Chinlone ( my, ခြင်းလုံး, ), also known as caneball, is the traditional, national
sport
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
of
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
(Burma). It is non-competitive, with typically six people playing together as one team. The ball used is normally made from handwoven
rattan
Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed- canopy old-growth tropical fores ...
, which sounds like a basket when hit. Similar to the game of
hacky-sack
A footbag is a small, round bag usually filled with plastic pellets or sand, which is kicked into the air as part of a competitive game or as a display of dexterity. "Hacky Sack" is the name of a brand of footbag popular in the 1970s (currently o ...
, chinlone is played by individuals passing the ball among each other within a circle without using their hands. However, in chinlone, the players are walking while passing the ball, with one player in the center of the circle. The point of the game is to keep the ball from hitting the ground while passing it back and forth as creatively as possible. The sport of chinlone is played by men, women and children, often together, interchangeably. Although very fast, chinlone is meant to be entertaining and fluid, as if it were more of a performance or dance.
History
![Men playing chinlone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Men_playing_chinlone.jpg)
Chinlone has played a prominent role in Myanmar for about 1,500 years. Its style is performance-based because it was first created as a demonstrative means of activity for entertaining Burmese royalty. Chinlone is heavily influenced by traditional Burmese
martial arts and dance, another reason as to why so much importance is placed upon technique. As it is such an old game, many variations have been made to it, including hundreds of moves for maneuvering the ball. In addition to the original form of chinlone, there is a single performance style called ''tapandaing''. While chinlone had been widely considered by Europeans to be more of a game than an actual sport, international interest in chinlone grew rapidly. By 1911, chinlone teams were performing in parts of Europe and Asia. As spectators of chinlone, Europeans derisively deemed it to be merely an entertaining game of indigenous people, too passive and not violent or masculine enough to be considered a sport.
After Myanmar's independence from British colonial rule in 1948, many British influences and cultural practices lingered, including those British sports such as cricket and polo. British
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
dominant culture still weighed heavily upon Burmese life. From the 1960s onward, the government strongly promoted traditional and historical preservation in an effort to renew native cultural pride. Myanmar needed to focus on traditions that were unique to Burmese culture, free from any colonial influence. Chinlone fit this role perfectly, playing a key part in establishing Burmese nationalism. Myanmar began implementing physical education in schools, teaching children from a young age about traditional activities and sports like chinlone as a way to educate and increase pride in their own culture. This was a small yet effective way in reestablishing unique Burmese life after many generations of colonial rule. With this newfound
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, chinlone was finally considered a real and cooperative sport.
The head of the Burma Athletic Association, U Ah Yein, was ordered by the Burmese government to write a rulebook for chinlone in 1953. These rules forced chinlone to become more competitive, and the first official chinlone competition was held in
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
that same year. In addition to providing chinlone with an official set of rules, U Ah Yein's chinlone rulebook claimed chinlone to be unique to Myanmar only, as the birthplace of the game. While chinlone does distinctively go back far into Burmese tradition, there are many similar sports closely related to it across many other
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
n countries, such as
da cau
Jianzi (), tī jianzi (踢毽子), tī jian (踢毽) or jianqiú (毽球), is a traditional Chinese national sport in which players aim to keep a heavily weighted shuttlecock in the air by using their bodies, apart from the hands, unlike in si ...
(
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
), kator (
Laos),
sepak raga (
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
,
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
),
sipa
Sipa (literally, "kick") is the Philippines' traditional native sport which predates the Spanish rule. The game is related to Sepak Takraw. Similar games include Footbag net, Footvolley, Bossaball and Jianzi.
The game is both played by two ...
(
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
) and
takraw
Sepak takraw, or Sepaktakraw, also called kick volleyball, is a team sport played with a ball made of rattan or synthetic plastic between two teams of two to four players on a court resembling a badminton court. It is similar to volleyball and ...
(
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
).
In the 2013 Southeast Asian Games
The
2013 Southeast Asian Games
The 2013 Southeast Asian Games ( my, ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ် အရှေ့တောင် အာရှ အားကစား ပြိုင်ပွဲ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and com ...
were hosted in the Burmese capital
Nay Pyi Taw
Naypyidaw, officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw (; ), is the capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's cities, as it is an entirely planned city out ...
, the first
Southeast Asian Games
The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...
in Myanmar since 1969. Chinlone was included as a separate sport within the competition, and was also featured in the closing ceremony. The inclusion of chinlone was controversial, as other countries were not adequately prepared to compete in a uniquely Burmese sport.
In popular culture
In South African football comic
Supa Strikas
Supa Strikas is a pan-American association football-themed comic,Pilcher, Tim and Brad Brooks. (Foreword: Dave Gibbons). ''The Essential Guide to World Comics''. ''Collins and Brown''. 2005. 292-293. about the titular football team dubbed "th ...
, an episode, ''No El' in Team'', featured chinlone in the story arc.
See also
*
Sepak takraw
Sepak takraw, or Sepaktakraw, also called kick volleyball, is a team sport played with a ball made of rattan or synthetic plastic between two teams of two to four players on a court resembling a badminton court. It is similar to volleyball and ...
References
External links
Australian Caneball Championshipsheld in
Canberra
{{Authority control
Sport in Myanmar
Sports originating in Myanmar
Sport in Australia