page_title: Korean martial arts
section_title: Gungdo
hierarchical_section_title: Korean martial arts / Types of Korean martial arts / Gungdo
caption_attribution_description: English: Master Heon Kim
context_page_description: Korean martial arts are fighting practices and methods which have their place in the history of Korea but have been adapted for use by both military and non-military personnel as a method of personal growth or recreation. The history of Korean martial arts can be traced as far back as the prehistoric era. The ancestors of modern Korean people migrated and settled in the Korean Peninsula as early as the 28th century BC, a geopolitical region besieged by thousands of known documented instances of foreign invasions. Consequently, the Korean people developed unique martial arts and military strategies in order to defend themselves and their territory.
  Today, Korean martial arts are being practiced worldwide; more than one in a hundred of the world's population practices some form of taekwondo. Among the best recognized Korean practices using weapons are traditional Korean archery and Kumdo, the Korean adaptation of the Japanese Kendo. The best known unarmed Korean Martial Arts are Taekwondo and Hapkido, though such traditional practices such as ssireum - Korean Wrestling - and Taekkyon - Korean Foot Fighting - are rapidly gaining in popularity both inside and outside the country.
context_section_description: The reflex bow had been the most important weapon in Korean wars with Chinese dynasties and nomadic peoples, recorded from the 1st century BCE. Legend says the first king and founder of the Goguryeo, Go Jumong, was a master of archery, able to catch 5 flies with one arrow. Park Hyeokgeose, the first king of the Silla, was also said to be a skilled archer. Rumors of archers in Goguryeo and Silla presumably reached China; the ancient Chinese gave the people of the north east, Siberia, Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula, the name of Dongyi (東夷), the latter character (夷) being a combination of the two characters for "large" (大) and "bow" (弓).
  However, the word 夷 was first used in Chinese history referring to the people South of Yellow River over 5,000 years ago. Later, when Yi 夷 people joined the tribes of Hua Xia [華夏] Chinese, 夷 meant outsiders. By that time, DongYi refers to Korean, as in Outsiders from the East
  With the Mongol Conquest of Korea, archery became the main stay of Korean military. The swords and spears of the Korean and Chinese armies did very little to stop Mongol archers and were quickly discarded in favor of the composite bow, which proved to be a much more effective weapon against the Mongols. Yi Seonggye, the founding king of Joseon was known to have been a master archer.  In a battle against Japanese pirates, Yi Seonggye, assisted by Yi Bangsil, killed the young samurai commander "Agibaldo" with two successive arrows, one arrow unhelmeting the warrior, with the second arrow entering his mouth. In his letter to General Choi Young, Yi Seonggye lists as one of five reasons not to invade Ming Dynasty as during the monsoon season, glue holding together the composite bow weakens, reducing the effectiveness of the bow.
  Founding of Joseon dynasty saw the retention of the composite bow as the main stay of the Joseon military. Archery was the main martial event tested during the military portion of the national service exam held annually from 1392 to 1894.  Under Joseon, archery reached its zenith, resulting in the invention of pyeonjeon, which saw great service against the Japanese in 1592 and against the Manchus in the early 1600s.
  Until the Imjin wars, archery was the main long-range weapon system. During that war, the tactical superiority of the matchlock arquebus became apparent, despite its slow rate of fire and susceptibility to wet weather. However, it was the Korean composite bow, referred to as the "half bow" by the Japanese, that halted the Japanese at the Battle of Haengju as well as at the Battle of Ulsan.  Although Joseon adopted the arquebus during the Imjin War, the composite bow remained the main stay of its Army until the reforms of 1894. Under King Hyojong's military reforms, an attempt hosinsoolˌ'護身術' was made to revive horse archery as a significant element of the military.  It was also practiced for pleasure and for health, and many young males and a some many females - including the king - would spend their free time practicing it.
caption: Master Heon Kim using a modern Korean composite bow.
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