<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=796343009-18022006>I received the following query from a fellow who's
working on a dissertation regarding the practice of martial arts in Korea during
the late 19th century (before and during the colonial
period).</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=796343009-18022006>(Since I'm unfamiliar with the subject, I don't
understand his concern over "starting a flame war".)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=796343009-18022006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=796343009-18022006>T</SPAN>hank you<B></B><B><FONT
color=#800000>,</FONT></B></FONT></FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us><B><FONT
face=Arial color=#800000 size=2>Matthew</FONT></B></SPAN> <SPAN
class=796343009-18022006><STRONG><FONT face=Arial color=#800000
size=2>Benuska</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=796343009-18022006><STRONG><FONT face=Arial
color=#800000 size=2></FONT></STRONG></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=796343009-18022006><STRONG><FONT face=Arial
color=#800000 size=2></FONT></STRONG></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=796343009-18022006>"<FONT
color=#000000 size=3>My questions are: <BR>1) Does anyone have any evidence to
support the assertion that the Choson Court banned the civilian practice of
martial arts? <BR>2) Does anyone have any evidence that the Japanese Government
General did, and if so, any evidence of enforcement of this ban? <BR>3) Were
there any legitimate (i.e. legal) privately run martial arts schools in Korea
prior to 1945? <BR>4) Were the martial arts used by kkangp'ae learned in
Japanese run public schools prior to the introduction MA into the public school
curriculum in 1920, were they learned "underground," or was it a combination of
the two? "</FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV><STRONG><FONT
face=Arial color=#800000 size=2></FONT></STRONG><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Joseph Cheavens
[mailto:jcheavens@hotmail.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 16, 2006 7:40
AM<BR><B>To:</B> nuski@verizon.net<BR><B>Subject:</B> Taekyong and Korean MA in
Late Choson and Colonial Korea<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV class=RTE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Dear Mr. Benuski:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I posted the following on E-Budo and was recommended
by one of the members there to consult with you on this issue. I hope that
you can perhaps shed some more light on this issue. Eric Madis and Dakin Burdick
have both provide me with some useful information since my original post,
so my main questions at this point are: <STRONG>what evidence, if any, is there
that the Choson Court banned <EM>taekyon</EM> in the Late 19th Century; what
evidence, if any, that the Japanese Government General banned Korean martial
arts; is there any documentation other than Hwang Kee's books
that Korean gangsters used <EM>taekyon</EM> in the 1920s and
'30s?</STRONG> I'm working to complete the revisions on my dissertation,
which explores the relationship between Korean and Japanese gangsters and
between gangsters and the government, and my advisor would like me to firm up my
sources on some of my information. <BR><BR>I'd greatly appreciate any insight
that you may have on this matter. <BR><BR>Here is my original post, which
explains why I have these questions.
<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</FONT><A href="http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32739"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32739</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial> -----------------------------------------<STRONG>text as
follows</STRONG>:-------------------------------</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial>I know this is a forum for Japanese martial arts, but
there seem to be a lot of very knowledgeable folk here and I was hoping to get
some answers to my two main questions. I posted this over on budoseek, but have
not gotten any feedback yet. <BR><BR>Quote: <BR>I've seen this discussed
tangentially in a lot of threads, but haven't found a specific thread dedicated
to this contraversial topic, though. As a student of history specializing in the
Korean Colonial Period and a martial artist who specializes in Tae Kwon Do and
who has trained in both Japan and Korea, this is an area that interests me, but
which I find to be poorly documented and emotionally charged. A friend of mine
once showed me a discussion on a BBS (remember those?) that was hosted by
Chalmers Johnson back in the early to mid '90s that discussed this topic and had
good and relatively o<SPAN class=796343009-18022006><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2><FONT color=#000000> bj</FONT> </FONT></SPAN>ective discussion.
<BR><BR>A few of the salient features that I remember from that discussion were:
<BR>1) The practice of martial arts by civillians in Korea was actually banned
by the Choson Court in the 1870s in response to a spate of gang violence in the
capital. The Japanese Government General simply continued this ban. <BR>2) It is
probable that a very small group of civillian practitioners continued to pass on
the teachings of their art "underground" until the 1920s. However, given the
Neo-Confucian disdain for the military that was a dominant feature of Korean
society until Liberation, it would seem logical that such underground
practitioners would be rare and would most likely have existed in the
margianilized groups within society. <BR>3) In 1920, the Government General
allowed Koreans to study martial arts in the public schools as part of the
education reforms following the March First Uprising in 1919. At this time, any
"underground" practitioners would have been provided some legitimate cover. At
the same time, martial arts instruction in Korea was dominated by Japanese and
Okinawan influences. <BR>4) Until 1932, the Chinese character used for Kara in
Karate was the one that is usually romanized as T'ang for T'ang Dynasty China.
This character is pronounced as kara in Japanese and tang in Korean. The
Japanese government changed the character to the Kara meaning "empty" in order
to erase the Chinese via Okinawa origins of Karate. The overwhelming sense of
those involved in this discussion was that Karate spread from China to Okinawa
and Korean with Ch'an/Son/Zen Budhism during the T'ang Dynasty and later spread
into Japan during the Tokugawa period. <BR>5) Most of the founders of the seven
Kwans studied Karate in Okinawa and a few in Japan. Whether they had studied any
underground traditional Korean martial arts is speculative but not improbable.
<BR>6) While it may not be accurate to say that all modern Korean martial arts
are derived from Japanese martial arts (after all, even "purely" Japanese
martial arts have been influenced by Chinese and/or Okinawan martial arts to
some degree), it is fair to say they were heavily influenced by the Japanese
during the Colonial Period. <BR><BR><BR>My main interest in this topic is with
points 1) and 2) and a bit with 3). I have found historical accounts that
indicate that the Pobusang (pedlers) guilds (note: I say guilds here instead of
the more commonly used Guild to differentiate between the Choson Gvt's attempt
to organize government controlled guild system and the more regional and local
guild type structures that developed during the late Koryo period and continue
to a very limited degree even now) often had a para-military/youth brigade type
organization to train in self defense for the members and to enforce order. It
would seem to me that these groups would have continued to train in martial arts
even after the Choson Court's proscription against civillian practice of martial
arts, and may have even continued into the Colonial Period. This is conjecture
on my part with regards to the Colonial Period, although it does seem logical.
<BR><BR>Also, I have found that kkangp'ae (Korean gangsters) likely practiced
martial arts in the '20s and '30s, based on accounts of the MA skills of some of
the more famous leaders of these gangs. Also, following Liberation and prior to
the Korean War, martial arts were often referred to as "kkangp'ae training" by
residents of Seoul. <BR><BR>My biggest problems are: <BR>1) I only have a single
BBS reference from an undocumented source with regards to the Choson Court's
proscription against civillian practice of martial arts; <BR>2) I have been able
to find absolutely no Japanese Government General order related to this
proscription - although there was a general order to continue the Choson penal
code for Koreans in Korea in addition to the Japanese penal code. This order was
rescinded in 1920. <BR>3) I have been able to find no evidence that the Japanese
Governement General enforced any proscription against the civillian practice of
martial arts in any of the crime statistics maintained by the Government
General. <BR>4) I have been unable to find any evidence of any private martial
arts schools, either Japanese or Korean owned, in the records of registered
businesses contained in the ecomic records maintained by the Government General.
<BR><BR>My questions are: <BR>1) Does anyone have any evidence to support the
assertion that the Choson Court banned the civillian practice of martial arts?
<BR>2) Does anyone have any evidence that the Japanese Government General did,
and if so, any evidence of enforcement of this ban? <BR>3) Were there any
legitimate (i.e. legal) privately run martial arts schools in Korea prior to
1945? <BR>4) Were the martial arts used by kkangp'ae learned in Japanese run
public schools prior to the introduction MA into the public school curriculum in
1920, were they learned "underground," or was it a combination of the two?
<BR><BR><BR>I'm not trying to start a flame war. I really would like to find
some evidence regarding the prohibition against civillian practice of the
martial arts in either late Choson or early Colonial Korea. I'm working on
revisions to my dissertation and the only evidence I have regarding this are
notes from a discussion on a BBS about 13 years ago.
<BR><BR>__________________________________ <BR><BR>Again, thanks for any
information that you may be able to provide. <BR><BR>Sincerely, <BR>Joe Cheavens
<BR></FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>