If you are a student of Dr. Gyi's and have heard his outlandish claims of having been a POW in Korea, Vietnam, or elsewhere, please provide details as to the story as YOU have heard it.

Your name will not be revealed. Feel free to send anonymous email if necessary. Just state when and where it was said, and in front of how many witnesses.

SEE THE PENALTIES

There IS a price to pay for lies!

These are email, posted web notes, and information on our efforts to verify Dr. Gyi's military claims - ESPECIALLY the P.O.W. claims.

DATE OF BIRTH records in the United States, 
drivers license and place of employment - Ohio University, show 1936.

WWII --  December 7, 1941 - December 31, 1946

Korea -- June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953

Vietnam 1964-1973 (or 59-75)

Falklands - April - May 1982

His Military Timeline Tale

• WWII - Served as a Youth Ghurka in Burma during WWII ... then served in the first Long Range Penetration Patrol he says he served with MARS GROUP, 1360 COMPOSITE GROUP, MERRILL'S MARAUDERS...
• At the early age of 13 he joined the Boy's Companies and later transferred to the 9th and 10th Burma Gurkha Regiment.
• Dr. Gyi was conscripted into military service at the age of 16, as a medic and infantryman
• 9 March 1942.  On that day I decided to join a field ambulance unit....
• I joined my brother's unit, the 1/10 Gurkha Regiment, in May 1942...
• I do remember Gyi in tears as he described how the Japanese tortured & killed his brothers, and left their heads on poles at the POW camp, as a message to any would be Allied sympathizers. They supposedly also castrated his father, U Ba Than Gyi. [SEE FACTS]
• KOREA - CLAIMS THAT HE WAS THEN TRANSFERRED TO THE U.S. MARINES 3RD DIVISION AND FOUGHT ALONG WITH THEM AT THE CHOSIN.
• VIETNAM - AS HE IS A STUDENT-INTEGRATOR-BURMESE LINGUIST WORKING OUT OF THE BURMESE EMBASSY (1962-1965). CLAIMS THEN THAT HE WAS SENT TO NAM AS A SERGEANT IN THE US 3RD DIVISION MARINES AND WORKED IN THE PHOENIX PROGRAM, THEN WORKED AS AN AGENT FOR THE CIA TO FIND POW, HE CLAIMS HE WALKED FROM BURMA TO CHINA AND FOUND MANY US POWS BUT COULDN'T GET OUT A MESSAGE CAUSE HIS RADIO WOULD NOT WORK. AGAIN HE IS CAPTURED SOMEWHERE IN 1967 AND ESCAPED FROM 2 N. VIETNAMESE POW CAMPS.  
• "I was captured after a firefight with the VC, most of my group was wiped out it was horrible, man! I ran a group of American convicts they were called the Misfits and the government gave them to me to train and whip into a fighting force. We were mercenaries who worked in the Phoenix program. ... I tried to hide after the fight and they captured me. I was forced to walk for days to a camp and was beaten by the villagers. The camp was deep in the mountains and I was in such bad shape. The VC beat me and... tortured me many times, man ... I ... almost died. I was forced to eat bugs and they starved me. Then one day the VC traded me in a prisoner exchange. "
• Gyi claimed in front of the seminar attendees that he trained Gurkha's for the Falkland Islands War in the early 1980's. Another person said he was told by Gyi, not in front of the crowd, that Gyi had several confirmed knife kills in the Falklands War. Another was told that Gyi's "son" had confirmed knife kills in the Falklands.

Fiction Based on fact: Another Timeline

• Born March 1936
• After the war he studied at Mussorie and Darjeeling and later at the London School of Economics
• 1947: Transferred from Methodist High School 
• Date of Admission to Woodstock:  March 9, 1950
• Gyi graduated in 1951 ... Last day of classes was Nov 30, '51.
• DATE UNKNOWN...  Having been graduated from the University of Rangoon, Burma, where he studied international affairs and law... [or]
• ...found time to represent Burma as a lightweight boxer in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
• [or] see date unknown above!
• Dr. Gyi moved to the United States in 1959.
• In 1960 he moved to Washington, D.C....
• he organized the first Bando club in America at the American University in 1963
• Gyi completed graduate studies in the mid-1960s at Georgetown University's law school and at the University of Maryland...
•  He then was hired by Ohio University in 1966...
• During an initiation ceremony held in 1968 at Ohio University, Gyi and his senior bando students.... A year earlier, Gyi had created a bando club and a boxing team for OU students and took on the duties of chief instructor of each.
• ...Ohio University in 1966. (He received his doctorate there in 1970)...
• retired from there in '96

FACTS

• There were never any Ghurkas with the Marauders or Mars Task Force

• The name does not appear in the Regimental History for 10th Gurkha Rifles

• Chosin Reservoir - battle was end of November, early December 1950

• There was no 3rd Marine Division (or Regiment) in Korea.  The 1st Marine Division (Reinforced) was the USMC element in the Korean War. 

• "As you all now Grand Master U Ba Than Gyi, Dr. Gyi's father has passed away. He was over 80 years old and had lived a long and full life." (Bando Newsletter, early 70's)

• The Gurkha units did not participate in Falklands war and were on ships in route when the war ended.  A few Gurkhas did indeed go ashore AFTER
  the Falkland war. 

On October 14, the NETWORK received the F180 (request for military records) back from St. Louis. Having had Gyi's social security number, and noting ALL THREE names, the records center could not locate ANY military record and requested the EXACT name he served under to proceed further.  [note: records ARE cross referenced by SS# - aka's and a correct social security number HAVE located the correct records in the past.] Therefore, we must assume, NO record will be found.

Korean War POW???  
(This page is quoted below)

VIETNAM NAM WAR POW???

Fort Benning

1998

Woodstock High School Permanent Record card:

Name: Gyi Winston Maung           Age: March 1933          Place of Birth: Burma

Permanent address 256 Creek St, Rangoon         Religious Affiliation: Christian ME

Date of Admission to Woodstock:  March 9, 1950

Record of yearly average grades - and credits given toward graduation:

1947: Transferred from Methodist High School Rangoon Burmha 4 credits.

1948: Scripture, English, Geometry, Geography, Chemistry, Physics 3 3/4 credits

1949: English, Arithmetic, Britisi Empire History, Burmese History, Hygiene, Physics and Chemistry 4 1/2 credits

1950: [Class/grade] Scripture/ B, English/ C, Trigonometry/ D, Geometry/ C, Chemistry/ B, History, D, Music/ B, Oral Expression/ B Credits 2 3/4

1950 Number in Class - 30, Rank 30

1950 comments: quiet, polite, fewer depressed moods. English deficiency.

1951 - Number in Class - 33, Rank 24

1951 comments: musical, athletic, religious, comparative, much more stable this year, artistic. English and reading a handicap.

Winston Maung Maung Gyi wrote an article for the Methodist High School Magazine about him singing "April Showers" at the "All Burma Christian Youth" concert at 7P.M. October 1948. Gyi goes on to tell about filling in for someone who did not show to sing. He painted his face black with charcoal and made himself up to be Al Jolson the famous singer in the US. Gyi goes on to tell that he had two encores. From October 1948 he was invited to sing at churches, parties, weddings and was a part time entertainer on the Burma Broadcasting Service with friends who called theirselves the " The Warr Brothers"

SENIORS
Winston Maung Maung Gyi Methodist Burmese Mission, Creek Street, East Rangoon, Burma

Winston sang his way into our hearts in the spring of 1950. His friendly disposition and cute smile have won him many friends. Before he came to Woodstock he made quite a hit singing over the radio in Burma. He claims that his future life depends on his voice and if that is the case we feel he has a bright future. Winston prefers boxing and track to any other sports. He is fast on his feet and gives the HOSTEL boys a workout every night. He dislikes talkitive girls, neverless is often seen smiling at the girls or singing at their request. Winston likes to draw, mostly portraits and results of his work show his artistic ability. He has a good since of humor and occasionally his corn makes some since.

Gyi graduated in 1951 from the WOODSTOCK FINISHING SCHOOL IN MUSSORIE U.P. INDIA. The name of the yearbook is the Wispering Pine, his graduation name is Winston Maung Maung Gyi.

The senior book is dedicated to his teachers: Mr. & Mrs. Bob and Ellen 
The principals of the school were Mr. & Mrs. A.C. Owen and his wife. 
His biology teacher was Mr. R.L. Flemming.
Ms. A.E. Smith was his Primary School Supervisor.

Some of the people who he graduated with.
Christopher Roland Appleby supposed to be a great game hunter

Alden Serle Borrows Great bird hunter, Alden was from the Punjab and a son of a Presbyterian minister, he supposedly to went on to school at the Bible School in Buffalo NY then to Kings College in Delaware.

Kenneth Bruce Bonham came to Woodstock  in 1946 from Oklahoma he was in the same school plays as Gyi. "Uncle William and Devils Disciple" Kenny was supposed to go on to a college in Texas. He was supposed to be another hunter and photographer

Alexander Neil Buchanan Canadian, was to join the Royal Canadian Air Force was class Attorney General then went on to become class Governor.

Joseph Keithly Hall, was the Wispering Pines editor and went on to be the class first semesters Minister of Interior. He planned on attending Emory and Henry College at Emory, Virginia. Also plans to be a philosopher.

Alan Thebold Jackson, came to Woodstock in 1950, planned to go to school at the Virginia Military Institute to be a career naval officer just as his father did.

Subject: Re: query -- Dr. Maung Gyi
Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 12:22:30 -0500
From: Clydie Morgan 
Organization: American Ex-Prisoners of War

I don't have anything on him in our records. 

Clydie

I do not have a record that any person with the names below was enrolled at Georgetown Law.

Simone Woung, Director of Office Services
Office of the Registrar
Georgetown University Law Center
202-662-9852
woung@law.georgetown.edu

Chuck and Mary Schantag <info@pownetwork.org> 01/06 3:09 PM 
Is there any way you can confirm several magazine and newspaper statements that this man

Gyi, Dr. Maung,
        aka Winston Maung Maung
        aka Manbahadur Rai

"completed graduate studies in the mid-60's at Georgetown University's law school."  His social is xxx-xxx-xx. Conflicting birth dates - magazines say 1920's, high school records state 1933.

Thank You.

Mary Schantag
P.O.W. NETWORK

DATE OF BIRTH records in the United States, 
drivers license and place of employment - Ohio University, show 1936.

Woodstock High School Permanent Record card:
Name: Gyi Winston Maung           Age: March 1933          Place of Birth: Burma

Dear Mr and Mrs Schantag,

Following receipt of your e-mail of 8th January, I have had the opportunity to carry out some research on Maung Gyi.

1.      Page 746B of the Indian Army List April 1939 under Military Employ – Burma lists a Maung Maung Gyi as a Captain in the Indian Medical Service, seconded on 1st April 1937 and appointed Officer Commanding Burma Hospital Company, Rangoon and Combined Detention Centre, Rangoon on 1st March 1939.

2.      The name Maung Maung Gyi appears in Indian Army List for October 1944 but not in 1946.

3.      The name does not appear in the Regimental History for 10th Gurkha Rifles

4.      The 1944 Indian Army List also lists a Captain Thein Maung also in the Indian Medical Service.

5.      Other than the above I could find no other reference.

I hope this information is of use to you.

Yours,
Gavin Edgerley – Harris
Assistant Curator

Burmese Bando Grandmaster

Subject: Burmese Bando Grandmaster
From: pahuyuth
Date: 03-Sep-99 | 07:10 PM

Dr. Maung Gyi was constantly exposed to martial arts during his early adolescent years by his father, Grandmaster U Ba Than Gyi. Through his father's influence young Gyi was able to learn combat techniques from many accomplished practitioners in Burma. Although he had aspirations for a career in medicine. World War II would intervene and change the course of Dr. Gyi's life. Dr. Gyi was conscripted into military service at the age of 16, as a medic and infantryman for the 3rd Battalion of the 10 Burma Gurkha Regiment. It was within the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater of World War II that he became critically aware of the importance of function in the martial arts, as Gurkha soldiers fought bravely to repel Japanese in Burma through numerous fierce battles.

Prior to the war, Dr. Gyi had been introduced to various edged weapons at his father's compound, particularly the versatile Kukri- a short curved sword used by the Gurkha soldiers, which proved effective against samurai swords and bayonets at night and in trenches. World War II left physical and psychological scars on Dr. Gyi: he was wounded several times and lost several close family members.

Upon his return from World War II, Dr. Gyi had an enhanced sense of nationalism, and an even stronger sense of loyalty to his father, and a sound committment to the evolution of Bando. During this post war period, Dr. Gyi and his father redoubled their efforts to understand and document the various strands of Bando.

Following a tour of duty with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Korea and Africa, Dr. Gyi moved to the United States in 1959. He attained both law and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees from universities in this country. Dr. Gyi worked as a linguist and translator in Washington DC during the early 1960s and trained independantly. He introduced a modified version of Bando to a few select students in 1960 and trained Secret Service personnel, FBI representatives and security officals. Later, he organized the first Bando club in America at the American University in 1963, thus becoming the Father of Modern Bando in America.

Phil's Martino's post to Eskrima Digest

NOTE: I believe Dr. Gyi was probably 74 or so in 1998 and not 78. Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Wed, 1 July 1998 Vol 05 : Number 171

From: Phil Martino
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 14:24:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: eskrima: Dr. Maung Gyi Seminar

I had the honor of attending my first Dr. Maung Gyi seminar this past weekend at the W.N.Y. Institute of Martial Arts and thought I should share the experience. For those of you have never seen or heard of the man you are definitely missing out. Dr. Maung Gyi is the Grand Master of Burmese Bando, veteran of three wars and trains American Special Forces as well as other government groups. At seventy-eight years of age he is still more mobile, articulate and intelligent than men forty and fifty years younger than he is.

04 Sept. 1998
Guest Speaker: Dr. U Maung Gyi (aka Manbahadur Rai) Served in the CBI Theater with the 3/10th Gurkha Rifles,37th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division, British IV Corps. & 3/9 Gurka Rifles, 111th Chindit Brigade.

Dr. Gyi addressed the audience on the activities of the Gurkha Rifles and there coordination of operations with Merrill's Marauders in Northern Burma, and of the personal contacts that he had with the Marauders.

Kukri Drill Team Demonstration:
(The Kukri is a special Knife used by the Gurkha's)

Dr. Maung Gyi

Dr. Maung Gyi is most widely known as a Grandmaster of Bando, there is so much more to this dynamic individual.

He was born in Burma in the 1920's. His family has a long history of serving in the military going all the way back to 1760.  So it was no surprise at age 16 Dr. Gyi joined the 10th Gurkha Regiment.  In 1944 his unit joined with American troops and he was considered part of the original U.S. Rangers.  With his cultural training in Bando and his military training,  he had a strong background which would be needed in his future.  Dr. Gyi served in World War II,  Korean War, Vietnam, Malay War, and Gulf War.  His assignments consisted of rescuing pilots shot-down in enemy territory, riot control, etc.  Unfortunately, he has been a Prisoner-of-war (P.O.W.) twice.  Currently, he holds a rank of General.

He has practically visited every country in Asia due to his military travel .  This has given him the rare opportunity to study a multitude of martial arts.  Dr. Gyi has had the chance to study three different Japanese styles of Karate,  has had exposure to Korean martial arts,  training in Kali of the Southern Phillipines, and much more.  For a short time Dr. Gyi had a fighting career against other martial artists and regular boxers.   Combine these experiences with the art of Bando and Dr. Gyi's combat experience and you have a martial artist in the truest sense of the word.

As an educator Dr. Gyi has a Phd. in Linguistics and he has taught at Harvard for five years.  Dr. Gyi offers training classes to law enforcement officers and the U.S. Army Ranger Training Unit at Fort Benning, GA.   Training sessions are usually dedicated to soldiers who fought in either WWII, Korea, or Vietnam War.

MAK Website

Guro Marc Denny's posts to Eskrima Digest on excerpts of Dr. Gyi in Command magazine

Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Tues, 30 March 1999 Vol 06 : Num 129

From: "Marc Denny"
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 17:32:57 -0800
Subject: eskrima: Dr Gyi in action

A Howl of Greeting to All:

This from the writings of Dr. Gyi, (some of which will appear on the webpage of the DBMAA Dog Brothers Martial Arts Ass'n):

"When we reached the crest, we drew our kukris and waited for team 2 to reach the ridge from the western slope. The enemy trenches were only a few yards away. the machine guns from the bunkers riddled the bomb craters, smoldering logs, and a burning tank, where the Gurkha fire team were positioned. From the trenches, the Japanese soldiers continued to throw grenades down the hill. Suddenly the Jemadar stood up an screamed "Gorkhali ayo!" We all yelled in unison, and followed him into the Japanese trenches.

We rushed through the maze of narrow trenches, thrusting, slashing and chopping at the surprised enemy. Some tried to withdraw into the bunkers, but ran into other Gurkhas and were chopped down instantly. Then they counterattacked from the western slope. One Japanese commander, with his sword drawn, rushed out from the main bunker screaming "Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" His men, with fixed bayonets, also charged and tried to flank us. We jumped out of the trenches to meet them.

The Japanese officer cut down one Gurkha, then another. But then, just as quickly, the Jemadar sprang forward and decapitated the enemy officer. The Jemadar yelled "Gorkhali ayo! No prisoners!" and we responded "No prisoners! Gorkhali ayo!" The resultant collisions were of steel against steel, steel against flesh, and flesh against flesh-- it was a killing frenzy among fanatic warriors. Our Lord Shiva, goddess Kali, and Yama witnessed this brutal hand-to-hand fighting. It lasted about 15 minutes. Many Japanese escaped down the south slope, leaving 125 of their dead behind. Our platoon lost two men killed and three wounded. Our faces and uniforms were drenched in blood. , , , , Our commanding British officer , , , declared our performance was one of the finest examples in courage in the regiment's history."

What can one say?

Guro Marc Denny's Dhanda post to Eskrima Digest

Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Tues, 2 Feb 1999 Vol 06 : Num 045

From: "Marc Denny"
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 19:08:43 -0800
Subject: eskrima: a,b,c,d,e,f, GYI!!!!!!

.... The next morning, there was a small seminar for Dr. Gyi's student Mike May's school in El Segundo (310-414-9222.) Again the Dhanda staff was covered as was material the Dr. Gyi, as part of the famous Chindit (sp?) battalion taught to Merrill's Rangers in their WW2 mission behind Japanese lines in the Burmese theatre. I learned this when I asked him if the Chindits had been assigned to MRs. "No" he replied, "They were attached to us. We were under General Mountbatten" (I hope I have this right) Any way, Dr. Gyi related how a 5 foot staff was part of the issued gear of every one of Merrill's Rangers. If you're going to go hiking through the Burmese Jungle for a couple of months, with 80 pounds or so on your back, its pretty handy to have a staff as you go across that mountain during a rainstorm, or need to probe for landmines, improvise a stretcher for a sick or wounded comrade, or toss a snake out of the way, etc. Dr. Gyi showed the strikes to all directions that were taught for when a CQ ambush didn't give time to draw firearms. The power of Dr. Gyi's thrusting technique with the staff is frightening to behold. Its very hard to believe that he is 74 years old.

         The Master Communicator

         Dr. U Maung Gyi teaches college because that's what he knows  how to do; he teaches martial arts because that's what he wants
         to do.

                          BY MARTY KUFUS

         The professor glances out the classroom window at the warm, spring sunshine bathing the Ohio University campus in Athens.  After
some preliminary remarks, he begins his lecture.  The topic: high-level diplomatic negotiations and the role of interpreters, the significance
of table size and shape, and the symbolism of seating arrangements.

         It can be a complex task just to seat diplomatic delegations, Dr. U Maung Gyi, Ph.D., explains to nearly 50 students.

         "It took a year for the United States and North Vietnam to agree on the shape and size of the table at the Paris peace talks," he says. Much of the dispute was over the recognition of South Vietnamese and Viet Cong representatives.

         On the other hand, Gyi continues, setting up a diplomatic meeting room can be relatively easy if the ViPs desire cooperations in a 1986 at meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, between President Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. They sat at a simple, square table, Gyi explains, and placed the interpreters on the sides "as significant partners in the negotiation process."

         Thirty years ago, Gyi himself spoke nine languages (including Hebrew, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamese) and was considering training to become a simultaneous interpreter in diplomatic affairs. He chose teaching instead.  His fields: international communication and the martial art of bando.

Professor

         Teacher, linguist, world traveler, war veteran, boxing coach, founder of the American Bando Association-Dr.  Gyi is one of those remarkable people who seems to have been everywhere and done just about everything.

         Having been graduated from the University of Rangoon, Burma, where he studied international affairs and law, Gyi completed graduate
studies in the mid-1960s at Georgetown University's law school and at the University of Maryland.  He then was hired by Ohio University in
1966. (He received his doctorate there in 1970).

         Gyi is a faculty member in the College of Communication.  His wife, Pat, whom he met in Washington, D.C., is an administrator in

         [ pic] Dr. Gyi, chief Instructor of the American Bando Association, with a ceremonial stick.]

OU's College of Osteopathic Medicine.  They have two daughters: one, an OU journalism graduate, is married and living in California; the other
is a high school student.

         Dr. Gyi is best known on campus for his formidable "Cross Cultural Communication" course in the School of Interpersonal Communication.  He also teaches "Communication and the Campaign," whose students are required to actually work on local and state political campaigns.  Drawing on his military experiences, Gyi even has taught "Cryptology and Military Communication Systems" to military-science students.  He has received the university's Outstanding Professor Award, and students once voted him University Professor, a prestigious award.

         But that's just the academic side of the house for this very busy man, whom a campus film identifies as the faculty member who
"introduced self-defense" to Ohio University.

Bando

         During an initiation ceremony held in 1968 at Ohio University, Gyi and his senior bando students formally organized the nonprofit
American Bando Association (ABA) in honor of American veterans of Asian wars.

         A year earlier, Gyi had created a bando club and a boxing team for OU students and took on the duties of chief instructor of each. (He since has given instructional duties to people he trained.) Moreover, he has served as faculty adviser to various campus martial arts clubs, including tae kwon do and kung-fu.  Dr. Gyi also has been involved with local social issues: he was an early proponent of a program to aid battered women, and he has served as a peer counselor for Athens-area Vietnam veterans suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder.

         Today, the ABA has 25-to-30 training groups; its approximately 2,000 practitioners live mostly in the eastern third of the United States.  Bando, pronounced BUN-DO, means "way of discipline." American practitioners of this ancient Burmese martial system travel to Athens
for seminars and training camps conducted by Gyi, whose official title is chief instructor.

         ABA training comprises several subsystems, including kick boxing. Gyi, a veteran of numerous full-contact matches, notes with pride that
the ABA began its kickboxing tournaments 25 years ago-long before the sport achieved popularity in this country.

         Bando practitioners also train with wooden sticks of various sizes, and with bladed weapons such as the Burmese dha (long sword) and the Gurkha kukri (short sword). Gyi also has taught nine bando animal systems to his American students, but he modestly considers himself "personally good" in only one.

         "I have studied cobra for more than 45 years," Gyi says. "Even though I am in my senior-citizen age, I still practice ten-to-15 minutes
a day: breathing, explosive locking, striking." These techniques mimic a deadly yet beautiful creature Gyi encountered innumerable times
- including one near fatal bite - in Asian jungles.

Burma

        Dr. Gyi was born and raised near historic Mandalay, Burma. All his male relatives had served in the British army. But Gyi's youthful
instead, was to attend medical school in England and become a doctor. His father, U Ba Than Gyi, a military officer and bando master,
encouraged him to pursue an education. Young Gyi attended a prestigious school in Darjeeling, India, where he also studied English. But world
events soon dashed his dream of being a physician.

         During World War II, as the seemingly invincible Japanese army rolled across Asia, a teenaged Gyi served as a field medical orderly and
interpreter in the 10th Burma Gurkha Regiment. He also served briefly in British General Ord Wingate's famous Chindit guerrilla force. Meanwhile, Gyi's father performed missions in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations for the British Special Operations Executive and American Office of Strategic Services.

         In post-war Burma, U Ba Than Gyi was instrumental in the creation of the National Bando Association. Its goal was to preserve and promote that indigenous martial system. He also instructed his son, who had trained in bando since childhood, to broaden his knowledge by studying the fighting arts of other Asian countries as his military assignments allowed.

         After the Korean War, Gyi even found time to represent Burma as a lightweight boxer in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. He won
six fights, but lost to a Czechoslovakian champion in the semifinals. (An avid fan today of televised boxing, he regards the sport as the West's greatest contribution to the study of unarmed fighting.)

Founders

         Gyi eventually left British military service. In 1960 he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as a government translator.  That
same year, he began teaching bando at the American University.

         "I was the carrier of my father's message; it was my mission" he says.  "Me early sixties, from '62 to '65-that was the period of the founders of the martial arts and systems in America," Gyi recalls.  "I was a contemporary of men like Robert Trias (founder of the United States Karate Association); Ki Whang Kim (pioneer of tae kwon do in America), Peter Urban (American goju pioneer), Ed Parker (American kenpo pioneer), Bruce Lee (creator of jeet kune do), Tsutomu Ohshima (pioneer of shotokan in America) and Don Nagle (American isshinryu pioneer)."

         Although it was Gyi's goal to build a national, non-commercial bando association, he also was determined to foster good relations with other organizations.

         "I refereed at tai kwon do, issbinryu, kenpo and kung-fu tournaments," he says.  He also served as one of the first officers of the Professional Karate Association.  In 1968 he chaired a national rules committee whose work made possible the International Convention of Martial Arts in New York City.

         Gyi's skill and impartiality as a referee were widely respected.  In the early seventies he served as chief referee for national tournament bouts featuring such stars as Joe Lewis, Skipper Mullins, Chuck Norris and Mike Stone.

         In May, 1975, Gyi refereed the "Battle of Atlanta's historic, full contact karate match between Joe Corley and Bill Wallace.  A few months later, Gyi refereed a full-contact match between Jeff Smith and Karriem AHah that was the preliminary card to the Muhammad Ali and Joe Fraziers championship boxing bout.

         Even now, Dr. Gyi cannot stay out of the ring.  He continues to referee amateur boxing matches during "Friday Night at the Fights," a
popular fund-raising event that recently entered its 21st year at Ohio University.

Teaching

         There are some similarities in the teaching of college students and bando practitioners.

         "Both academics and martial system follow a curriculum," Gyi says.  And each requires an instructor to possess not only substantial
knowledge of the subject but good communication skills, as well. That's about where the similarities end.

         "At the scholarly level," Gyi says, "we don't have immediate feedback as to the effectiveness of teaching; it might be several months or years.  But in martial systems, you can see the effect in a few days or months.

         "In academics," he continues, warming to the subject, "we judge performance according to intellect and critical thinking.  In martial systems, especially when you're working on forms, it is rote memory and 'muscle memory.'

         "Is there critical thinking in martial systems?  Yes, particularly in freestyle sparring, in which a person must bring out combinations of techniques never used before in forms training," Gyi says.

         He laments what he sees as a problem today in the area of higher education.

         "Sadly to say, in our academic environment, self-discipline is decreasing," Gyi says.  "But in martial systems, people come to get more
self-discipline."

         Which does he prefer. teaching communication or bando?

         The professor pauses for a moment, weighing his response.  "I teach at the university level as my livelihood," he replies.  "But the
other, I do to honor my father.  It is my duty-and I haven't charged a cent in 25 years."