Muyedobotongji

Muyedobotongji
Korean name
Hangul	무예도보통지
Hanja	武藝圖譜通志
Revised Romanization	Muyedobotongji
McCune–Reischauer	Muyedobot'ongji

In 1790, King Jeongjo of Korea 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 Hanja characters are presented in the Korean script, Hangul.

Motivation

The motivation for this major publication, especially in a kingdom whose Korean confucianism ideologies and scholarly elites frowned upon the martial arts, came from 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 about awareness of the need to revive Korea's military training.

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.

Contents

Volume 1

• Long spear or lance - Jang chang (Hangul: 장창, Hanja: 長槍) a 5-foot-long (1.5 m) spear made from the wood of the yew tree. It can also be made from a similarly soft wood, including bamboo in the right climate. It was considered the most effective conventional weapon on the battlefield due to its flexibility and length. The jang chang was widely used in the battle to retake Pyong-yang Fortress during the 1592 war between Chosun (Korea) and Japan.
• Long bamboo spear - Juk jang chang (Hangul: 죽장창, Hanja: 竹長槍) 20-foot-long (6.1 m) spear tipped with a 4 inch blade where the shaft was made of bamboo which gave more flexibility.
• Flagspear - Gi chang (Hangul: 기창, Hanja: 期槍) A 9-foot-long (2.7 m) staff with a 9-inch-long (230 mm) blade at the end.
• Trident - Dang pa (Hangul: 당파, Hanja: 鐺鈀) Trident. The middle spear was longer for deeper penetration. It is between seven feet, six inches and eighteen feet long and has either an iron or wooden tip.
• Spear on horseback - Gi chang (Hangul: 기창, Hanja: 騎槍) Use of the Ki chang on horseback.
• Thorny spear - Nang seon (Hangul: 낭선, Hanja: 狼先) Spear with nine to eleven branches or thorns extending out from the main shaft, each studded with small metal hooks. These thorns could be dipped in poison

Volume 2

• Long sword - Ssang su do (Hangul: 쌍수도, Hanja: 雙手刀) Sword that had to be handled with both hands.

The long sword is handled with both hands. These frighteningly big, heavy swords were originally called "long swords" (jangdo), or sometimes "applying sword" (yonggum) or "plain sword" (pyunggum). Swords of this type came to be known during invasions of China since they were used by Japanese pirates invading China's coastal areas. Wielding these swords, the Japanese pirates cut long spears, or even enemy soldiers, into half in a single strike. The long sword skills were therefore introduced in Korea to prepare its troops for combat against Japanese pirates.

• 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.

Volume 3

• Commander sword - Jedok geom (Hangul: 제독검, Hanja: 提督劍) Was, just like the Yedo, carried around the waist. This swords thanks his name to commander Li Rusong.
• Korean sword - Bonguk geom (Hangul: 본국검, Hanja: 本國劍) Also known as sin geom (신검). 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.

A fighting skill using two swords with both hands, this was one of the most difficult skills to master. Double swords on horseback required even greater prowess. The fighter could attack and defend at the same time using two swords. The smaller, saber‐size swords with round hand guards (hwando) were generally used for this technique. The swordsman kept a pair of swords, one referred to as male and the other one as female, in a single scabbard to draw them quickly. The folk double swords dance (Ssanggeommu) was derived from this skill.

• Double sword on horseback - Masang ssang geom (Hangul: 마상쌍검, Hanja: 馬上雙劍) This chapter describes the use of ssang geom on horseback.
• Halberd - Woldo (Hangul: 월도, Hanja: 月刀) A weapon that closely resembles the European halberd
• Helberd on horseback - Masang woldo (Hangul: 마상월도, Hanja: 馬上月刀) This chapter desbribes how to use the wol do on horseback
• Short halberd - Hyeopdo (Hangul: 협도, Hanja: 挾刀) Shorter version of the wol do.
• Shield - Deungpae (Hangul: 등패, Hanja: 藤牌) The use of a shield with a throw sword or throwspear. This chapter counts for two separate methods.

Volume 4

• Unarmed fighting - Gwonbeop (Hangul: 권법, Hanja: 拳法) This chapter contains eighteen forms for unarmed fighting.
• Stick - Gon bong (Hangul: 곤봉, Hanja: 棍棒) This chapter describes how to use the long stick in battle. Staff techniques entail strike, stab, block, parry etc. These techniques are fundamentals of all weapon techniques. After mastering staff skills, the study of other pole arms such as spear, sword, trident, moon sword etc. is accessible.
• Flail - Pyeongon (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 - Masang pyeon gon (Hangul: 마상편곤, Hanja: 馬上鞭棍) This chapter described how to use the flail while riding a horse.
• Korean polo - Gyeok gu (Hangul: 격구, Hanja: 擊毬) A game that resembles polo. Used to upgrade the riding skills of the cavalry, this sport was uniquely played by the Goguryeo 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 - Masang 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.

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. The authors 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.

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.

The book divides the techniques into stabbing, cutting and striking techniques, while earlier books divided them into long and short weapon skills. The old classification method had to be abandoned with the development of firearms. The long spear had lost its function as a long-range weapon by the time the book was written. ^[1] Quite clearly, first bow and arrow, and later the advent of firearms, rendered the long spear obsolete in this role.

Revival

Many modern Korean martial arts claim a relationship between their techniques and those found in the Muyedobotongji. Proof for this is however often not given.

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.

References and further reading

1. ^ Ehwa University Press 2008, Sippalgi: Traditional Korean Martial Arts, Dr. B.K. Choi

• Sang H. Kim Muye Dobo Tongji Turtle press, Jan 2001
• Della Pia, John. Korea's Muyedobotongji. Journal of Asian Martial Arts 3:2 (1994)

See also

• Sibpalgi
• Korean sword
• Korean martial arts
• Gyongdang

External links

• Summary of Korean Weapons Excerpted from Muye Dobo Tongji