Ok. Here we go again. (Thanks once more, Miguksaram, for insight into the history of TKD)
First off, we know that everyone has been telling us Tae Kwon Do/Taekwondo/whateverthehellspellingyouwant is comprised of Subahk (or soobakdo) and Taekyon. Subahk, which is claimed to have come first, emphasized the use of the hands and head more than the feet. Taekkyon, which appears to have come later, emphasized to a greater extent the use of the feet.
NOW, there is no hard core evidence about the existence of Subahk as an original Korean martial art.
Rebuttal: There are cave drawings depicting people in a Subahk stance.
Fact: There has been no known official interpretation of those drawings. There have only been theories laid down by those who wish to see what they want, still no proof. The archieologists that discovered the paintings did not specify what was depicted. However, the 10th degree grand masters that everyone seems to love jumped up and claimed them as Subahk stances. Pretty convient.
Fact: Taekkyon did indeed exist prior to the Silla dynasty, but by the time TKD was around, very little was known and what remained was merely a folk game more than a martial art. Sort of like what Capeoria is today (but different). Here is what Taekkyon looks like TODAY.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3nmjKvOADohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3UWA-yRYn4The first clip has Chris Crudeli in it, so you're not required to listen to his nutcrunching. Just look at the Taekkyon demos. The second is a TKD practioner going up against a Taekkyon practioner. The one in red pants is the Taekkyon guy. And it looks pretty staged to me.
Fact: The only thing TKD has taken from Taekkyon is part of it's name. The original kwans that made up TKD drew from Shotokan karate. The only exceptions was Jidokwan which drew most of it's techniques from Shudokan karate, and Moodukkwan which had influence from Chuan'fa (Kempo), but still draws majority from Shotokan. Taekkyon was only "rediscovered" after the Korean war. So all these Grandmasters who keep claiming to have studied it, don't have proof of these lessons.
*SIDENOTE* The Taekkyon organization of Korea say that TKD and Taekkyon are 2 totally different systems with nothing in common.
Fact: Let's look at the imigration of the mongolian tribes, which Koreans are derived from. The tribes migrated from Nothern China into Korea, bringing with them their culture as well as their fighting methods. The only surviving manual of any ancient Korean fighting methods is the Mooyedobotongji. This is the only documented book that depicts what the military used, which, was in fact developed by Chinese Generals. So in essence, Subahk, if it exisited and Taekkyon are derived from Chinese military fighting systems.
Rebuttal: There were tribal arts that were practiced before Chinese military were teaching Korean military.
We are talking about an actual combative system where people are trained in certian skills in a systematic way in which to fight. We aren't talking about a bunch of nomadic people, who picked up a spear and started chucking at other people for defense. Subahk would be a system of fighting, which again leads to the fact that it would something derived from Chinese based miltary systems. If there are tribal systems of fighting where are the documents of proof?
Rebuttal: The Japanese occupation burned all the Korean literature and wiped out their identities.
The Japanese occupied the majority of the major cities of Korea and attempted to wipe out Korean culture in its entirety. However, the Japanese did not occupy small farm towns or mountain villages. Many of these people never had to deal with the Japanese at all. Their books were not burned and their identities were not wiped out. For the most part these were the "keepers" if you will of the Korean culture. But through all of this, none of them had any documents or manuals on any systematic Korean martial art such as Subahk or Taekkyon or Kuk sul or Hwarangdo, etc.
*SIDENOTE* Hwarangdo was more of a boyscout thing for the royal youth to learn Swordsmanship, Calligraphy ect. Not to mention that Homosexuality was prevalient inside of it. I mean, the name alone gives off gaywaves...Flowering Manhood? Brokeback please.
