Original migration by tribal groups to Korea as early as 2300 BC called for a development of techniques that warriors could use to protect their people. They settled around Mt. Bektu, which lies near the border separating North Korea and Manchuria. For a time, the need for a fighting system was largely superficial, a specialty set of skills that set warriors of the tribes apart.
Further migration many years later brought these tribes south, in close contact with one another, contact that inevitably called for aggression. Even though techniques would be refined and changed as time passed, many primitive aspects of the style survive to this day. For instance, the art of throwing stones “Too-Suk Sool” would prove itself to be extremely capable in battles against the Chinese as late as the 15th century.
Three Kingdoms
Social communities bonded into stronger civilizations, until what was known as the Three Kingdoms came out of the old age. The kingdoms were split into families that managed to unite Koreans, while at the same time wresting land from Chinese rule. The three kingdoms were:
- Silla
- Koguryo
- Paekche
Martial arts, though the techniques and specific practices are unknown, were passed from teacher to student either directly or through books. During this time the primitive martial arts were evolving. Techniques were becoming more sophisticated, with emphasis on weapons being greater in light of the onset of the iron culture in the fourth century.
The “three kingdoms” were very important in the evolution of martial arts for many reasons.
As their populations flourished they helped incorporate Buddhism and Chinese practices that would shape the philosophy and mindset of warriors for centuries. Monks sitting in meditative trances for hours at a time practices “hyung”, or forms, that would later become incorporated into Kuk Sul.
Being at odds, the three competing kingdoms would fight wars, hold contests, and through this aggression they continually refined techniques and found additional ways to fight. Just as one example, the “Hwa-Rang Do” (or the “way of the flowery youth”) were groups of boys selected from the highest ranks of Silla society, and trained in “special” martial arts techniques, wandered the mountains, and were known to be geographical masters of the kingdom.
Silla would eventually defeat the other two kingdoms, and create what was known as the United Silla Dynasty. What followed was a period of peace and the final puzzle piece that would shape Kuk Sul Do’s style. The second half of this article can be found here.
