Muyedobotongji
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In 1790, King Jeongjo commissioned a book called the Muyedobotongji which was an illustrated manual of Korean martial arts. This book, written by Yi Deokmu (이덕무, 1741-1793) and Pak Jega (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.
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[edit] Motivation
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.
[edit] Volumes
The first volume of the Muyedobotongji is based on the earliest known Korean martial arts treatise, the Muyejebo (무예제보), written in 1599; the second and third volumes are based on the Muyesinbo (무예신보), written in 1759.
The four volumes contain 23 chapters in which all 24 methods are explained. The last chapter of the third volumes described the use of the shield with two different weapons. The book also has descriptions and pictures of the uniforms for the soldiers.
[edit] Contents
[edit] Volume 1
- Long spear or lance - Jang chang (Hangul: 장창, Hanja: 長槍) Long spear made of oak or chestnut.
- Long bambospear - Jook jang chang (Hangul: 죽장창, Hanja: 竹長槍) Spear where the shaft was made of bamboo which gave more flexibility.
- Flagspear - Ki chang (Hangul: 기창, Hanja: 期槍) Spear with a flag near the end.
- Trident - Dang pa (Hangul: 당파, Hanja: 鐺鈀) Trident. The middle spear was longer for deeper penetration.
- Spear on horseback - Ki chang (Hangul: 기창, Hanja: 騎槍) Use of the Ki chang on horseback.
- Thorny spear - Nang seon (Hangul: 낭선, Hanja: 狼先) Spear with a lot of thorns. These thorns could be dipped in poison
[edit] Volume 2
- Long sword - Ssang soo do (Hangul: 쌍수도, Hanja: 雙手刀) Sword that had to be handled with both hands.
- Sharp sword - Ye do (Hangul: 예도, Hanja: 銳刀) Also known as dando or hwando. A double-edge sword was called a geom while a single-edged sword was called a do.
- Japanese sword - Wae geom (Hangul: 왜검, Hanja: 倭劍) This chapter describes the use of Japanese swords. Their use was studied during the Imjin Waeran.
[edit] Volume 3
- Commandersword - Jae dok geom (Hangul: 제독검, Hanja: 提督劍) Was, just like the Yedo, carried around the waist. This swords thanks his name to commander Li Ru-song.
- Korean sword - Bon kuk geom (Hangul: 본국검, Hanja: 本國劍) Also known as Singeom. Represented the swords use by the hwarang from the Silla dynasty. It bore close resemblance to the double edged sword of the Eastern Han
- Double sword - Ssang geom (Hangul: 쌍검, Hanja: 雙劍) A set of equally sized swords.
- Double sword on horseback - Ma sang ssang geom (Hangul: 마상쌍검, Hanja: 馬上雙劍) This chapter describes the use of ssang geom on horseback.
- Halberd - Wol do (Hangul: 월도, Hanja: 月刀) A weapon that closely resembles the European halberd
- Helberd on horseback - Ma sang wol do (Hangul: 마상월도, Hanja: 馬上月刀) This chapter desbribes how to use the wol do on horseback
- Short halberd - Hyeop do (Hangul: 협도, Hanja: 挾刀) Shorter version of the wol do.
- Shield - Dung pae (Hangul: 등패, Hanja: 藤牌) The use of a shield with a throw sword or throwspear. This chapter counts for two separate methods.
[edit] Volume 4
- Unarmed fighting - Kwon bub (Hangul: 권법, Hanja: 拳法) This chapter contains eighteen forms for unarmed fighting.
- Stick - Kon bong (Hangul: 곤봉, Hanja: 棍棒) This chapter describes how to use the long stick in battle.
- Flail - Pyon gon (Hangul: 편곤, Hanja: 鞭棍) This weapon is made out of a long and short stick connected with a piece of rope or chain. Instead of a steel ball of spikes, the short stick acted as a flail, overfitted with a steel skin that had many painful protrusions.
- Flail on horseback - Ma sang pyon gon (Hangul: 마상편곤, Hanja: 馬上鞭棍) This chapter described how to use the flail while riding a horse.
- Korean polo - Kyeok koo (Hangul: 격구, Hanja: 擊毬) Een game that resembles polo. Used to upgrade the riding skills of the cavalry, this sport was uniquely played by the Koguryo cavalry as early as 400AD. The ball must be scored in a goal, but players must ride, hang or be in whatever position on a horse without touching the ground. Players may only touch the ball with a stick with a tightly bent loop on one end. They can balance the ball on the loop while riding, or throw it.
- Equestarian skills - Ma sang jae (Hangul: 마상재, Hanja: 馬上才) Six equestarian skills that the cavalry should master. This includes standing upside down on the horse, repetitively jumping from one side of the horse to the other, riding under the horse, riding two horses simultaneously, etc.
[edit] Sources
Earlier sources can be traced to Chinese General Qi Jiguang's treatise on troops training, the Ji Xiao Xin Shu (Hangul: 기효신서, Hanja: 紀效新書, "New Books of Effective Methods"). Ji Xiao Xin Shu 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”(literally “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.
[edit] Improvements
As a manual, the Muyedobotongji 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.
[edit] Revival
Many modern Korean martial arts claim a relationship between their techniques and those found in the Muyedobotongji, although some experts regard most of such claims as lacking historical basis.
There are however several groups that study the Muyedobotongji and try to reconstruct the techniques. The most famous of these groups being Shippalgi; 18 methods of fighting, and Muye24gi, 24 methods of fighting.
[edit] References and further reading
- Sang H. Kim Muye Dobo Tongji Turtle press, Jan 2001
- Della Pia, John. Korea's Muyedobotongji. Journal of Asian Martial Arts 3:2 (1994)
