Thang-Ta for emotional balance

Khilton Nongmaithem / Dainis Jirgensons / Loyd Gore *

Illustration by Riya Ashby on Anatomy of spear Jump( Lan Yengba)( frontal view)

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." - Gautama Buddha

During the Covid lockdown, I couldn’t meet with friends to practice, and naturally, I felt frustrated and depressed. During this emotional time, memories of my late teacher, Oja Manikchand Potshangbam, resurfaced.

He would often visit Hula Sindamsang to demonstrate various forms and skills. Normally he was always in a good mood and enjoyed teaching.

On one occasion, he got frustrated and annoyed when he felt challenged by one of the other teachers, eventually becoming angry and leaving the scene. We had never seen him so upset. That afternoon my late teacher Devabrata Sinam (Oja Debo) took me to Oja Manikchand's residence, intending to apologize for the other teacher's behavior. We found him in his usual good humor and he was completely calm.

He told us "I just finished two spear forms. I am completely fine." He then explained that when you are angry, you breathe from your upper chest and throat, disconnected from your center.

"I practiced the two most difficult spear forms, which demand complete control of the breath. Mentally, I was performing a ritual. This completely cleared out the emotions that were disturbing me."

This example illustrates how Huyen Lallong is useful in what is now referred to as emotional regulation. The technique consists in regulating the breath, lowering the focus to the navel (tin yot-thaba).

In the context of Thang-Ta, this could involve performing a demanding spear form, as described above, or a sword form with explosive jumps and cuts, like cutting a banana tree (Laphu Kakpa).

The most important aspect is that the intense physical movement forces you to lower your breath to your abdomen (chaning taba).

Other practices would be screaming, pouring cold water on the head, lifting a heavy rice bag onto your shoulders, hitting a post or tree with a cane; all this done to expel the negative feeling without hurting anyone. These practice connects the breath, mind, and body.

Other emotions such as anxiety, depression are handled differently. One practice would be a specific sword ritual on a geometric pattern done slowly, deliberately-gentle movement with careful attention to breathing coordinated with figure of 8 hand pattern (khujeng leiba).

Another common practice to regulate both depression and anger is paced breathing: for example, three steps inhalation, swallow and hold two steps, five steps exhalation. The focus is on exhalation, increasing over time.

Even a warrior on the battlefield cannot afford to let anger control their actions. As the warrior code states, controlling the breath through movement creates unity between body, breath, and blade. The same applies to the spear: breath, body, and weapon become one unified entity.

Similar practices have been incorporated into the modern Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Sadly, these practices have been lost to a large extent in present day Thang-Ta practice, which focuses on performance and physical aspects. The internal self-healing practices seem to be ignored.


This article is dedicated in reverence and all humility to my two Masters Oja Devabrata Sinam and Oja Dr Lokendra Arambam

See a full photo gallery of Thang-Ta with Khilton Nongmaithem here