(Discovery) 1920s Subak Footage? Estimated Appearance of Independence Activist Kim Won-bo in a Japanese Colonial-Era Educational Film

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A recently rediscovered Korean silent film from the late 1920s may contain one of the oldest surviving moving images related to traditional Korean fighting culture.

The film is “At the End of Labor, There Is No Poverty” (Japanese title: 稼に追付く貧乏なくて), a Japanese colonial-era state-sponsored educational film that encouraged labor, savings, and “modern” lifestyle values under occupation rule.

What makes this film important is that, out of roughly 8 minutes of total runtime, nearly 1 full minute is dedicated to hand-to-hand fighting.

That is not a small detail.

This was not an action movie. It was propaganda/educational cinema produced with official support during the Japanese occupation period. In that context, it is difficult to assume the fight scene was improvised “street brawling” with no technical direction or cultural basis.

The director was Lee Gyu-seol (이규설), who had also appeared in Arirang with Na Woon-gyu, one of the most important figures in early Korean cinema.

Na Woon-gyu himself had connections to Korean independence activities and was imprisoned in relation to the “Cheonghoe Line Tunnel Bombing Attempt” case before later joining the film world in Busan.

After liberation, Lee Gyu-seol went to North Korea.

Who was Kim Won-bo?

The larger fighter appearing in the film is identified as Kim Won-bo (김원보).

However, unlike co-actor Park Sun-bong — who remained active in the Korean film industry until the 1970s — almost no later film records of Kim Won-bo can be found.

Because of this, I began considering another possibility:

What if Kim Won-bo was not primarily a film actor, but someone recruited specifically to perform realistic fighting sequences?

This idea becomes more interesting after examining independence movement records.

In 2022, a man named Kim Won-bo received a Presidential Commendation related to Korea’s independence movement.

The archival record states:

Name: Kim Won-bo (金元甫)

Age at the time: 22

Birthplace/Home region: Songhwa-ri, Seohung County, Hwanghae Province

Charge: Violation of the Security Law

Year: 1919

Summary: Participated in the March 1st Independence Movement and shouted “Manse” with demonstrators after reading the Declaration of Independence.

When comparing this document to the physical appearance of Kim Won-bo in the film, the estimated age range appears to match surprisingly well.

The fighter in the film looks approximately late 20s to early 30s — consistent with someone who was 22 years old in 1919.

At this stage, this remains a hypothesis, not a finalized conclusion.

But the connections are interesting enough to investigate further.

Connection to Subak and Northern Korean Fighting Traditions

Recently published testimony from first- and second-generation displaced people from Pyongan Province described “Subak” practitioners during the Japanese occupation era.

According to these testimonies:

This is significant because Kim Won-bo’s documented hometown was Hwanghae Province.

And the movements shown in the film strongly resemble those descriptions.

The fighting shown includes:

Stable stance and posture

Weight distribution and balance control

Footwork and directional movement

Distinction between lead hand and rear hand

Body evasion

Blocking with hands and arms

Grabbing while striking

Straight punches, alternating left/right punches, body punches, downward strikes

Cross-arm downward defensive motions linked into attacks

Neck clinch takedowns

Counterattacks while grounded and grabbing the opponent’s collar

The fighter also demonstrates tactical distancing, pressure, angle control, and redirecting incoming force.

This does not look like random uncontrolled brawling.

Ironically, many elements are not fundamentally different from modern MMA concepts.

Why the Scene Matters

Modern films consult experts when portraying boxing, judo, or other martial arts.

The same logic likely applied here.

Film production in the 1920s was expensive and difficult. Film stock was valuable. Directors did not simply tell actors:

“Do whatever you want and we’ll film it.”

Especially not in a government-supported production.

Every movement in the scene would likely have been directed intentionally.

For that reason, the fight scene may reflect contemporary Korean understanding of fighting systems at the time — particularly traditions remembered in Seoul, Kaesong, Hwanghae Province, and Hamgyeong Province.

Several later testimonies also connect these regions with traditions known as:

Subak (수박)

Jumeokchigi / “fist-fighting” (주먹치기)

Nalparam (날파람)

North Korean folklorist Hong Gi-mu also described Subak primarily as fist-based fighting in 1963.

Another Interesting Detail

An elderly Korean martial arts researcher once described older men near Dongdaemun after liberation demonstrating a movement where both arms crossed downward from above.

That exact motion appears near the end of Kim Won-bo’s fight scene.

This does not “prove” anything by itself.

But the overlap between oral testimony and the film movements is difficult to ignore.

Historical Importance

The Korean Film Archive rediscovered the film in a Russian archive and restored it in 2021.

Because of the production period and surviving staff records, this may be among the oldest surviving Korean films in existence.

If the fighting scene truly reflects contemporary Korean combat traditions rather than generic cinematic improvisation, then this footage could become historically important for the study of Korean martial culture during the Japanese occupation period.

I plan to continue tracing records related to Kim Won-bo and to include further analysis of the footage in future research and publications.

Original fight scene:
6:43 ~ 7:45

YouTube:
https://youtu.be/RD0CJrfLypg

Original restored film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgxi3m-8jjM