The features of Korean Martial Arts can be summed up in three
characteristcs : dynamic, beautiful and powerful. Korean
martial arts have the universial features where Japanese and Chinese martial
arts overlap. Thus you can get more easy start point to have whole oriental
martial arts when you learned Korean martial arts.
DYNAMIC : Korean martial arts are much more dynamic generally than
another martial arts. The best and easiest example may be the kicking techniques
of Taekwondo. To use kicking techniques requires much more dynamic movements
of whole body than to use punching. Simply to observe, every Korean cultures
has such a dynamicalness. The origianl Korean music has really dynamic rhythmes
so that it is even powerful just as itself. Another example of dynamicalness
is Korean style of Kendo. The Korean style of Kendo is more dynamic in that
they are more attacking and trying to make the blind point of the opponent
in the flowing motions while Japanese usually wait the occurance of the blind
point of the opponent by himself.
BEAUTIFUL : Usually, the most attractive feature of Korean martial
arts is its beautifulness. Many people likes Taekwondo mainly because it is
the most beautiful martial arts in the world.
POWERFUL : That Taekwondo is the most dynamic martial art is the logical
ground of its powerfulness because the power comes from the movement of a
thing. Stability may be a source of ability to catch chance but not that of
power itself. Every one can understand with ease that a kick is usually more
powerful than a punch because it needs bigger movement. A calm motion can
make big power at the high level, but it cannot be obtained without dynamic
practices. No calm powerful skill can be obtained until
There is Sing-i party in Chinese martial arts, who emphasizes
the skills of crash and never teach outcomers them. But to Koreans it had
been universalized to crach in martial skills earlier than Chinese. Thus we
guess the Sing-i party of Chinese martial arts might have been generated from
the general crash skills of Korean worriers. A visable proof may be worth
being considered that the local areas of origin of Chinese martial arts and
that of excavations of Madoline bronze swords, which are unique to old Koreans,
are almost same. I don't mean that Chinese martial arts are only a branch
of Korean, which is really absurd. But I mean that it is rational to suppose
that Chinese martial arts has been much influenced by Korean martial arts
at least in its beginning period.
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