Manipuri Chamtun

[kronckew]

I have friend who trained in the Thai sword fighting style in Thailand, he has told me before that the dha/daab was used mainly one handed, but would occasionally be used two handed for a finishing blow to a downed enemy so he couldn't recover and stab you in the back. Even the two sword styles are mostly for showing off and dancing. When they went into a real battle, they used a nice sensible shield in the left hand. Knowing how to use a sword in your off hand was useful too, in case your main hand/arm was injured.

They usually had fairly short tangs suited to a one handed style, so the extra force applied to the haft near the pommel was not reinforced by any extension of the tang like western or japanese hand and a half or two handed swords. It was there to balance the weapon. These Chamtun at least have a rivet or two to secure the short tang. Many dha/dabbs are just held in by cutler's cement/resin, and have done their job for centuries like that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I suspect as they are close to Burma, they likely have had battles with each other and have adopted bits of each other's styles they found worthwhile.

Also, these videos are choreographed to be flashy and showy and more used to instill muscle memory like karate's kata. The stylized stuff goes out the iwndow in a real fight where to live means to be unpredictable.