermelon balanced on a student's belly (mine, some of the time). Still, this is obviously not the kind of swordsmanship employed in countless battles waged through-out history (spanning centuries of time) in Siam and Burma. The Dha is a real cutting sword. Genuine historical cutting is something quite different than what we see here. Real, authentic, practical swordsmanship is quite the rare bird. Again, we can count our blessings that Laoshi Wang Yen-nien passed the teachings to our Teacher Scott M. Rodell, who passes it into our hands. To quote Bob Marley, "Give thanks and praises!" While the sword may not be a religion to most, it is an avenue towards enlightenment for some. I count myself as one of the lucky ones.
In regards to flashy demonstrations...not too long ago, Chinese swordsmanship was accused of being just as superficial by practitioners of European and Japanese traditions. This, we have come to know first-hand, is not true. Somewhere in the mountains of Southern Asia, there may well be authentic dha swordsmanship being practiced, as we speak. It's certainly something worth researching!
Sincerely, Jon Palombi

tiamat9989 · Post by **tiamat9989** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:28 pm

whoa...talk about faith in the master. The kids didn't even flinch.