# Korean Weapons Forms



## 195 (Jun 8, 2009)

Hi there, I am writing because the school as to which I belong has recently started competing in local and national tournaments. We are a very traditional school but maintain an open mind when learning new things. In my school I have talked to my instructor as to integrating weapons into our curriculum. This is only for the students who would like to compete in these tournaments. Our school also teaches So Rim Kung Fu and that is our only weapons curriculum we have (bo staff and chinese broadsword). We could do these forms in these tournaments however we would prefer to keep the weapons forms in each style seperated. This comes to my question as to what weapons were traditionally taught in Tae kwon do, Tang soo do, and maybe Hap Ki do? Although  have found many videos on youtube and such I am skeptical because I want the forms I would be teaching to be traditional and not fake (no offense). So my questions are what were the weapons that were taught in Korea and do they have forms? and lastly where can I find the material to learn them. Thank you and I appreciate your time and your comments. Again I am very open minded to these forms and am willing to learn from just about anyone as long as the form has "a history"


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## Masshiro (Jun 9, 2009)

try reading this book "Muye Dobo Tongji : The Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts of Ancient Korea " it is a very good book writtin in three sections the first was written in 1599 and the second and third was written in 1759 about the weapons used at those times.


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## clfsean (Jun 9, 2009)

195 said:


> Hi there, I am writing because the school as to which I belong has recently started competing in local and national tournaments. We are a very traditional school but maintain an open mind when learning new things. In my school I have talked to my instructor as to integrating weapons into our curriculum. This is only for the students who would like to compete in these tournaments. Our school also teaches So Rim Kung Fu and that is our only weapons curriculum we have (bo staff and chinese broadsword). We could do these forms in these tournaments however we would prefer to keep the weapons forms in each style seperated. This comes to my question as to what weapons were traditionally taught in Tae kwon do, Tang soo do, and maybe Hap Ki do? Although  have found many videos on youtube and such I am skeptical because I want the forms I would be teaching to be traditional and not fake (no offense). So my questions are what were the weapons that were taught in Korea and do they have forms? and lastly where can I find the material to learn them. Thank you and I appreciate your time and your comments. Again I am very open minded to these forms and am willing to learn from just about anyone as long as the form has "a history"



Taekwon-do/Tang Soo Do have no weapons in either system. Back in the 40's & 50's when everything started jelling together & the kwons formed, there were no weapons.

Hapkido uses a cane that I know of. Other schools may have added other things but the only thing I'm 100% of is the cane & from what I've seen, not everybody teaches it.

If your school is teaching So Rim (Shaolin) stick & knife, then there you have it. There's the weapons & the background to use them (hopefully). TKD/TSD are no go & HKD is not so much.


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## 195 (Jun 9, 2009)

Thanks guys I appreciate the help. I'll take a look at the book, I had planned on buying it for a long time but everywhere I've gone its been pretty pricey. Specifically we belong to the Moo Duk Kwan, so are there any weapons forms that came about in the lineage?


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## Kuk Sa Nim (Jun 9, 2009)

195 said:


> Thanks guys I appreciate the help. I'll take a look at the book, I had planned on buying it for a long time but everywhere I've gone its been pretty pricey. Specifically we belong to the Moo Duk Kwan, so are there any weapons forms that came about in the lineage?



As mentioned earlier in this thread, the main branches of the original kwans (ie: Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do, Moo Duk Kwan, etc), did not, and for the most part still do not include extensive weapon training or weapon forms. There may be basic techniques against knife and stick attacks, and so on, and I've seen some sword, staff and even nunchaku forms, but these were all new additions. Mainly coming from Japanese martial arts.

There are a few modern day Korean martial arts that do have "Korean" weapon training and traditional weapon forms. Arts such as Hwa Rang Do, Kuk Sool Won, Sip Pahl Gi, Sun Mu Do, Do Hap Sool (extensive weaponry), Hai Dong Kum Do and some Hapkido schools have some weapons too. There are other lesser known, and possibly newer Korean arts that have traditional weapon training. But you've really got to look, or be in the right place at the right time.

It certainly is nice to learn the "Korean version" of many of the classical weapons such as sword, staff, and spear, etc.

Good luck to you.
With brotherhood,
Grand Master De Alba


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## clfsean (Jun 9, 2009)

195 said:


> Thanks guys I appreciate the help. I'll take a look at the book, I had planned on buying it for a long time but everywhere I've gone its been pretty pricey. Specifically we belong to the Moo Duk Kwan, so are there any weapons forms that came about in the lineage?



Nah... definately not.


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## jim777 (Jun 12, 2009)

Does anyone know where I can get a video, or purchase a DVD of the Tang Soo Do bong staff forms 'bong hyung il bo' and 'bong hyung e bo'?

I have been looking for a while, but have only ever found VHS tape advertised that were long out of stock and never made into DVDs.

many thanks in advance


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## MBuzzy (Jun 12, 2009)

jim777 said:


> Does anyone know where I can get a video, or purchase a DVD of the Tang Soo Do bong staff forms 'bong hyung il bo' and 'bong hyung e bo'?
> 
> I have been looking for a while, but have only ever found VHS tape advertised that were long out of stock and never made into DVDs.
> 
> many thanks in advance


 
Jimi,

Without specifying the organization for which you're looking for the forms, that's going to be impossible.  Weapons are not one of the original parts of TSD, they have been added later by the separate TSD organizations and everyone uses different forms.


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## jim777 (Jun 12, 2009)

Honestly, any version of those forms would be fine. I had thought I had found them once before here, but they were for out of stock VHS tapes. 

This is not for competition, or promotion, or instruction of others but strictly for personal use as it were.


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## rmclain (Jun 12, 2009)

Changmoo-Kwan and Jido-Kwan included bong sul and hyung.  Even the founder of Jido-Kwan (Yoon Kwe-byung) wrote a book in Japan on bong sul when he ran his school called, "Hanmoo-kwan," before returning to Korea.  He made and taught his own unique bong hyung in the early years. His friend, Yoon Byung-in (Changmoo-Kwan founder), taught bong sul as well.  He created his own bong sul hyung as well.

Problem is, most 2nd generation student in these kwan gave up their lineage and followed other lines, such as KTA/WTF.  Since these students didn't preserve their lineage, TKD students nowdays, even the senior TKD Grandmasters, don't know bong sul was taught originally.

R. McLain




clfsean said:


> Taekwon-do/Tang Soo Do have no weapons in either system. Back in the 40's & 50's when everything started jelling together & the kwons formed, there were no weapons.
> 
> Hapkido uses a cane that I know of. Other schools may have added other things but the only thing I'm 100% of is the cane & from what I've seen, not everybody teaches it.
> 
> If your school is teaching So Rim (Shaolin) stick & knife, then there you have it. There's the weapons & the background to use them (hopefully). TKD/TSD are no go & HKD is not so much.


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