What is Korean martial arts?

[kickcatcher]

What % of these styles pre 1950s heritage is actually ‘Korean’?

TaeKwonDo –allegedly based on TeaKyon but actually Japanese Karate repackaged as Korean?

Tang Soo Do – Anything meaningfully Korean?

Hapkido – actually just repackaged Jujitsu with some karate added?

Kuk Sool Won – Kung Fu?

HwarangDo - ????? Surely not actually related to what the Hwarang Warriors actually did?

Yudo – no prize for guessing here…

What % of the Korean arts originates in pre-1930s Korean martial Arts?

[Bull]

you dont take any of these martial arts do u. cause if u did, u would see the difference. besides, what does it matter what the martial art is called so long as it teaches you how to fight. in my opinion, styles and and names of martial arts are meaningless. the only thing that matters is the fighter. styles limit a persons martial arts. if a person is open to all styles, and does not limit him/herself to one way of fighting, then they can expand and become a much more effective fighter.

[JaseP]

What % of these styles pre 1950s heritage is actually ‘Korean’?

TaeKwonDo –allegedly based on TeaKyon but actually Japanese Karate repackaged as Korean?

It depends on the Kwan of the originating TaeKwonDo style (there are more than one). Some Kwans did little or no forms training, and didn't borrow any Japanese forms as a result.

As for content, You won't find the high and powerful kicks associated with Korean styles in any original Japanese or Okinawan style. Prior to the late 1950s, Japanese/Okinawan styles didn't execute any kicks above the solar plexus, and the ones they did tended to the short and choppy.

Also, basic technique execution in Korean styles differs from the way they are done in, say, Shotokan. Hip rotation is different, force generation is different. Many of these things found their way BACK into Japanese/Okinawan arts from interaction with the Korean arts.

TaeKwonDo was formed from the Kwan system in Korea which dates back to just after WWII. From that time, you had a re-discovery of the native Korean techniques (from those who kept them alive) and a blending of them with the Japanese arts that had pre-dominated during occupation. The trend over the last 30 years has been to downplay the Japanese influence... but it is there. More on that below.

Tang Soo Do – Anything meaningfully Korean?

Only the Okinawan form set was taken from Japanese karate. Everything else is Korean or Chinese. The Okinwan form set usually consists of about 80% of the pre-Dan form set, and 45-50% of the post Dan form set (in most schools, some don't use the Korean set, and so I would consider them watered-down Tang Soo Do). As stated above, technique and execution is totally different. the Okinawan forms were taken for marketing purposes (its what people were familiar with).

In addition to what you will read in the rest of this post, Tang Soo Do practitoners excute thngs differently than "karate" practitioners (the use of the word "karate" amoung TSD Practitioners being marketing,... again).

Hwang Kee, founder of the Moo Duk Kwan, never had a Japanese or Okinawan instructor. In fact, his only formal instructor/student relationship was with a man in China. Prior to that, he imitated the practice of a Korean Kwon Bop master before WWII. The man wouldn't take students, which was understandable due to the Japanese occupation. He incorporated the Okinawan form set into Tang Soo Do (called Hwa Soo do prior to that) after 1946. So the foundation of technique and execution of the art was primarily Korean/Chinese. Hwang Kee wasn't even IN Korea during the 1930s,... he had hopped the railways to China, escaping the Japanese who were putting native Korean martial artists to death.

Hapkido – actually just repackaged Jujitsu with some karate added?

Not quite. While Hapkido was developed in part from Jujitsu, much of the technique and application is quite different. For example, wrist, elbow and shoulder locks (which they have in common with Tang Soo Do) are excuted in any number of different ways. One such method of execution is unlike anything you would see in the Japanese arts, and is clearly local Korean flavor (less manipulation, and grander movement, you see this in Tang Soo Do as well). There is certainly a jujitsu influence, to be sure (most, if not all of the Hapkido heirarchy was trained in Jujitsu), saying that it's just jujitsu is a dis-service to both Hapkido and Jujitsu. The classical Jujitsu practioners would have a fit if all of a sudden their students started executing technique like a Hapkido practioner (and probably vice versa). Modern more ecclectic jujitsu practioners would probably not care,... but would notice the difference.

Kuk Sool Won – Kung Fu?

I don't know any Kuk Sool Won practitioners, so I couldn't tell you. I'd guess its similar to HwaRangDo's situation.

HwarangDo - ????? Surely not actually related to what the Hwarang Warriors actually did?

Supposedly derived from a combination of Hapkido and fighting learned from a Korean monk in a monastary... Truth to that??? Considering that Jo Bang Lee is still alive last I heard and is still sticking to his story, I'd bet that it's accuracy has a 70% chance of being right. If his story is true, than HwaRangDo is more a version of Korean kung fu than anything.

To what degree is it related to the HwaRang Dan??? I don't know that it IS, in terms of lineage. It's more likely that it the HwaRang name was chosen for it's historical significance (read: marketing).

Yudo – no prize for guessing here…

Yudo is Korean for Judo, and is just pretty much Judo.

What % of the Korean arts originates in pre-1930s Korean martial Arts?

There is no such thing as a pure-bred Korean style. Even in pre-1789 Korea, they tended to borrow the things they liked from the Chinese (long weapons, and some empty hand fighting) and the Japanese (swordsmenship). Koreans, being a proud people, tend to gloss over any Japanese influence. Considering how brutal the Japanese were during occupation, that is understandable. There is still a lot of bad blood there. But on the other hand, people tend to OVER-ESTIMATE the influence of the Japanese arts with the same passion that the Koreans downplay them. Neither is accurate. The truth is in the middle. As I said,... there is no such thing as a pure-bred Korean style. There never has been or never will be.

As I stated, the real area of Korean innovation came from the use of the legs more predominantly than any other region's art. Specifically, the way in which power was generated in the kicks, and other techniques. The Chinese used body rotation and the Japanese were direct. The Koreans blended the two aspects as had not been done by either. Nowdays, you see Japanese/Okinwan competitors executing their technique more Korean-like, and Chinese practitioners using kicks and direct strikes to a greater degree. It seems that the Koreans are not the only ones with cross-pollenation. I've seen the difference within my own martial arts career.

It's interesting to note that there was really no such thing as "style" in Korea prior to WWII. Before that, the names of the various arts were pretty much interchangeable. Things were called Kwon Bop, Su Bahk, Tang Su, etc. and it was pretty much along the lines of; "Oh, so you're a boxer,...", "yeah, I'm a fighter,... you know punching, kicking, wrestling...",... rather than it being delineated. The biggest delineation was in terms of internal arts versus external arts, but pretty much only in pre-1600 Korea. After that, you don't hear of it being an issue (cross-training?!?!? Maybe).

So what percentage of Korean arts are actually Korean like they were in 1930s and before??? Depends. On average 30-60%... depending on style.

[danieldc]

As a lot of arts, martial or not, Korea developed their own by need. Been side to side wt China an Japan had forced koreans to develop a lot of tecniqs. based on nature (as Kung Fu) or kinetics (as karate) and/or natural movements of life, like capoeira.

Would u put in q. about the origin of pizza if i told u that it was at first a pitta greeck bread dressed w/ cheese and etc.?

[aefibird]

There's cross overs in many martial arts, although a lot of it is downplayed (as Master Jase has written).

As long a a practitioner is learning, developing and having fun the origins of the art should matter - certainly it shouldn't matter as much as the actual content of what they're learning and whether they've got a good instructor or not...