Chinlone (Burmese: ; MLCTS: hkrang: lum:; IPA: [tʃʰínlóʊn]) is the traditional sport of Myanmar (Burma). Chinlone is a combination of sport and dance, a team sport with no opposing team. In essence chinlone is non-competitive, yet it’s as demanding as the most competitive ball games. The focus is not on winning or losing, but how beautifully one plays the game. Image File history File links Chinlon. ... This article or section uses Burmese characters which may be rendered incorrectly. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... jus like my ass For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... A Team is a small group with complementary skills who hold themselves mutually accountable for common purpose, goals, and approach. ... Balls are objects typically used in games. ... GAMES Magazine is a United States based magazine devoted to games published by GAMES Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group. ...

Overview

A team of six players pass the ball back and forth with their feet and knees as they walk around a circle. One player goes into the center to solo, creating a dance of various moves strung together. The soloist is supported by the other players who try to pass the ball back with one kick. When the ball drops to the ground it’s dead, and the play starts again. Play might be described as unrestrained, amusing interaction with people, animals, or things, often in the context of learning. ...

Chinlone means “cane-ball” in Burmese. The ball is woven from rattan, and makes a distinctive clicking sound when kicked that is part of the aesthetic of the game. Players use six points of contact with the ball: the top of the toes, the inner and outer sides of the foot, the sole, the heel, and the knee. The game is played barefoot or in chinlone shoes that allow the players to feel the ball and the ground as directly as possible. The typical playing circle is 6.7 meters (22 feet) in diameter. The ideal playing surface is dry, hard packed dirt, but almost any flat surface will do. Genera Calamus Calospatha Ceratolobus Daemonorops Eremospatha Eugeissonia Korthalsia Laccosperma Metroxylon Myrialepis Oncocalamus Pigafetta Plectocomia Plectomiopsis Raphia Zalacca Zalacella Rattan (from the Malay rotan), is the name for the roughly six hundred species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia. ...

Chinlone is over 1,500 years old and was once played for Myanmar royalty. Over the centuries, players have developed more than 200 different ways of kicking the ball. Many of the moves are similar to those of Myanmar dance and martial art. Some of the most difficult strokes are done behind the back without seeing the ball as it is kicked. Form is all important in chinlone, there is a correct way to position the hands, arms, torso, and head during the moves. A move is considered to have been done well only if the form is good. Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ...

Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country, and chinlone games are a featured part of the many Buddhist festivals that take place during the year. The largest of these festivals goes on for more than a month with up to a thousand teams. An announcer calls out the names of the moves and entertains the audience with clever wordplay. Live music from a traditional orchestra inspires the players and shapes the style and rhythm of their play. The players play in time to the music and the musicians accent the kicks. A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film) Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ...

Both men and women play chinlone, often on the same team. Adults and children can play on the same team, and it’s not unusual to see elders in their 80’s playing.

In addition to the team style of chinlone, which is called “wein kat” or circle kick, there is also a solo performance style called “tapandaing”. This solo style is only performed by women. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

To play chinlone well, the whole team must be absolutely in the moment – their minds cannot wander or the ball will drop. All serious players experience an intensely focused state of mind, similar to that achieved in Zen meditation, which they refer to as jhana. Zen is a school of Buddhism in Japan that claims to transmit the spirit or essence of Buddhism, which consists in experiencing the enlightenment (bodhi) achieved by Gautama the Buddha. ... A large statue in Bangalore depicting Shiva meditating Meditation describes a state of concentrated attention on some object of thought or awareness. ... Dhyāna is a term in Sanskrit which refers to a type or aspect of meditation. ...

Chinlone is one of a family of football games played throughout the world. It is related to similar games in Southeast Asia known as takraw in Thailand, sepak raga in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, sipa in the Philippines, kator in Laos and da cau in Vietnam. A competitive variation of the game played over a net, called sepak takraw was developed in Malaysia in the 1940’s. The origins of chinlone may be related to the ancient Chinese game of cuju or tsu chu, which is acknowledged by FIFA as being the oldest form of soccer. A similar game is also played in Japan where it is known as kemari. Chinlone is also related to the family of sports played by kicking a shuttlecock, know as jianzi in China and Taiwan, and jegichagi in Korea. And there is some evidence to suggest that a variation of these games traveled across the Bering Straits and influenced Native Americans, who also played a variety of games keeping a ball up with the feet. These games are thought to be the origin of footbag, also known as hacky sack. Another game that shares elements of sport and dance is bossaball. Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sepak Takraw. ... Sipa is the Philippines national and traditional native sport which dates backs to the Pre-Hispanic period. ... It has been suggested that Takraw be merged into this article or section. ... Cuju (Chinese: ) is an ancient sport similar to footbal (soccer), played in China as well as Korea and Japan. ... The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA, French for International Federation of Association Football) is the international governing body of association football. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Kemari is a sport that was popular in Japan in the Heian Age. ... A shuttlecock with a plastic skirt Shuttlecocks with feather skirts A shuttlecock is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A Hupa man. ... A typical freestyle footbag. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with footbag. ... jus like my ass For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... Bossaball hang time : right before a smash Bossaball : Player about to kick the ball into the game. ...

However, nowhere in the world has the level of extraordinary foot skills and dexterity been combined with artistic expression and spirituality as in the Myanmar game of chinlone. Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ...

External links

• Chinlone site
• Mystic Ball – a documentary film about chinlone
• Article about chinlone from Myanmar
• Chinlone photo essay
• It's Only a Game Geoffrey Walton, The Irrawaddy, January 2007
• [1]Claudia Wiens, a photo essay from Mandalay