home

__Hwarang Weapons Techiniques:__

__Sword:__ One of the main weapons of war used by the Hwarang was the sword. Though the use of swords was already ancient when the Hwarang was developed, they created a highly effective fighting system out of previous techniques and even added a few new ideas. One such specialization was an upside down or reverse grip on the sword hilt. This technique allowed for much more effective defensive techniques at the exspense of reach and versatility on the offense. The traditions of the Hwarang sword forms are still kept alive in such Korean martial arts as Kuk Sool Won. K[|uk Sool sword form]

This is a video of the Kuk Sool Won straight sword form being preformed by master Alex Suh.

[|hwarang training]

This video shows some of the traditional Korean training techniques and also explains the use of a reverse hand grip and its connection to the Hwarang.

[|korean tournament reverse sword]

This video shows Kuk Sool Won masters at a Korean tournament preforming the modern reverse hand sword form.

__Short Stick:__ Another traditional Korean weapon is the short stick or dan bong. This weapon was used especially by Buddhist monks in times of peace because it was non-lethal but extremly effective as a defensive weapon. The stick itself is slightly longer than the users forearm and was developed out of the flutes that many Buddhist monks carried with them. When the Hwarang was not in a state of war they followed Buddhist law. One law in particular outlaws taking a life without extreme need. During times of peace it is quite possible members of the Hwarang, therefore, trained in the use of dan bong.







As these photos show, the dan bong can be used in two main ways, offensively and defensively. The offensive grip is the default grip for the dan bong and is used more frequently. This grip can still be used for defensive motions, but it lends itself to striking. In Hyuk Suh describes the strikes of dan bong as "penetrating force, directed at small pressure point targets" (staff techniques 13). The next video shows a dan bong being used. The same pattern is repeated twice, the first time slowly and the second time faster.

media type="file" key="Movie 67.mov" width="300" height="300"