Korean swordsmanship
| Korean swordsmanship | |
| Geom Sul | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 검술 |
| Hanja | 劍術 |
Since the 1970s, there has been a revival of traditional or reconstructed methods of swordsmanship (劍術 geom sul, or 劍法 geom beop) based on the Korean sword in the Republic of Korea (Korean Bon Kuk Geom Beop 본국검법 "National Sword Methods"), supplementing the practice of Kumdo (the Korean adoption of modern Japanese Kendo). There are historical sources on which such reconstructions are based, dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, notably the Muyejebo (“Martial Arts Illustrations”) of 1610, its 1759 revision Muyeshinbo, supplemented with 12 additional fighting methods by Prince Sado who originated the term Sip Pal Ki (“Eighteen Fighting Methods”), and the renewed revision of 1790, Muyedobotongji.
Korean sword practice entails the study and use of one or more of five sword architectures including the single-handed sabre (To), the single-handed sword (Geom), the two-handed saber (Ssangsoodo) and two pole arms; the Spear Sword (Hyup Do) and the Glaive (Wol Do).
Any of these weapons can be studied following one of two disciplines. The study of Korean sword as a weapons system is commonly called Geom Beop ("sword methods") while the use of sword study as a form of personal development or sport is commonly called Geom Do (검도, 劍道) "Way of the Sword"). In either case, additional equipment and practices have been added to further the study and safety of the subject. These include but are not limited to body armor (Ho-gu), bamboo (Juk-To) and wooden (Mok-Geom) swords and a range of materials for piercing or cutting.
Production of Korean swords starts in the 4th century with the Hwandudaedo or "ring-pommel swords". No direct accounts of swordsmanship during the Three Kingdoms of Korea are extant, but there are 12th-century historiographical works (Samkuk Sagi. "History of the Three Kingdoms" by Kim Bu-sik, 1145; Samkuk Yusa "Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms") which attest that systematic training of martial skills existed in each of the three early Korean states.
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