Bando History: Bando Comes to America

Dr. U M. (Maung) Gyi is the son of U Ba Than Gyi, and was sent to many grandmasters of the various Burmese systems and disciplines by his father, in order to learn and assimilate the teachings his father had systematized. Dr. Gyi also competed in the brutal Bando Boxing bouts staged by his father's organizations in Burma. Dr. Gyi found himself in Washington, D.C. during the early 1960s.

At that time, the Japanese systems were openly recognized and practiced in New York, Washington, D.C. and Korean Tae Kwon Do was also coming to prominence. The American martial arts community was begun by servicemen returning from the Orient, such as Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis and others. They shared the skill and knowledge they had acquired overseas with the American public, which was responsive to this new art from the East.

The early American martial arts scene was distinguished and noted for its lack of commercial undertakings for profit and exploitation. Americans like the competitive aspects of the arts, and also felt it was exciting to learn the mysteries of the ancient East. Then, commercial schools were established in the wake of movie sensationalism. They provided mystic misinformation and stereotypes, such as the magic death touch, etc.

Dr. Gyi was a pioneer in the establishment of non-commercial martial arts in the U.S. He served as a chief referee and tournament director for many major tournaments and events in the 1960s. He served on the Board of Directors of the United States Karate Association (USKA) and of the Professional Karate Association.

Dr. Gyi served as referee at the famous 1975 Bill Wallace/Joe Corley fight in Atlanta. He is noted and recognized as a founder and pioneer of the American legitimate martial arts community, along with other names such as Richard Kim, Robert Trias, Peter Urban, Don Nagle, Henry Cho, Jhoon Rhee, Joe Lewis, Chuck Norris, Ed Parker and countless others.

Today, Dr. Gyi’s Bando is taught nationwide, and thousands of students train or have trained under the demanding tutelage of the Grandmaster or his students.

Evolution of Bando in the U.S.
Dr. Gyi originally taught what might be viewed as a very Japanese-oriented martial art, because this was what the American public in the early 1960s understood and was ready for. The earliest training in Bando occurred under Dr. Gyi in Washington, D.C. in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The training was stark, realistic and hard. Bando tournament fighters developed a reputation for fierce rushes and strong, heavy contact. A number of Bando pioneers date from this period, such as Rick Niemera, Joe Manley, Lloyd Davis and Dr. Geoff Willcher.

Dr. Gyi then moved to Ohio, pursuing his doctoral degree in communications, which he earned after a three year period of study. At this time, many of the Washington, D.C./Maryland group of black belts also relocated as they finished college or found new career interests, and the nationalization of Bando was underway.

As the level of skill and conditioning in Bando practitioners increased, Dr. Gyi introduced Burmese Bando Boxing in the 1970s as a brutal full-contact arena for Bando practitioners to expand their knowledge of endurance, power and mobility. The 1980s saw Dr. Gyi open up training in the various animal systems to Bando black belts, as a means of perpetuating the underlying principles he has set out for us, based on his own knowledge and training. Dr. Gyi also began to teach deeper aspects of the kukri and dha in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, Dr. Gyi began to introduce grappling (Naban) and meditative and health aspects of the system (Monk system), as well as additional animal and weapons forms -- always stressing combative use and efficiency.

Now retired from his career as a university professor, Dr. Gyi concentrates on passing on his Bando knowledge to his students, both old and new. With new-found freedom of time, he travels the U.S. teaching practitioners of Bando and other systems about the global, universally applicable martial principles presented in his Bando system.

Dr. Gyi has encouraged his students to think creatively about martial systems and to continue to expand their understanding of how fundamental Bando principles operate and are applied. As a result, substantial body of literature has emerged on topics such as strategy, tactics and stepping.

More recently, he has begun to share more openly Bando's esoteric and demanding Monk System, a "non-violent martial art" based on altruistic spiritual and ethical principles. Dr. Gyi has continued to reaffirm the fundamental qualities of Bando by stressing speed, surprise and style (intelligently and efficiently designed actions accomplishing the design purpose of the art).

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