Subak
Encyclopedia
Subak, Subakgi or Yusul is either a specific ancient Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n martial art. Historically this term may have specified the old Korean martial art of taekkyeon.

History

Originally, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 was divided into three kingdoms
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...

: Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

 in the southeastern part of the country, Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

 (Koguryo) in the northern part, and Baekje
Baekje
Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

 located west of Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

. The Subak style was created in the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

.

It was a style that utilizes hand strikes, kicks, jointlocks, and throws. The mountainous terrain of Goguryeo may have made its people have legs relatively stronger than their arms.

The word Sonbae is translated to mean "a man of virtue who never retreats from a fight", and is a member of the warrior corps. Those who were members of the Sonbae lived in groups and learned archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

, Kakju (ancestor of ssireum
Ssireum
Historically, there have been other terms for "wrestling" in Korean used alongside ssireum, such as gakjeo , gakhui , gakryeok , gakgii , chiuhui , sangbak , jaenggyo ....

) and Subak (ancestor of taekkyon), history, literature, and other liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

. Although they were constantly training in combat, during peace time they helped construct roads and fortresses, assisted after natural disasters and so on.
In the year 400, in an attempt to dominate the entire southern portion of the country, Baekje invaded Silla. King Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo
Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo
Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo was the nineteenth monarch of Goguryeo, the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. His full posthumous name roughly means "Very Greatest King, Broad Expander of Territory, buried in Gukgangsang.", sometimes abbreviated to Hotaewang or Taewang...

 is said by some accounts to have sent 50,000 Sonbae troops to Silla's aid. Later he would attempt to dictate Silla's internal affairs because of this assistance.

It was around this time that the people of Silla formed an elite officers corps called Hwarang
Hwarang
The Hwarang, or "Flower Boys"., were an elite group of male youth in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom that lasted until the 10th century. There were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture steeped mainly in...

.
The Hwarang may have utilized techniques from Subak in addition to training in spear, bow, sword, hook and various forms of hand and foot fighting.

Split

Subak took a heavy blow during the Joseon
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

 period, which was founded on the ideology of Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

, stressing literary art instead of martial art. Subak was only allowed to be practiced in competitions called subakhui. After three subakhui bouts, the winner could become employed as a soldier.

It was also during the beginning of the Joseon dynasty that Subak became increasingly divided into two separate styles, Taekgyeon
Taekyon
Taekkyeon is a traditional Korean martial art with a dance-like appearance in some aspects. A Goguryeo mural painting at the Samsil tomb shows Taekkyeon was practiced as early as the Three Kingdoms Era and transmitted from Goguryeo to Shilla. The earliest existing written source mentioning...

and Yusul (which is another term for subak). Where Taekgyeon techniques consisted mainly of kicks and strikes, Yusul techniques were of the locking and grappling kind.

But just as often this divide is already made between subak and galjeok in earlier times by scholars.

External links

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