Jegichagi

Jegichagi
U.S. Navy crew playing jegichagi with Korean students
Korean name
Hangul	제기차기
Revised Romanization	Jegichagi
McCune–Reischauer	Chegich'agi

Jegichagi is a Korean traditional outdoor game in which players kick a paper jegi into the air and attempt to keep it aloft. A jegi is similar to a shuttlecock, and is made from paper wrapped around a small coin.

In Korea, children usually play alone or with friends in winter seasons, especially on Lunar New Year. Briefly explaining the rules, the player kicks a jegi up in the air and keeps on kicking to prevent from falling to the ground. In a one-to-one game, a player with the most number of consecutive kicks wins. In a group game, the players stand in a circle, and take turns kicking the Jegi. Players who fail to kick the jegi upon receiving it and let it drop to the ground lose. As a penalty, the loser tosses the jegi at the winner so that he can kick it as he wishes. When the loser catches the jegi back with his hands, the penalty ends and he can rejoin the game. This has developed, and people combined two or three materials and made new ways of playing jegichagi. Though the game was traditionally mostly played in winter, it has become a year-round game.

Although there is no written record about the origin of Jegichagi, historical legends states that the game was developed from young martial artists’ training which involved kicking a small leather pouche. Jegichagi has been developed in a different way.

Samguk Yusa, a collection of Korean historical legends, states that Goguryeo people was skilled at Cuju, which was eventually developed to be jegichagi in Korea. Also, it says that Kim Yushin of Silla stepped on and tore off Kim Chunchu's otgoreum, two long ribbon ties in Korean traditional costume, under the mask of playing jegichagi and had his sister sew it back on. Through that event, Kim Yushin's sister eventually married and became wife of Kim Chunchu, later Muyeol of Silla.

In 2000, Korean Jegichagi Association was founded to make new rules in order to fit this traditional game well into today’s generation. Although jegichagi is well known as many of other famous traditional games in Korea, the game is losing its popularity. In effort to keep traditional jegichagi alive within children’s mind, the Board of Education in South Korea ordered jegichagi as one of the required activities in physical education courses in school, usually 3rd or 4th grade.