There were verious traditional sports in Arakan like art of self-defence, kyun ( Arakanese style of wrestling and self-defence),elephat and horse racing, bow racing, sword with sword and spear with spear racing and boat racing. The purpose of all race were produced skilled warriors of the Kingdom for the Royal Army Both major sports of Kyun wrestling and boat racing have remained and popularized amoung the public of Arakan. The several kinds of sport were lost throughout under the colonial rule.
Rakhine Wrestling – Kyun
Rakhine people have a long tradition of holding wrestling competitions during the annual festivals in their towns and villages. It is one of the Rakhine traditional sports which mainly based on physical ability to uplift the happiness and physical prowess. It’s a kind of martial art. The skill of wrestling and making one’s rival fall on to the ground while avoiding hid attack is called “Kyun”.
Kyun - It derives from Kyar–Yun. Kyar” means “tiger” and “yun” means “quick”. Therefore, the complete meaning of “Kyun” is the quick tiger. The Rakhine wrestler can be called as a quick tiger because of his ability in wrestling movements and techniques.
“Kyun” the Rakhine wrestling is very different from other wrestling and it has its own rules and disciplines not to get hurt each other. Wrestler first dances jumping and making special styles in the playground. The two wrestlers have to play three rounds. They are defined as an attacker and one defender. After finishing three rounds, the first attacker becomes the defender and also the first defender becomes the attacker. The attacker who can make the back of the defender falls up to the ground wins the playing round. The first prizewinner will be awarded the gold gong, one tickle weight and for the second prizewinner, the silver gong is awarded. The “Kyun” wrestling is usually performed at the pagoda festivals.
Carriage Pulling Event - Rahta-Swe-Bwe
We call carriage pulling event as “Rahta-swe-bwe” in Rakhine version, meaning that pulling a kind of tug-of-war. In these sports, two teams including at least 20 persons each side has to complete three rounds. In this event, “Rahta” is made of four big wheels and the wooden frame. On the frame, there are some decorations and some bamboo leaves. Originally, the winner group can get the chance to burn that bamboo leaves. Now a day, the winner groups are awarded the gold medal as the first prize.
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