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| นิตยสาร สารคดี: ฉบับที่ ๒๑๙ เดือนพฤษภาคม ๒๕๔๖ | ISSN 0857-1538 | |||
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| Story: Jakkapan Kangwan Photo: Bansit Bunyaratavej, Boonkit Suthiyananon |
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As the Burmese troops advanced against his crumbing vanguard, King Naresuan courageously plunged into the fray mounted atop an elephant. Moments later he slashed the Burmese crown prince with a sword in an epic elephant duel, winning back the independence of the Ayudhya Kingdom.It was over 400 years ago when sovereignty was still defended by mostly swords, spears, shields, and scythes. Battlefield victories during the reign of King Naresuan were no accident, but rather a result of courage, tactics and great fighting skills of the great warrior king as well as his troops. Specialized fighting techniques were passed on to a large pool of Siamese young men through different martial arts schools which abounded then... |
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A sign on the door says "Attamat Sword Fighting School." Upon arriving here, a group of young men studiously grabbed a wooden sword and started practicing guarding positions according to the teacher's instruction. What is astonishing about this is that the lesson takes place on a concrete floor in the middle of Bangkok's financial district on Sathorn 9. "Attamat is an ancient double sword fighting art of King Naresuan and is very powerful, fast and dangerous," explains Manoch Boonyamud, the original teacher. In 1977, Manoch learned the sword fighting technique from a man only known as Suriya. Fearing that this dangerous art could be misused, Manoch had kept the knowledge to himself until he met Chatchai Achanun.almost two decades later |
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Though he is a businessman with a doctorate in treasury and tax law, Chatchai is an accomplished martial artist with a passion for many forms of fighting arts. After spending days and nights learning Attamat, Chatchai realized the power of the sword fighting technique and decided to found the Attamat School to preserve this ancient art. "Those familiar with sword fighting know Attamat is no ordinary art," says Chatchai. A look at one basic move alone will unveil the essence of Attamat: "Defense is offense. Offense is defense." By constantly drawing the double swords in a coordinated fashion to form a vertical figure "8", the move "Covering three worlds," guards all body parts while at the same time ready to slash the attacker. |
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There are three basic moves and 12 movements, each with rhyming figurative names. And each movement contains numerous sub-movements that can be combined and woven together. In actual fighting, moving from core basic moves to movements and sub-movements is like a firework that shoots out time and again from a center point. The more complicated the technique, the more beautiful and dangerous, as the moves are increasingly more difficult to predict. Every Friday, about ? people gather at the Attamat school for a lesson. The reasons? Besides preserving this Siamese heritage, students say they learn a useful self-defense skill, get a good exercise and get their minds to be more centered and calm. |