Silla's "Hwarang" and Taekkyon

The kingdom of Silla was founded on the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula under no immediate threat from outside.  However, the birth of the  Paekje Kingdom on its west flank and the start of invasions by Koguryo from the north, Silla was forced to arm itself and development the martial arts.

In fact, "hwarangdo" is a typical example of Silla's martial arts, which are an assimilation of Koguryo's "sonbae" system. The members of the youth group of hwarangdo were well trained.  They developed a strong sense of filial piety, loyalty to the kingdom and sacrificial devotion to society.  This lead to their becoming important personalities in the rein of kingdom. Notable among them were Kim Yu-Sin and Kim Chun-Chu who made a definite contribution to the unification of the three kingdoms.

The "Chronicle of Old Chosun" describes the life of hwarangs - members of hwarangdo.  It states  that "hwarangs were selected by the kingdom through contests and, after selection, they lived together in a group, indulging themselves in learning, exercising subak (old form of Tae Kwon Do), fencing and horse-riding, and sometimes they enjoyed various games including the Korean wrestling (Ssirum).  In peace time, hwarangs served for thebenefits of communities, working onemergency aids and construction of fortresses and roads, and they were always ready to sacrifice their lives at the time of war."

Hwarangs were greatly influenced by Buddhistic disciplines and therefore the bronze statues of a Hercules (a man of great physical strength) currently exhibited at the Kyongju Museum indicates that martial arts were practiced at temples.  This statue shows a strong man's bare-hand defensive and offensive stances. 

The shape of a fist shown on the statue of Kumgang Yoksa (a strong man, below) exactly resemblesthat of a "jungkwon" (right fist) in contemporary Tea Kwon Do.  The statue also shows today's "pyon jumok" (flat fist) and the use of legs seen in today's Tea Kwon Do.  It is really noticeable that in Silla epoch the terms of "subak" (hand techniques) and "taekkon" appear together, signifying that both hand and foot techniques were used in martial arts as in today's Tae Kwon Do.