I've written before about my study into weapons and how I relate that to "my" taekwondo. The last two years I have delved deeper down into that rabbit hole and I have gotten much more hands on instruction (as well as a lot of online training) and so I wanted to start sharing this aspect on this blog too. If you think that is inapropriate as this is a taekwondo blog please say so in the comments and if I get a lot of feedback like that I will open a seperate blog on that aspect of my training and study. If I don't hear anything I will just keep posting that stuff here as well as what people consider "taekwondo". After all this is a blog on "my" Taekwondo so in my mind it fits right in here :-) This time I would like to write a little bit about Yedo Ishipsa Se (Yedo = Short sword, Ishipsa =24 and Se = posture loosely translated). This is a system consisting of 24 illustrations that first appears in print in 1621 in Wu Bei Zhi or as the Korean calls it the Mubiji. The book is an incredible big publication, and it is said to be the biggest Chinese military writing of all time. In it the author Mao Yan-yi (or Mo Won-ui in Korean) includes an art he labels Choson Sebup (Korean Sword Technique).
He (Mon Won-ui/ Mao Yan-yi) writes and this is a quote from Sang. H. Kim's translation of the Muyedobotongji on page 142: "Mo Won-ui said: The olden sword was used in combat. The founding king of the Tang Dynasty had 1 000 swordsmen. Now the methods are not passed on. There are some writings about the sword methods in the Kanjanpyun, but they are not accurate. Recently an ambitious man aquired the secret methods from Chosun and they are well systematized."
Mao/Mo presents this Korean system as quite old at the time of his writing in 1621. The authors of Muyedobotongji writing in 1789-1790 says that it is impossible to really say how old the system is, and who taught who and by whom, and where. Personally I fail to see a good reason for Mao Yan-yi a Chinese to accredit the sword system to Korea (Chosun) unless there was something to it. Acrediting stuff to China was all the rage and fashionable at the time in South East Asia, a longstanding trend that reached as far as modern Martial Arts styles (looking at you Tang Su Do) but for a Chinese to make some false history up to make something Korean? The age of the system however is up for debate, but it has to have been systematized prior to 1621, and at least a few well good years before that in my subjective speculative opinion. The authors of Muyedobotongji rised the question if the system was Korean at all though, so I might be mistaken in this but I see no reason why it shouldn't be a Korean system of the sword documented in a Chinese text.
Chosun Sebup (What would later be known as Yedo Ishipsa Se) had its first appearance in a Korean military manual in Muye Shinbo (New Military Illustrations) published in 1759, and then reappeared in the Korean Military Manual Muyedobotongji (Military Complete Illustrations) published in 1799.
Somewhere between 1759 and 1799 in a period of 40 years the training evolved in Korea, so that at the time the Muyedobotongji was published (1799) the Yedo system had evolved into one long continous form that was different (although still based upon) Mao Yan-yi/ Mo Won-ui writings. Therefore the authors of Muyedobotongji included both systems under the chapter dealing with Yedo. I have included a quote from Muyedobotongji, the translation by Sang H. Kim page 19: "The illustrations of the Yedo techniques were made according to the methods of Mo Won-ui, which where very different from those which are practised today. Thus, the complete illustrations* found in this volume have been publised based upon contemporary practises. Additionally, Mo's interpretations are included so that those who have already learned his style should not forget what they learned and those who do not know it can learn the existance of it.
*in the martial arts system I study where I get all this Muyedobotongji weapons stuff from we have today two Yedo systems, one is Yedo Ishipsa Se which consists of 24 postures (each posture is more like a mini form consisting of small sequences from 3 to 8 techniques) and one is called Yedo Chong Bu. Yedo Chong Bu is Yedo complete illustrations at the end of the Yedo Chapter in the Muyedobotongji which the authors reference in the quote above. Yedo Chong Bu is a long continuous form. The martial arts system I study is the Muye Ishipsaban Kyeongdang for those who are wondering by the way :-) I am now a proud yellow belt after dabling for 15 years.
In the Yedo chapter we get an overview of the sword system. For many years I have only had the translation of the Muyedobotongji by Sang H. Kim. I love the fact that he translated the book, as having something is a lot better than nothing, but he did at the same time take a few short cuts or perhaps the publisher did. For once, he makes no attempt at translating a lot of korean terms in the text. That doesn't sound very bad until you hear that he also (or the publisher) chose to not include the Hangul or Hanja that would have let any researcher and practisioner interested in further study and research do it for themselves. Also at least in the Yedo chapter there is a very bad error done where at least two illustrations for the 24 postures have been switched with two unrelated illustrations from another chapter dealing with another martial arts system entirely :-/ Luckily Jack Chen form Chinese Longswords have done some translation on the original text from the Mubiji/Wu Bei Zhi that the Muyedobotongji is quoting so with Jack Chen's translation in addition to Sang H. Kim's translation we can now see something about the system itself and not just the postures used :-) Below is a quote from Muyedobotongji Sang H. Kim's translation with underlined words being Jack Chen's translations.
Muyedobotongji page 142:
There are four strategic fighting methods in Chosun:
1: Ahnbup Observation techniques
2: Kyukbup Striking techniques
3: Sebup Deflecting techniques
4: Jabup Thrusting techniques
There are five categories in Kyukbup Striking techniques
1: Pyodoo kyuk Leopard-Head strike
2: Kwa joa kyuk Step-Across Left strike
3: Kwa woo kyuk Step-Across Right strike
4: Ikjoa kyuk Left Wing strike
5: ikwoo kyuk Right Wing strike
There are five categories in Jabup Thrusting Techniques
1: Yukrin ja Reverse-Scales thrust
2: Danbok ja Flat-Stomach thrust
3: Ssang myung ja Double-Clear thrust
4: Joa hyup ja Left-Clamp thrust
5: Woo hyup ja Right-Clamp thrust
There are three categories in Sebup Deflecting techniques
1: Bongdoo se Phoenix-Head deflect
2: Ho Hyul se Tiger's Den deflect
3: Dungmoon se Soaring Dragons deflect
After studying this and comparing to Jack Chen's work it dawned on me that either something was missing in the Muyedobotongji, or perhaps there was something wrong with Sang H. Kim's translation (as I said, I have found other mistakes in it) or perhaps there was some material from the Mubiji/ Wu Bei Zhi that did not make it into the Korean manuals (Muye Shinbo and Muyedobotongji) for some reason. Anyway below is a quote purely from Jack Chen's work from the Wu Bei Zhi/ Mubiji page 19:
"blocking techniques
1: Raise Cauldron block
2: Whirlwind block
3: Drive-Wagon block"
The reason I include these lists here in the post will perhaps become clearer once we start looking at the 24 postures themselves, but these names give some inclings into how the postures should be used. For instance Yedo number 1 is called lifting the couldron and as it is listed here under "blocking techniques" raise cauldron block you would keep that in mind when applying the posture. Likewise Yedo number 4 Pyo Du Se Leapord Head striking posture is listed under kyukbup or strikes, so you would expect the move to contain a strike from its opening posture and so on. The attacks being defended against is not made clear, nor is the weapons we are dealing with. The applications I have been taught are usually from a centre line decending cut or strike, and sometimes a thrust, but seeing as this is a battlefield military system I can not stress enough that we should keep an open mind here and look for ways to deal with whatever the soldiers at the time had to deal with. Luckily you can go to Muyedobotongji to find inspiraiton for that as the book deals with 24 martial arts (swords, sword and shield, a whole array of spears, sticks, flails, polearms etc.
In the hopefully near future I will get into the different postures as I have been taught them, relating them back to the Muyedobotongji for fun, and hopefully even share some thoughts on applications. One thing is for sure, I have been practising them a lot lately (dreaming of that green belt man... :-P ) and I have to say they are great exersice for the whole body. Especially when you pair them with the Wae Geom forms as well for added spice and endurance :-) One way I like to do them in practise is each posture 8 times; 4 slow reps and then 4 fast reps. Once all have been dealt with this way I link them into each other one time just for a bonus walkthrough. This takes me roughly 30 minutes to complete. I have done this daily lately which is also why I felt inspired into sharing some of its background and overview today :-)
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