Sulsa

From within the ranks of the Hwarang developed a dark and mysterious sect of fighters, the sulsa, who were specially trained, highly skilled fighters similar to the US Army Airborne, US Marine Recon, or US Navy Seal teams. They were experts in the trickery, diversion, killing, kidnapping and survival, who specialized in infiltration of enemy camps. Silla sent their sulsa into Koguryo and Paekche to integrate into their cultural and social environment. After being accepted into the society, the sulsa would wait patiently for an order to carry out a predetermined mission.

The sulsa trained in two aspects of warfare:

• Jeong-do. The way of the true sword. Rather than relying on deception, its strategy was to overwhelm the enemy.

• Am-ja. The way of darkness. It specialized in trickery, diversion, deceit, stealth and camouflage to defeat the enemy. am-ja was subdivided into three studies:

  • Jham-bok-sul. The study of camouflage for hiding for long periods of time. It focused on techniques of hiding by adapting and emerging the body and spirit into the environment until one achieves a balanced state where differences no longer exist and all things merge into one.

  • Jham-ip-sul. The study of infiltration and living amongst the enemy. Techniques in traveling swiftly, climbing, acrobatics, stealth, and camouflage were learned. Also learned were shin gong (mental power), bok shin sul (power to read minds), in sul (development of patience), choe myun sul (putting a person to sleep), and sa sang bop (study of human types).

  • Bo-bop. The study of stalking, stealth, and fast movement.

The sulsa believed that since they were involved in killing, they must also know about healing. Every sulsa studied herbal medicine and basic first aid, which was helpful to villagers as well as themselves.

The sulsa wore whatever clothing that helped them blend into a particular culture. They also wore a black uniform similar to that worn by the ninja, except, instead of a hood, the sulsa wore a three foot by three foot piece of cloth on their head, which, when not being worn as camouflage, was used as a carrying bag.

Hwarang-do Code of Conduct

Hwarang-do education based its guiding principles on the Five Codes of Human Conduct, a code of honor based on rigid loyalty to the nation, respect and obedience to one’s parents, interminable loyalty to friends, courage in battle, and prudence and restraint on using violence. The code was created by the Buddhist scholar, Won Kwang Bopsa. Two young Hwarang warriors asked Won Kwang Bopsa for some commandments to guide men who could not embrace the secluded life of a monk. In response, he developed the five codes. The Hwarang Five Codes of Human Conduct are as follows:

1. Loyalty to your country

2. Obedience to your parents

3. Trustworthiness to your friends

4. Courage to never to retreat from the enemy

5. Justice to never take a life without cause

The codes became a way of life for the young men and guided their moral behavior and the use to which they put their Subak training. The codes formed the philosophical background for modern Taekwondo, which is reflected in the so-called Eleven Commandments of Taekwondo. As with the original five codes, these modern axioms are used to guide the moral development of Taekwondo students. Students must fully understand these tenets to master the true essence of Taekwondo. The eleven axioms are:

1. Loyalty to your country

2. Respect your parents

3. Faithfulness to your spouse

4. Respect your brothers and sisters

5. Loyalty to your friends

6. Respect your elders

7. Respect your teachers

8. Never take life unjustly

9. Indomitable spirit

10. Loyalty to your school

11. Finish what you begin

Some of these forms of open hand fighting may have been eventually exported to Japan and formed the basis for Japanese Jujitsu and Karate. The Hwarang-do may have been the forerunners of the famed Japanese samurai. In his book This is Karate, Matutatsu Oyama, a well known authority of karate in Japan, mentions that the etymology of kara may have been derived from the country of Kaya at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula.

Preface - Introduction - Ancient Beginnings - Korean Geography - Ancient Korea - Three Kingdoms Era - Subak and Sonbae - Subak and Hwarang - Koryo Dynasty - Chosen Dynasty - Korea Divided - Korean War (1950-1953) - Modern Taekwondo - Early Masters - Taekwondo Development - International Groups - Road to Olympics - Sport Taekwondo - Traditional versus Sport - Taekwondo in the United States - Taekwondo Today - References