Who's Who in
Taekkyon
Song Dok-Ki |
Taekyon, or Taekkyon is
a traditional Korean martial art, probably stemming from Subak. It
is uncertain when Subak was first practiced in Korea, but it may
have existed many centuries ago. The first source mentioning
Taekkyon is the book Manmulbo (also Jaemulbo), written around 1790
by Lee, Sung-Ji
At the height of its
popularity, even the king practiced Taekkyon, and Taekkyon matches
were frequent. However, the next king outlawed Taekkyon matches,
motivated by the gambling which took place around them - where
people would gamble away their wives and houses - thus making it a
purely military art. Subak split into two; yusul and Taekkyon,
during the early Joseon dynasty.
Taekkyon took a severe blow when Neo-Confucianism grew in
popularity, and then the Japanese occupation damaged the art even
more. Taekkyon has had a slight resurgence in recent days, getting
the classification "Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 76" on
June 1, 1983. It is the only Korean martial art which possesses such
a classification.
Taekkyon contains all
kinds of techniques, including hand- and leg techniques as well as
joint locks, head butts and so on. However, today there are
different styles which sometimes do not emphasize all techniques. In
all styles, just like in past centuries, kicks are most dominant.
Taekkyon probably teaches the greatest variety of kicks among all
martial arts, especially low kicks (ddanjuk) but also jumps.
Taekkyon movements are very fluid and dance-like with the
practitioners constantly moving. Thus, it resembles
Capoeira and Shaolin Kung
Fu. While some people see a certain similarity to the motions of
Taekwondo, the techniques and
principles differ a lot from those of other Korean martial arts, for
example, Taekkyon does not make use of abrupt knee motions. The
principles and methods used to extend the kick put more emphasis on
fluency and pushing rather than on speed and strength of the kick.
Taekkyon uses many sweeps with straight forward low kicks using the
ball of the foot and the heel and flowing crescent like high kicks.
There are many kicks that moved the leg outward from the middle and
inward from the outside using the side of the heels and the side of
the feet. The art also used tricks like inward trips, wall jumping,
fake outs, tempo, and slide stepping. The art is also like a dance
which the fighter constantly changes his or her stance from his or
her left to his or her right by stepping forward and backwards while
his or her arms are up and ready to guard. This art requires
traditional Korean white robes which were worn commonly in the past
of Korea.
Low kicks, which are very frequent in Taekkyon, are normally used to
disable an opponent's balance and knock him to the ground. These
kicks include leg sweeps as well as direct blows to the knee. There
are around 10 different basic techniques of this set of techniques
called ttanjuk.
When Taekkyon is
practiced as a sport, it uses a limited subset of techniques,
focusing on grappling and kicking only. Points are scored by
throwing (or tripping) the opponent to the ground, pushing him out
of the ring, or kicking him in the head. There are no hand strikes
or headbutts, and purposefully injuring your opponent is prohibited.
(The head kicks are often quite sharp, but usually not full force,
and fighters may not attempt to wear the opponent down with body
blows as in western boxing or muay thai). Matches are decided by the
best of three falls - the first fighter to score two points wins. To
an untrained eye, the matches are cautious but exhilarating affairs.
The contestants circle eachother warily, changing their footwork
constantly and feinting with low kicks, before exploding into a
flurry of action which usually leaves one fighter flat on his/her
back.
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