Subak
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 수박 |
| Hanja : | 手 搏 |
| Revised Romanization : | subac |
| McCune-Reischauer : | subac |
Subak was a name for a martial art in Korea . It is largely unclear what Subak once represented, since no type of fighting has been handed down under this name and no ancient sources are known in which the name appears with an associated description of a movement theory. Only the following facts are known from the sources listed below:
- Subak was, at least among other things, a competitive sport and thus similar to today's Taekkyon .
- Some kings were positive about the Subak.
According to RW Young, the first numerous brief mentions can be found in the "Koryo Sa" ( Goryeo's story ), where court functions and military training of the Subak are also described in this context. Since all texts (including the sources listed below) about Subak were written in Chinese, Subak is written there with the corresponding Chinese characters. In Chinese, these are pronounced “shǒu bó” (手 = hand, 搏 = fight). However, this does not mean that this martial art is of Chinese origin. Nothing precise is known about the origin (cf. RW Young: History and Development of Tae Kyon ).
Until the publication of the text “ Manmulbo ” (from the Joseon dynasty , probably around 1790), Subak is the only type of fighting mentioned in Korea. Perhaps the word therefore represented a kind of generic term for all forms of struggle in Korea, here we can only speculate. In the Manmulbo, the term “Tak-Kyon” (ie with “a” instead of “ae”) is found for the first time, also for the first time in Korean script ( Hangeul ).
Based on the sources, especially the statements in the Manmulbo, it is obvious that Subak developed into Taekgyeon at some point or that the term was used synonymously with Taekgyeon for a while. Koreans nowadays often use the two terms interchangeably, but this can also be related to the fact that, for lack of better knowledge, many consider both to be the same.
However, it can also be assumed that Taekgyeon and Ssireum later differentiated themselves from the Subak.
Overall, the exact original meaning of Subak and the beginnings of this martial art remain in the dark.
Hwang Kee later renamed his martial arts development Dangsudo to “Subakdo”, probably to use a genuinely Korean-sounding term. However, he never claimed that his style had anything in common with the historical Subak.
List of all known historical written sources
“You recruit men, then a Subak competition is organized. Those who defeat more than three opponents are recruited to join the military special forces. (의흥 부 에서 군사 를 뽑는데 수 박희 를 시켜 세 사람 을 이긴 사람 을 방패 군 으로 삼았다) "
“The king came to see a Subak game. (왕 이 상춘 정 에 나가 수 박희 를 구경 하였다) "
“The king himself is playing a Subak game. (왕 이 직접 수 박희 를 하였다) "
"" Byun and Subak are Byun, Kakryuk is Mu and all of these are called Takkyon [sic!] In Hangeul. "(" 卞 手 搏 爲 卞 角力 爲 武 苦 苦 今 탁견 ")"
Spellings
Sometimes the syllable “hui” (also transcribed as “hi”) is added. Hui (희 / 戱) means "game". This indicates that Subak was similar to today's Taekkyon, because Taekkyon is also understood as a game in addition to its meaning as self-defense.
The spelling in Latin is either Subakhi, Soobakhi or Soobak-hui etc. The addition of -i or -ki also occurs from time to time. Deviating from official transcription rules, one often finds an "h" after the second vowel, then e.g. B. "Soobahk" or "Subahk" etc. written.
swell
Robert W. Young: History and Development of Tae Kyon. 1993. ( Source )
literature
- Hendrik Rubbeling: Taekkyon - Like water and wind . Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2017, ISBN 978-3744896818 .