Shippalgi

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Shippalgi
Hangul 십팔기
Hanja 十八技
Revised Romanization Sib Pal Gi
McCune-Reischauer Sib Pal Ki

Shippalgi or Sibpalgi or Sipalki or Sippalki is a name for a group of independent Korean martial arts. The name is sometimes used to refer to the study of Chinese martial arts introduced to Korea, but it's also a proper noun. Sippalki, Korean traditional martial arts, means eighteen techniques. These techniques are classified into three categories: thrust, slice, and strike. Particularly the 9 techniques in the slice category reflect the importance of slice skills like swordmanship. The formation of Sippalki reflects the situation of the era when firearms were substituting cold weapons. In a short range combat swords were becoming increasingly more important. The name Sibpalki comes from the Muyedobotongji a 17th century Korean martial arts manual.

Sippalki was the official martial arts of pre modern Korea. All military camps put emphasis on it which evidence is found in many historical records.

Contents

[edit] Martial arts manuals

One style that uses the name Sib Pal Ki, and probably the most famous, is said to have its roots in the Muyesinbo, a Korean martial arts manual published in 1759. This book was based on an older manual, Muyejebo (1590s). Both formed the basis for the better known Muyedobotongji.

The modern version of SibPalGi was revitalized by Kim Kwang Suk (김광석, 1936). During the Japanese occupation of Korea, Kim spent his youth in a small Daoist community in the Korean mountains where he received his training in traditional Korean martial arts. This happened in secret, because the Japanese had outlawed the study of Korean martial arts. He also studied Eastern medicine and breathing exercises.

Between 1987 and 2002 Kim published four books about Korean martial arts.

In the Mu Ye Shin Bo 18 methods of fighting are described, 17 of which involve the use of arms while the other method is that of unarmed combat. The name sib pal gi means eighteen methodes, thus referring to the methods described in the Mu Ye Shin Bo.

[edit] Argentina

Soo Nam Yoo (유수남) has introduced his style called Ion Bi Ryu (the "school of swallow's secrets") to the West beginning in 1970 when he migrated to Argentina, this style has 18 methods but only 15 with weapons and the other three unarmed. The unarmed methods of are: personal defense (Ho Sin Sul), combat one to one or one against more than one opponent (Kwon Bop) and Meditation (Sim Bop. The style name is very similar to the school of Hapkido Ion Bi Kwan.

Soo Nam Yoo also calls his style sibpalki but his system has no proven connection to the material from the Muyedobotongji.


[edit] Chinese Martial Arts as practiced in Korea

Sip Pal Gi was also a general term used for Chinese martial arts ("CMA") in certain areas of Korea with large Chinese populations, such as Incheon and Seoul in the 1950's through the 1970's. A number of CMA instructors left China (mostly from Shangdong province) settled in Korea in the first half of the 20th century and taught their arts to the local populace. These teachers included specialists in Meihua Tanglang Quan ("Plum Flower Mantis Fist" - Lin Pin Zhang), Long Fist (most likely a syncretic system of styles from Shandong province - Lee De Jiang), and Baguazhang ("Eight Trigrams Palm" - Lu Shui Tian). As was common in very traditional CMA schools at the time, some of these teachers actively "traded" students, encouraging an inclusive and synergistic worldview of CMA. A number of these students would emigrate to the United States in the 1970's and 1980's (e.g., Yong Moon and Byong Yil Choi in Los Angeles, CA; Chun Dae Soung in Marerro, LA; Maing Yul Jung in Houston, TX; and Park Bok Nam in Richmond, VA).

Several US military personnel learned Sip Pal Gi while stationed in Korea during this era. Some of these soldiers opened up their own schools upon returning home or encouraged their teachers to emigrate to the US. This phenomenon is similar to the presence of US schools affiliated or descended from Taiwan's Tang Shou Tao schools of CMA, which openly trained US soldiers.

One should note that like "kung fu," "Sip Pal Gi" when used in this context only means "Chinese Martial Arts." There is no style, curriculum, or lineage that can be said as "definitive" in Sip Pal Gi - the term is only a catch-all to denote CMA as taught in Korea.

However, because of the collaborative nature of Sip Pal Gi instructors of that first generation, there are a number of forms and exercises that are commonly taught across almost all Sip Pal Gi (and related arts) schools:

  • Xiao Hu Yuen Quan ("Small Tiger Swallow Fist" from Tanglang Quan)
  • Tan Tui ("Spring Legs," a version of Long Fist short routines that are similar but unrelated to the Muslim Cha Quan sets of the same name)
  • O Ken Yan Do ("Five Harmonies Broadsword," said to be related to the "Yan Qing Dao" taught in many CMA systems)
  • Zhai Yao Tanglang ("Summary Mantis" seen across many Mantis systems, the Sip Pal Gi version seemingly from Taiji Tanglang Quan)
  • Fan Zhang ("Turning Palms" from Baguazhang)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links