By 
Demonstrations of the traditional Korean martial art "Muye 24-ki" are taking place several days a week at Hwaseong Haenggung Palace in Suwon. Muye 24-ki is military art comprised of 24 skills. It was recorded in the “Muyedobotongji,” a comprehensive, illustrated manual of Korean martial arts written in 1790 and published by the Joseon army. New recruits to the military forces of the time had to pass an examination that included a test of their Muye skills.
Via Korea.net Flickr.
6:14 am on April 1st, 2011 1
Er … is that a traditional Korean sword?
7:48 am on April 1st, 2011 2
I'm pretty sure one of the things in that photo is out of place…
9:07 am on April 1st, 2011 3
Did you see "Kill Bill?" Nothing awry at all..mate.
9:08 am on April 1st, 2011 4
They actually have a copy of this (in Korean) in the University of Hawaii East Asia section (in the U section) if Kushibo is interested.
9:09 am on April 1st, 2011 5
at Hamilton Library on Manoa campus, 4th floor
9:34 am on April 1st, 2011 6
Sword looks like a Japanese Katana to me. Wikipedia agrees, and says NOTHING about Korea in it's history.
10:17 am on April 1st, 2011 7
"Sword looks like a Japanese Katana to me. Wikipedia agrees, and says NOTHING about Korea in it’s history."
Are you saying that the Korean people STOLE the idea and physical property of the sword in question?
10:48 am on April 1st, 2011 8
Regardless, the Koreans are developing a ruthless class of Warrior!
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/taekwondo-…
11:58 am on April 1st, 2011 9
It's called a waegeom – way-gawm… – Wae as in Japanese Geom as in sword. Yes, Koreans used Japanese swords after fighting with them during the Imjin wars!
12:00 pm on April 1st, 2011 10
Zilchy – this is correct. The Koreans stole this sword design directly from Japanese they fought.
12:05 pm on April 1st, 2011 11
The caption is a bit of an overstatement. Swordsmanship really wasn't all that important to Koreans in those days, despite what supposed historical dramas will have you believe. Swords were mostly used for ceremonial purposes. Koreans would concentrate their training on archery since Korea is a mountainous country (makes complete sense when you think about it).
The sword, by the way, appears to be a yukkagdo. I resembles a Japanese katana but it isn't. It's used for slicing through bamboo (the samgakdo, the thinner and sharper version of this sword, is used for slicing through bundles of reed).
PS. The fuller (the blood-groove) is what produces the whistling sound when the sword is swung.
12:18 pm on April 1st, 2011 12
Tea drinker – Here's the source document confirming it's a Japanese sword.
http://lily0.kyungpook.ac.kr/~z9703468/spk.html
12:19 pm on April 1st, 2011 13
http://lily0.kyungpook.ac.kr/~z9703468/9ki.html This is the page I'm talking about
12:36 pm on April 1st, 2011 14
Ah, yeah, got it… it is a yuk.kak.do but the design concept came from fighting the Japanese.
2:21 pm on April 1st, 2011 15
I prefer Princess Fiona when she isn't an ogre… didn't know she could fight with a sword, though.
6:00 pm on April 1st, 2011 16
#14,
Yes, most probably. But, the point I was making is that Korean swords were greatly varied in design, in part because of their ceremonial use, but also because these were built to the specifications of the owner. In other words, Korean swordsmiths excelled at creating unique and very symbolic pieces. For example, one particular design, reserved for the king, could only be forged during a two-hour window every 12 years.
6:04 pm on April 1st, 2011 17
…and still, when it came to kicking ass, the weapon of choice for Koreans were the bow and arrow.
7:01 pm on April 1st, 2011 18
"…and still, when it came to kicking ass, the weapon of choice for Koreans were the bow and arrow."
This is all fine and well, but what happened when the combat was face to face. Did the Koreans break out their hand mirrors and shiny Hanbok, hoping this would scare their enemies away?
8:01 pm on April 1st, 2011 19
I'm fairly certain she's a sword swallower.
/the only other s-word which might be applicable would be "slut".
//take the hanbok off and make me a sandwich.
9:23 pm on April 1st, 2011 20
my set of photos from the martial arts performance
http://www.flickr.com/photos/derekwin/sets/721575…
11:42 pm on April 1st, 2011 21
#18,
Sure, they had spears (I've actually found one of these in an archeological dig) and swords. But, the preferred "martial art" was archery, not swordsmanship.