If you haven't already read my previous posts on the Yedo 24 Se you might want to check them out. I have written about the history of the Yedo system (click here to read more) and I have also provided the historical illustrations and translations of the different forms (click here to read the post). I have since writing that studied more, and I am now very happy to have a rudimentary knowledge of all 24 forms. That means that I can continue this series for a very long while. Again, if you as a reader feel that this blog is starting to contain too much swordstuffythingy please let me know. If enough people say that, I will start a new blog focusing on that aspect. For now suffice to say, kyeongdang is a huge part of "my" taekwondo, but I do understand that might not apply to many.
Tuesday 26 March 2024
Kyeongdang Yedo 24 Se part 1; Lifting the cauldron
If you haven't already read my previous posts on the Yedo 24 Se you might want to check them out. I have written about the history of the Yedo system (click here to read more) and I have also provided the historical illustrations and translations of the different forms (click here to read the post). I have since writing that studied more, and I am now very happy to have a rudimentary knowledge of all 24 forms. That means that I can continue this series for a very long while. Again, if you as a reader feel that this blog is starting to contain too much swordstuffythingy please let me know. If enough people say that, I will start a new blog focusing on that aspect. For now suffice to say, kyeongdang is a huge part of "my" taekwondo, but I do understand that might not apply to many.
Wednesday 5 October 2022
Geom or Do? How language changes in martial arts
Hi there :-) I have been going full Muyedobotongji rabbit hole these last few months :-P I have posted a lot of stuff on facebook, and one of the things I wrote was that the Sang H. Kim's translation of the Muyedobotongji is a wonderful resource, but it does contain flaws and errors, and the biggest "flaw" for me was that he did not include any Hanja or Hangul for any of the Korean terms. This means that you get quite a few paragraphs containing interesting and vital information that comes out as pure guibberish. The section that annoyed me at that time of writing was in the Yedo chapter where he translates:
"There are four strategic fighting methods in Chosun; ahnbub, kyukbub, sebup and jabup."
Now reading this you get four strategic fighting methods and four words that you have no idea what it is supposed to be. Had he included the hanja and or hangul you might be able to use this to research into the matter and come up with something, but since there are only latin alphabet and he does not transcribe into it following a strict transcription system you really can just guess at that he means. Even if you speak Korean this makes the job impossible and it would really be so much better if he or the publisher could just include the terms in the Hanja at least. Hanja is traditional characters of Chinese origin by the way.
Tuesday 13 September 2022
Product review on Training Katana (Iaito) from Ryan Swords
You can click the link below if you want to go directly to YouTube :-)
Product review on a training sword from Ryan Swords. Unsharpened Katana (Iaito), Ryan-1316. Short answer: I’m very pleased with it 🙂 You want the long answer? Go check out the video and I’ll give you an 11 minute rant 😂
Thursday 1 September 2022
Solo Sword Training [Yedo24Se]
Filmed myself so I could get feedback from my teacher :-) It was a lovely evening with very nice weather :-) In my last two posts I’ve written about Yedo 24 Se it’s history and a list on the different postures (we train each posture as a mini form). It’s still a work in progress and there’s a ton of things that needs improving but I thought you guys and gals might want to see the forms in real life and not just old illustrations :-) I do each one 4 times slow for technique and then 4 times with “intent”. It’s not all 24 here but rather 15 (or 14 as I managed to skip one)
Wednesday 24 August 2022
Yedo Ishipsa Se (List, illustrations, hangul)
Open Wing Posture |
In my last post on Yedo Ishipsa Se (Yedo 24 postures) I shared the historical background, the sources we know of, the introduction into Korean Military Manuals and an overview of the system itself. What I failed to include was a list over the postures. I want to make clear that in the system I practice we regard each "Se" which is often translated as posture as a mini form consisting of 3-8 moves. For instance in the first posture: Keo Jeong Se (Kettle lifting posture) we don't just asume a pose, we move into a starting pose, do a diagonal cut from that pose, into a horizontal cut before ending with a centerline downward cut. 3 techniques for that first "posture". This applies to each and every "posture" in the Ishipsa ban Muye Kyeongdang (which is where I get all my weapon training and muyedobotongji stuff from. As always: I remind everyone I am a yellow belt :-P You should probably keep that in mind :-)
Sunday 14 August 2022
Yedo24se (short sword 24 forms) history and background
This time I would like to write a little bit about Yedo Ishipsa Se (Yedo = Short sword, Ishipsa =24 and Se = posture loosely translated). This is a system consisting of 24 illustrations that first appears in print in 1621 in Wu Bei Zhi or as the Korean calls it the Mubiji. The book is an incredible big publication, and it is said to be the biggest Chinese military writing of all time. In it the author Mao Yan-yi (or Mo Won-ui in Korean) includes an art he labels Choson Sebup (Korean Sword Technique).