How a Thang-Ta fight works

Thang-Ta is a martial art from Manipur. Shown with phunaba, the fighting events.

1. Two players strike with a phunachei, a soft cane stick in leather. In one style each also has a leather shield and kicking is banned; in the other there is no shield and kicks are allowed.
2. A strike to any part of the body above the upper belt scores 1 mark.
3. Dropping the shield or the stick costs 3 marks, and stepping out of the arena costs 1.
4. The fighter with more marks wins. Six score judges, three for each fighter, record the marks.

How long

Two rounds of three minutes, with a one-minute interval. Thang-Ta also has solo performance events, judged on posture, movement, power and rhythm.