Weapons - Krabi Krabong - 6

THE BUDDHAI  SAWAN INSTITUTE OF SWORDSMANSHIP MANCHESTER, ENGLAND

ARJARN WEERAYUT  COMES TO  ENGLAND

By K. Moore 2000

Arjarn Weerayut Mesamarn the son of the late Por Kruh Samai Mesamarn Grandmaster of the Buddhai Swan and his wife Arjarn Isara Mesamarn came to visit  the City of Manchester, England at the request of Arjarn Tony Moore of the BTBC, now ranked as Pandit or (Full Graduate) Grade of the Institute, for a instruction course to the students of the Krabi Krabong  Association of the United Kingdom.

It was a great honor and privilege for the Buddhai Swan UK and the BTBC to play host to Arjarn Weeayut Messaman, the head teacher at the Buddhai Swan Namnak Daab Institute of Ayddhaya to visit  England to conduct seminars in the fascinating art of Krabi Krabong.

 If I may take some time to give a few historical facts about the Buddhai Swan Institute. Wat Buddhai Swan (Buddhai Swan Temple, sometimes spelt Putthai Sawan) was built by Prince U-Thong (Rama Thibodi) in aproximately 1350. The temple belonged to Monks from Lanka. The system of self defence taught are believed to have been Pramaha Arjarn Prong and Pichai Sungkarn systems. It is a recorded fact that three Kings trained at the Buddhai Swan temple.

 King Pramaha Taksin, probably the most famous of these three kings was known as a warrior king. To write even a brief history of his many exploits would take up several pages.Suffice it to say and I quote "Taksin, one of the most remarkable men who ever wore the crown of Siam (from the history of Siam by W.A.R. Wood). Of course we cannot speak about King Taksin without mentioning his renowned commander-in-chief Phraya Pichai Daab Hak (Daab Hak - meaning Broken sword). When in the heat of battle one of Phraya Pichai's swords broke, he continued fighting and led his army to victory. King Taksin's most famous achievement was freeing Siam from Burmese rule.

Today in Ayuddhaya, a monument to the three Kings who studied at the Buddhai Swan stands proudly, a reminder of the school's glorious past. The legacy of the Buddhai Swan and the system of Krabi Krabong its history and techniques have been passed down through the generations to the present-day school which is in the new capital Krunthep (Bangkok).

Student of the Buddhai Swan, Kru Tony Moore invited his teacher Arjarn Weerayut and his wife Arjarn Isara to England to give instructional seminars in this rarely seen martial art. The content of many of the seminars  included tuition and practice mainly with the Daab (sword), which is the most famous of all the weapons of the art. Most people think Krabi Krabong is just the sword fighting but in fact there are actually nine weapons in the art, plus the empty-hand fighting system, Muay Thai.

During each seminar, Arjarn Weerayut taught some traditional Muay Thai techniques, which one could see would be extremely effective as a means of self defense  although many of these techniques are illegal in the modern day ring sport. The combination of weapons and empty-hand system together forma truly formidable combat fighting art. 

To conclude each seminar in spectacular fashion, Arjarn Weerayut and Arjarn Isara performed the ritual dance, the Ram Daab followed by an astounding display of sword fighting. Sparking clashing swords  and supremely agile athletic grace as they twirled and spun, parried and thrust to a thrilling climax.

Arjarn Weerayut and Arjarn Isara stayed for two weeks traveling around the UK teaching at BTBC camps in England Wales and Scotland. Arjarn Tony More traveled with them being organizer, co-instructor, stuntman, chauffeur, interpreter, and tourist guide, dying a thousand deaths as everybody in the BTBC practiced their attacks! How many chairmen do you know who would die for you? Arjarn Tony also trained privately with Arjarn Weerayut every day at Tony's school in Manchester, and has already made plans for Arjarn Weerayut's return in August this year.

Arjarn Tony Moore has trained at the Buddhai Swan for nine years and have taken many students to train there. I wanted everybody to have the chance to not only see Arjarn Weerayut perform, but also to have the opportunity to train with him especially the new generation. In the hope that they will lift their sights even higher to achieve a new level of excellence in martial arts in England.

We at the BTBC have always aimed to bring the best instructors in different aspects of either Muay Thai or Krabi Krabong to England, after all, " the man with one eye is king in the land of the blind".