Tha Mann Kyar

The story of Tha Mann Kyar, his famous spinning elbow and unforgettable battle

Zin Lin Htunn (Danu Phyu)

In the Myanmar traditional boxing industry, there was period of fame for each of the first-class champions. Among them, to point out the one that is still in the heart of many people nowadays, I will have to mention our first-class Myanmar traditional boxing champion Tha Mann Kyar. I am not sure if it’s because it is his destiny, but there is literally no one who doesn’t know Tha Mann Kyar in the Myanmar traditional boxing industry. And even after many years without showing up on the stages, his fame never faded away and his name will be living forever for many more generations.

Youth these days are curious about why the name Tha Mann Kyar is still alive nowadays and what the story is behind it. Many people out there are making conversation about Tha Mann Kyar based on uncertain facts and history they got from their elder generations. Even upon the facts of how the name Tha Mann Kyar was given to him, there are many arguments. Also, on Tha Mann Kyar’s famous spinning elbow people are making things up based either on their own imagination or on the facts that they heard from their elders.

So, to record his complete biography and share his traditional boxing techniques including his famous spinning elbow move, Tomorrow Journal contacted him in order to plan an interview with him at Taikkyi Township where he is currently living. When choosing a location where he can demonstrate the traditional boxing moves, we finally got a spot at the Mandalay 1886 traditional boxing club which was founded with the help of Mandalay Beer and which is located at 5A, Sat San Road, Mingalar Taungnyunt Township. The club manager Ko Aung Gyi and the trainer Ko Chaw Hla welcomed us very warmly.

When interviewing Tha Mann Kyar about his whole journey, since the stories were from many years back, he could not remember some of the facts so he had to take considerable time to answer some of the questions. In this article some of the facts were told by Tha Mann Kyar step by step and the rest are either from the writer’s own research or from the interviews of some other traditional boxing champions and the retired police chief U Lain Hone.

By combining all the facts that the writer collected, this article was written in the order that Tha Mann Kyar answered the questions for the interview. Since Tha Mann Kyar used the casual pronoun (I, You) in a friendly way while interviewing, the writer is going to use the same in the article. If that offends the reader please just blame it on the writer, my apology.

My real name is Saw Hla Min. I am originally from Kayin State, about 11 miles from Hpa-An, Shwe Taw Village (On the Hpa-An city side of the Than Lwin river). Ta Yote Hla Village and others are from the west sector of Than Lwin but our village is in the east sector near Htone Aine Village. My father is U Zaw Weit, my mother is Daw Phwar Sein. My father used to do boxing with the name Kayin Zaw Weit. My father has 6 siblings and we have relatives in the military too, one of them is General Saw Ba Nyein. He also did boxing. In traditional boxing, the father of my father (my grandfather) U Shwe Din Gar is also a boxer.

I am the fourth generation for them and sadly the last; I have daughter. She used to join female boxing with the name Khin Sinkyar Kyarr and I did not even know that she did. She has my blood, so she did it secretly. Now I do not let her do it anymore.

I am the eldest son in my family. I have 13 siblings. My father Kayin Zaw Weit is good at reproduction (laughed jokingly). U Zaw Weit is now 91 years old. When I started getting involved with boxing, I started with the knowledge and courage that I got from what I saw, what I heard and the talent that I got since birth. My father did not train me very well. Also, he did not convince me to do that.

And then when I was 17, I entered the police force. I attended trainings in Phaung Gyi and stayed in Mawlamyaing. After that I was transfered to Apaung Township Police station. The station chief there is U Lain Hone. He is a Chin man. His wife is a Kayin woman and originally from Phar Kat Village (a.k.a Bar Kat) that is on the other side of Hpa-An. I was in Apaung (now called Paung) when I changed from Saw Hla Min to Tha Mann Kyar. That is why later I was called ‘Apaung Tha Mann Kyar’.

Some people think that I was originally from Apaung. You can say that the origin of Saw Hla Min is Hpa-An, Shwe Taw Village but the origin of Tha Mann Kyar is Apaung Township. One day when I was out on the streets for a security patrol, I saw a boxing event in Oaktatar Village within Apaung and I could not resist myself anymore. I wanted to be on the stage but I was carrying a gun and couldn’t ask someone to keep it for me so finally I hid it in the bushes together with my uniform and entered the battle.

I won it. But then again the opponent also punched me some, so I had some wounds on my face. When I returned to the station, the problems started. The station chief checked me and I told him the truth and then he was like “ If I send you on patrol and you continue to do the same and lose the gun, I would also lose my gun and licence, so if you really love boxing that much then you must quit from the police and be a boxer”.

Then he started training me a lot. He made me run up and down the hill and many other exercises. I followed all his instructions involved in the training. I could do anything he wanted since I was still young, hardly 17, 18 so I could run. He also taught me the boxing moves. Then I started joining the nearby battles if there were any. I was not Tha Man Kyar yet. My teacher U Lain Hone wanted my punches and my movement to be better than what I could do at that time so he contacted Sayar Kyar Ba Nyein and made me learn western boxing for 3 months with Dr. Stanley Majid.

I got the name Tha Mann Kyar at the battle with Dathagiri Tin Shwe from Kyaik Kaw in Tha Htone. Back in those days, the police force also took part in war and missions. Each mission had its own name such as for Ye, Lamaing, Mot Kanin etc. Among them, there was a mission called Tha Mann Kyar. Our station took part in that mission and we won it convincingly. That is when our station chief discussed it with the public council chairman and named me Tha Mann Kyar.

They are the ones who planned that battle (with Tin Shwe). And I won that battle within 4 rounds, so from that moment on my real name Saw Hla Min disappeared and I started to be known as Tha Mann Kyar.

There are many battles to talk about. There are some which I can barely even remember anymore. There were a lot with Thai too. With Moe Kyoe, Ba Hnit, Dawei Win Naing, Yangon Aung Din, Yangon Win Naing Sein, Thamein Bayan, Taungoo Saw Ruby and many more. I even battled with Shwe War Htun. In 1988, things were messed up and everything ended (Perhaps alluding to the 1988 protests). I still went to Thailand and Cambodia for the battles.

The most memorable battle is the one in Lashio (Shan state). At that time there was a powerful man in Lashio, I know him as Law Sit Han. His bodyguard Samad is a Kung Fu master and famous because he used to take out the intestines of the previous two competitors, one from Shwe Li and another from China. When they called out for people who want to challenge him, a lot people from here went there and said that champion Tha Mann Kyar will challenge. Look at how much those people hate me. A lot. And some people were even saying that the proud Tha Mann Kyar is going to die this time. That guy was also showing off a lot by squeezing cans. Not the thin cans like nowadays, back in those days, the cans were very thick. Those cans burst when he squeezed.

To be honest, I was scared. What if he would punch me in the stomach with that much strength. I had to accept the fact that there is nothing I could do at that moment instead of battling and defending. Everyone was cheering him up. This was his area, his master is powerful, and I was worried. And it seemed like they also knew it. They said the master assured them that nothing would go wrong.

So, the battle started and guess what happened, I passed out. No idea how he did it but yes, I passed out. That was my very first time passing out. But the person who assisted me was very good. At that time Hpa-An Aung Thein Lay was the one who assisted me. He woke me up and encouraged me by saying “Saw Hla Min, I know you, this won’t do anything to you, you are stronger than this” and I replied “I am okay, watch me” and asked for 6 minutes rest. After the resting time, I started looking for his weakness. He looked down on me but when my chance came, I made my spinning elbow move and one of his eyes came out. Yes, that is what the battle looked like.

The spinning elbow can be considered as my own finishing move. I cannot keep doing it all time. I had to wait for the perfect timing for that and lure the competitor to fall in my trap so that I can make my move. It needs to be perfect timing, fast and strong enough. That is what ended the battle. You need to be confident for that too. To land it at the perfect moment it should be initiated just after the other person aims to punch you otherwise you will miss if you hesitate or are too slow. So, you need to be brave.

You need to practice it a lot. In my time, I was crazy about boxing, so I practiced day and night. I love practicing. If you are lazy to practice then it will hurt you in battle. So, don’t be lazy to practice. Practice ‘till you have your own killing moves. That is all I want to say.