Muyedobotongji
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Muyedobotongji | |
|---|---|
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| Korean name | |
| Hangul: |
무예도보통지
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| Hanja: |
武藝圖譜通志
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| Revised Romanization: | Mu Ye Do Bo Tong Ji |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Muyedobot'ongji |
In 1790, King JeongJo commissioned a book called the Mu Ye Do Bo Tong Ji which was an illustrated manual of Korean martial arts. This book, written by Lee Deok Moo (이덕무, 1741-1793) and Park Je Ga (박제가, 1750-1805), described in detail Korea's martial arts of which an unarmed combat style of kicking and punching is extensively illustrated. It was published in four volumes and there is an additional volume in which the original Chinese characters are presented in the Korean script, Hangul.
The motivation for this major publication were the foreign invasions of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. These invasions disturbed the peace of the last 200 years of the Joseon Dynasty, and brought the need to revive Korea's military training.
The first volume of the Mu Ye Do Bo Tong Ji is based on the earliest known Korean martial arts treatise, the Mu Ye Che Bo (무예제보), written in 1599; the second and third volumes are based on the Mu Ye Shin Bo (무예신보), written in 1759.
Earlier sources can be traced to Chinese General Qi Jiguang (ch.; k. Chuk Kye Kwang)'s treatise on troops training, the Jixiao Xinshu (紀效新書: in Korean, Ki Hyo Shin Su 기휴신수; in Japanese, Ki Ko Shin Sho; "New Books of Effective Methods"). Jixiao Xinshu was written in 1561. It consisted of 18 chapters divided into 6 sections, and it included a chapter on barehanded combative training under the title of “Quan Fa” (K. kwon bop 권법; J. ken po, literally “fist rules” or “boxing method”). The author considered that although this type of training had little value for large-scale battle, it was nevertheless useful to train bodily flexibility, reflexes, hands speed, quick yet solid footwork and jumping capacity, all of which were very valuable for a warrior. In his brief comment about combat without weapons, Gen. Qi mentioned classic Chinese boxing methods as the six steps style, monkey boxing, eagle’s claw and Shaolin staff.
As a manual, the Mu Ye Do Bo Tong Ji made several improvements over its Chinese sources since many practical comments on training and the value of the described techniques were added, and shows the influence of the neighboring Chinese martial traditions on the Korean peninsula.
Many modern Korean martial arts claim a relationship between their techniques and those found in the Mu Ye Do Bo Tong Ji, although some experts regard most of such claims as lacking historical basis.
