the beginning of the twentieth century among the Wa and well into the
mid-twentieth century among the Kachin.) Others were Buddhist, and so
there were prohibitions against unnecessary killing.
Accordingly, the development of thaing needs to be viewed in the con-
text of movements of ethnic groups such as the Shan, Mon, Karen,
Arakanai, and Kachin through the mountainous area where Tibet, Yunnan,
Burma, and India meet. The Kachins, for example, have a well-developed
oral tradition of migration from their ancestral home, the Majoi Shingra
Bum (Naturally Flat Mountain), which was possibly located in eastern Ti-
bet. The Karens also have a tradition that they passed through the moun-
tains on their way to lower Burma. Meanwhile, in neighboring Manipur,
India, the Meiteis (who comprise 60 percent of the population) are of Tai
origin and famous for their practice of martial arts. While this may owe
more to Hindu than to Tibetan influence, the primary Manipuri art thang-
tais closely tied to dance and ritual practice. Likewise, the equally Tai hill
tribes of Nagaland (north of Manipur) have related martial traditions.
Traditions from Yunnan province, which is where the Tai had an em-
pire into the thirteenth century, also may have links with thaing. For ex-
ample, as recently as 1928, Miao doctors were reported as boxing, fighting
with sticks and knives, and practicing qigong(exercises for cultivating in-
ternal strength often associated with martial art training). While much
more research is required into the subject, the historical connections among
martial arts in the area are intriguing.
How these interconnections probably came about is that during the
thirteenth century, Kublai Khan overthrew the Nanchao, or Tai, states in
Yunnan. This caused Tai refugees to retreat into Manipur, Nagaland, and
the Irrawaddy and Menam valleys, and over time they established a num-
ber of states, including one that later became Thailand. Moreover, the
Naga who entered the Kachin state were often assimilated into Jinghpaw
clans. Jinghpaw oral narratives suggest a natural affinity between the two
groups.
Meanwhile, King Narathihapate of Pagan executed a Mongol ambas-
sador carrying Kublai Khan’s demands to Burma and even had the audac-
ity to directly attack China. So for the next 150 years Burma and Mongol
China were almost constantly at war, either with one another or with the
various Tai states.
That said, lethwei only entered the oral traditions of this struggle dur-
ing the eighteenth century. Specifically, according to Thai tradition, in the
1770s a Thai prisoner of war, Nai Khanom Tom, was awarded his freedom
after he defeated a dozen of his Burmese captors in boxing matches. In con-
trast, Burmese tradition maintains that Nai was the consummate politician,
ingratiating himself at the Burmese court to such an extent that he was al-630 Thaing