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

In modern Korea, the Joseon ( also known as Yi, the name used by the Japanese occupiers) Dynasty (1392-1910 AD) became one of the longest reigns by a single dynasty in world history. During the dynasty, various kings, under the influence of Neo-Confucianism, introduced many social and cultural changes. The dynasty was considered Korea's "Age of Enlightenment," but it was also the beginning of the "dark ages" for martial arts in Korea.

After his defeat of the Mongols and driving out the Red Turbans "armies of red heads" in 1364 AD, General Yi Song Gye emerged as a leader of the Korean people. Yi came from a family that, for generations, had supplied military leaders to the Hamyong province in the northeast and he had a distinguished military career from suppressing local rebellions. After the Mongol defeat, General Yi turned his attention to curbing the constant Japanese pirate attacks that were becoming intolerable. He repelled the pirate attacks in his own northeastern area and then fought a series of engagements over the next few years that reduced their power and kept them more or less at bay.

These times were more a period of diplomacy than of continual war. When threatened from the north, Korea looked to Japan for assistance. When threatened from the south, she looked to China. Yi strongly supported Confucianism so he re-opened relations with China, re-established the central government, and provided the king with Confucian advisors. Confucianism began to replace Buddhism as a strong cultural force in Korea. With consolidated support from the ruling classes, General Yi rose to power.

Chinese instructors contributed to the Korean martial arts. For example, they taught the Shaolin style, which gradually changed to modern "sorim-kwon." During these times, new Buddhist styles also appeared. One of them was "hyoldo," which was based on medicine and had throws and holds based on the control of biologically active points. Another Buddhist style, "pulmudo," was similar to Chinese soft styles.

In 1392 AD, the Supreme Council, the highest organization in the Koryo government, formally declared that the Koryo Dynasty had come to an end and that General Yi Song Gye was the rightful king (he was given the title King T'aejo). T'aejo established a dynasty that endured largely due to its recognition by the Ming emperor of China. The initial steps completed, King T'aejo further consolidated the country behind him by instituting sweeping reforms.

Confucianism was strictly adhered to as the orthodox code for the dynasty and it resulted in more power struggles and ideological confusion. The ruling class adopted Confucian guidelines in their political and cultural outlook as well as in their personal lives. All Buddhist festivals were rejected and more importance was directed toward the literary art than toward the martial arts. Confucian thinking advocated classical Chinese learning and played down physical activity. According to the Confucian way of thought, the "superior man" should spend his time reading the Chinese classics, composing poetry, or learning to play musical instruments. Only "inferior, lower class men" engaged in strenuous physical activities such as the martial arts. The King adopted ideals such as "a real man writes poetry, learns to play musical instruments, and reads Chinese classics." Civil officers gained higher esteem than did military officers, socially as well as politically. The military was reorganized and was commanded by a royal bodyguard. This led to an upsurge in cultural developments in mathematics, literature astronomy, and history. The people frowned upon valor. Political conflict and the de-emphasis of military activities, together with the advent of modern weapons such as gunpowder, led to Taekkyon to loosing central government support. Taekkyon was not as popular, nor did it figure as prominently, as it did in the Koryo Dynasty.

As non-aggressive Confucianism promulgated throughout the nation, with preferential treatment given to civil officials and contempt shown to military officials. The morale of the military officers dropped extremely and things got to a point where the practice of martial arts was thought to be an embarrassing activity, unworthy of a true gentleman.

The end result of this state of affairs was that Japan invaded Korea twice (in 1592 and in 1596), and Manchuria invaded the Peninsula in 1637. However, something unusual happened during the time of the foreign invasions into Korea. In the face of these upheavals, persons from every part of the country suddenly rose up, filled with a deep feeling of patriotism, and formed Ui-Bying (righteous armies, a kind of militia force) to combat the enemy.

Among the countless leaders of local guerrilla bands who arose during the Japanese invasion were Kwak Chae-U, Kim Si-Min, and Kim Chon-Il who were all local Confucian scholars and widely respected by the inhabitants of their respective local areas. There were also great monk army leaders, such as Sosun Taesa and Samyong Taesa. It is recorded that these local militia leaders hoisted high the banner of national salvation and slew the Japanese hordes by using super-natural fighting techniques.

If martial arts are not something that may be learned in a day, then how is it possible that scholars who only studied books and monks or nuns who spent all their time concentrating on the way of Buddhism were able to run around in the midst of fierce battle and outfight the professional soldiers of the Government's Army?

To answer this question one must seek out and examine the fragmentary bits of recorded evidence concerning the private lives of these local militia leaders during their youth as well as the documented evidence on the successes of the martial artists of that period. Then, it can be established that each one of these individuals who led militia at that time had undergone rigorous physical discipline and martial art training.

Even the sports of today that have been developed out of martial arts are impossible to learn without the guidance of a teacher or coach. If that's the case, then how is it possible for someone to master the numerous types of martial arts techniques, which are far more complex and difficult to understand? There is only one answer. There must have been either textbooks containing secret esoteric martial arts techniques that were handed down within a family from generation to generation, or the knowledge was transmitted orally through a teacher who secretly taught family members.