Seniors from the traditional Burmese movement say that the rising and falling Fuji Tin Tung-gun teaches patient mastery of control - a highly needed quality in a suffering country.

“Once you start playing games, you forget everything,” said Win Tint, 74.

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“You only focus on touch, only on your own style.”

Chinlone is a national competition in Myanmar, dating back to centuries. It combines a fusion of sports and art, often playing music, while men and women usually practice in different ways.

The men's team in thin shorts formed a circle with brushstrokes in the style of footsteps, knees and head, passing the ball in a "keepy-upppy" game, while the outsider's scoring system could not be performed.

Women play solo like circus performers - tens of thousands of balls kicked each game while walking, spinning umbrellas and balancing beer bottles in chairs.

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Teenage prodigy Phyu sin Phyo honed his skills on the Yangon court, exploding a burning ball on his toes while spinning a hula hoop - also caught fire.

"I will play even if I'm sick," the 16-year-old said. "It's important to be a good Chinlone player."

But in recent years, the competition has been in trouble, followed by the military coup in 1921 and the subsequent civil war.

Poverty rates are shooting, and artisans are facing increasing problems to propose materials to make balls.

But the game's rising and falling rhythms brings a breather opportunity for practitioners.

“When you hear the sound of playing football, it’s like music,” Tint, vice chairman of the Chinlone Federation in Myanmar, told AFP.

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“So when you play Chinlone, you feel like dancing.”

- "Happy Play Day" -

Different versions of hands-free sports in Southeast Asia are called "crawlers".

In Thailand, Malaysian and Indonesian players play online in volleyball style "Sepak Takraw".

In Laos, when Filipinos play "sipa", it is called "kawaw".

According to general belief, Myanmar's iteration dates back to 1,500 years.

Some quoted a replica silver center ball found on a pagoda built by a French archaeologist between 200 and 900 B.C.

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It was originally used as a pastime, fitness and royal entertainment.

But in 1953, the game received rules and ratings, part of the compilation of Burmese national culture after independence from Britain.

“Unless the people of Myanmar do so, no one will retain the traditional heritage of Myanmar.”

Despite the conflict, players still gather under highway overpasses, around street lights, and wartime blackouts shrouded dedicated Chinlone courts – often shaky open metal sheds with concrete floors.

"For a Chinlone man, the day he played was always a happy day. I was so happy that I slept well at night," Min Naing said.

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“In the days when I wasn’t playing, I felt like I was missing something.”

- "Respect chinlone" -

But Win Tint is worried that participation is falling.

“I’m worried the sport is gone,” said Chinlone Ball Maker Maker Maker Thein, who worked hard in the stuffy studio in Hinthada, 110 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of Yangon.

“That’s why we handle it by hand.”

The cross-legged man scrapes the cane into strips, bends them with a manual crank, and then skillfully wove them into melon-sized balls with pentagonal holes, boiling them in a bucket to seal their strength.

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PE Thein, 64, added: "We checked the quality of the Chinlone, as if we were checking for diamonds or gems."

“It respects us when we respect Chinlone.”

It takes about two hours per ball to earn $2.40 for business owner Maung Kaw $2.40.

However, the supply of the most quality rattan he desires from Rakhine is decreasing.

The state between military and opposition groups is fighting fiercely, and now controls almost all of this.

Maung Kaw said the farmers were too scared to fall into the jungle battlefield and cut down sugar cane, which endangered his profession.

"It shouldn't be that we have players, but there is no Chinlone manufacturer," the 72-year-old said.

“I want to do my best.”

bu-jts/pdw/slb/dh