Chapter 8: Koryo Dynasty

The invasions from China brought Chinese "kung-fu" to the Korean peninsula, greatly influencing Subak, which became more militaristic in nature. Although Subak was widely practiced, "Kwon Bop" became a more popular art. There were two types of kwon bop, one primarily defensive, and the other more aggressive with jumping attacks and evasive movements.

During the Koryo Dynasty, Subak became known as Taekkyon, which was written in Chinese characters meaning, "push shoulder." Weapons, such as swords, bow and arrows, etc., were the primary tools of war during this period. Since Subak was used as a supplement to these weapons, it concentrated on "quick kill" techniques. Taekkyon, as the immediate predecessor to Subak, was a very aggressive hard style martial art system that was composed mostly of foot techniques.

As the time of peace came to an end, the focus of Taekkyon changed. During the reign of King Uijong (1147-1170 AD), it changed from a system designed primarily to promote physical fitness into a fighting art. A few extracts from the Historical Record of Koryo testify to the popularity of Subak/Taekkyon as a martial art:

"King Uijong admired the excellence of Yi Ui-min in sbak and promoted him from taejong (military rank) to pyolchang"

"The king appeared at the Sang-chun Pavilion and watched Subak contests"

"The king watched Subak contests at Hwa-bi Palace"

"The king came to Ma-am and watched Subak contests"