The earliest archaeological evidence of Korean martial arts practices can be seen in a tomb in northeast China, an area under the Koguryo Kingdom (37 b.c.-a.d. 668), but colonized and under Chinese military control between 108 b.c. and a.d. 313. The wall murals at this site include one scene that depicts wrestling (juedi in Chinese and kakjo in Korean), and another with two men rushing at each other, which has been interpreted by some as depicting boxing (shoubo in Chinese and subak in Korean). Whether or not the latter scene actually depicts boxing as opposed to wrestling remains a matter of conjecture. In any case, the Chinese and other peoples bordering China all appear to have practiced wrestling.
The Former Han History (completed in a.d. 83), covering the period 206 b.c.-a.d. 24, reveals that, during this time, Chinese martial arts had already developed to a relatively high degree of sophistication, with a clear distinction made between wrestling and boxing practices. Although there are no adequate Korean references to the martial arts prior to the Koryo History (completed in 1451, and covering the period 918-1392), its citations provide evidence that the Koreans maintained a strict distinction between wrestling and boxing in the military, similar to the Chinese pattern, which they may have emulated as far back as the Koguryo period. This practice was continued at least into the fifteenth century, as confirmed in the Veritable Records of the Yi Dynasty.
During the end of the eighteenth century, King Jongjo displayed an interest in military affairs and commissioned a topic on martial skills, which was completed by Yi Dok-Mu in 1790 under the title topic of Illustrated Martial Arts Manuals. Yi Dok-Mu’s topic offers a fairly comprehensive view of traditional Korean and Chinese martial arts practices up to that time. It draws on research from numerous Chinese sources, including Ming general Qi Jiguang’s (1528-1587) New topic of Effective Discipline (ca. 1561), together with contemporary Korean practices, and includes illustrated routines, on foot and from horseback, for broadsword (a cross between cutlass and saber), flail, and a variety of poled weapons such as spear, trident, crescent halberd, and others. The chapter on boxing (quanfa in Chinese, kwonbop in Korean, kenpo in Japanese) is taken primarily from General Qi Jiguang’s manual. Some Korean sources refer to this chapter as illustrating subak practice. It is possible that a combination of Chinese boxing and seizing techniques similar to those shown in Qi’s manual influenced t’aek’kyonn, a nineteenth-century Korean sport described as employing “flying foot” and grappling techniques.
Although the references to traditional Korean martial arts are scattered and there are large gaps in information for some periods, it is still possible to piece together a broad outline, which generally reflects Chinese influence. The Koreans appear to have modeled their military martial arts system on that prevailing as early as the Chinese Han period (206 b.c.-a.d. 220) and to have retained the term subak, originally associated with that period, through the fifteenth century, long after the Chinese terminology had changed. The term for wrestling changed from kakjo to kakryuk (jueli in Chinese and ssiritm in colloquial Korean) during the Yi period.
Modern Korean taekwondo appears to be based mainly on Japanese karate, which was, itself, based primarily on Chinese boxing modified in Okinawa and introduced to the Japanese martial arts community in the 1920s.
