Sports, Traditional

   Although soccer (football) is Burma's most popular sport, traditional sports have a wide following. The aim of chinlon, a game played with a cane or rattan ball (similar to takraw in Thailand or sepak raga in Malaysia), is for players to keep the ball in the air using only the feet or legs; a variant is played with a net, like volleyball. Le-thwei is a form of kick-boxing similar to Thailand's muay thai, though rougher and with more informal rules; the loser in a match is the one who wipes blood from his face a certain number of times. Le-thwei matches frequently occur at pwe, and national championships are held at Aung San Stadium in Rangoon (Yangon). For poor but tough young men, the sport promises a kind of upward mobility, or at least winnings from matches to supplement meagre earnings.

   Aform of wrestling similar to Japanese sumo is found in Arakan (Rakhine) State, and traditional regattas involving long boats with many rowers are often held on Rangoon's Kandawgyi Lake.