The term ”martial arts‘ simply means ‘arts concerned with the waging of war’. Many of the martial arts we know today originated from ancient war skills. In time, man’s search for a more profound meaning of life, led to the development of a higher level of fighting.
Although die fighting arts in each nation differ from one another, there is a common thread in the tapestry of martial arts – anonymity Thang-Ta.
This is one of Manipur’s most ancient martial arts. The fighting equipment comprises a sword and a shield, now modified to a stick encased in soft leather and a shield made of leather. The contestants fight a duel, and victory goes to the person, who scores the maximum points.
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In ancient times, sword and spears were used by the contestants. Victory in this martial art depends more on skill, than brawn and brute force. There was a tradition in Manipur to settle any dispute between two warriors by a combat of thang-ta. It is called as’ chainab It is a symbol of sting one’s skill and saving his reputation from his enemies.
The competition is held on a flat surface, within a circle, with an ammeter of 7 meters. There are two lines of one meter length in the circle, with a space of two meters between them, is ‘cheibi stick is 2 to 2.5 feet in length, and die shield is entire in diameter.