The ''Sib Pal Gi Association'' (십팔기협회 ''Dae Han Sibpalki Hyeop Hwe''; also ''The Korea Sibpalki Association'') is a
Korean martial arts
Korean martial arts ( or ) are fighting practices and methods which have their place in the history of Korea but have been adapted for use by both military and non-military personnel as a method of personal growth or recreation. The history of ...
association established in 1981 under the leadership of Kim Kwang-Seok (Kim Gwang-suk 김광석; 金光錫, b. 1936, style name ''Haebeom'').
''Sib Pal Ki'' (literally "eighteen skills") is a Korean term for "martial arts", either
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
or
Korean martial arts
Korean martial arts ( or ) are fighting practices and methods which have their place in the history of Korea but have been adapted for use by both military and non-military personnel as a method of personal growth or recreation. The history of ...
(as opposed to the
Japanese martial arts
Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts.
The usage ...
introduced during the
Japanese rule in Korea
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon".
Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...
).
Kim Kwang-Seok had opened a martial arts school in 1969, having studied martial arts during the late 1950s to middle 1960s under Choi sang-chul, Korean
Kungfu
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
master.
In 1986 Korean folklorist Sim U-seong worked together with Kim Kwang-Seok to compare his style with the historical ''
Muyedobotongji
''Muyedobot'ongji'' (; ''Muye Dobo Tong Ji'') was a Korean martial arts text written by , Pak Chega, and Paek Tongsu and published in four volumes in 1795. It was commissioned in 1790 by King Jeongjo (r. 1740–1810). It expanded on the eigh ...
'' or "Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts" of 1790. In the same year, the first public performance of Sib Pal Gi took place at the Batanggol Small Theater in Seoul.
In 2001, students of Kim Kwang Seok founded the ''Sib Pal Gi Preservation Society'' (십팔기 보존회), dedicated to staging public performances and disseminating public awareness of Korean martial arts in the South Korean public.
It is not clear to which extent the ''Sib Pal Gi'' system taught by Kim Kwang-Seok corresponds to the historical 18th-century Korean systems and to which extent the system reflects more modern influence of
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
; but the emphasis of ''Sib Pal Gi'' in Korea is that of being a "native" system in the sense of avoiding the modern
Japanese martial arts
Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts.
The usage ...
which had become mainstream under the
Japanese occupation of Korea
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon".
Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...
during the first half of the 20th century.
The term ''Sip Pal Gi'' (십팔기 "Eighteen Skills") in modern
Korean martial arts
Korean martial arts ( or ) are fighting practices and methods which have their place in the history of Korea but have been adapted for use by both military and non-military personnel as a method of personal growth or recreation. The history of ...
has come to identify four separate activities.
* there are practitioners in South Korea who follow the practices of an eclectic Chinese system of armed and unarmed Martial Arts termed ''Sip Pal Gi'' owing to the number of systems, methods and practices in its curriculum. Individual schools will vary in the weapons used and the manner of practice.
*A second and more general application of the term is as a label to identify
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
generically, much like "
kung fu
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
" has become an umbrella term for them in
the West
West is a cardinal direction or compass point.
West or The West may also refer to:
Geography and locations
Global context
* The Western world
* Western culture and Western civilization in general
* The Western Bloc, countries allied with NAT ...
.
*Also, there are small groups of practitioners who use the term ''Sip Pal Gi'' historically, for the attempted reconstruction of 18th-century Korean martial arts based on the historical manuals, specifically the
Muyesinbo
The ''Muyesinbo'' (; alternatively ''Muyeshinbo'') is a Korean martial arts manual published in 1759.Ehwa University Press 2008, Sippalgi: Traditional Korean Martial Arts, Dr. B.K. Choi The book is a revision of the older ''Muyejebo'', made du ...
, much in the same way as
martial arts reconstruction in the West.
*Lastly, the style usually spelled Sipalki, of dubious relation with the Chosun period martial arts, taught by Yoo Soo Nam.
See also
*
Eighteen Arms of Wushu
The Eighteen Arms is a list of the eighteen main weapons of Chinese martial arts. The origin of the list is unclear and there have been disputes as to what the eighteen weapons actually are. However, all lists contain at least one or more of the f ...
*
Korean martial arts
Korean martial arts ( or ) are fighting practices and methods which have their place in the history of Korea but have been adapted for use by both military and non-military personnel as a method of personal growth or recreation. The history of ...
*
Korean swordsmanship
Since the 1970s, there has been a revival of traditional or reconstructed methods of swordsmanship (劍術 ''geom sul'', or 劍法 ''geom beop'') based on the Korean sword in the Republic of Korea (Korean '' Bon Kuk Geom Beop'' 본국검법 ...
References
* Kim Kwang-sŏk and Sim U-sŏng (1987), "Technical analysis of the 'Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts'" (
Muye tobo tʻongji : silgi haeje), Tongmunsŏn (東文選; Dongmunseon Books), Seoul.
*Kim Kwang-sŏk (1992), "Essentials of Fist Methods" (
Kwŏnpŏp yogyŏl 권법요결 拳法要訣), Tongmunsŏn, Seoul.
*Kim Kwang-sŏk (1995), "The National Sword: teaching Joseon-era swordsmanship" (
Ponʾguk kŏm : Chosŏn kŏmpŏp kyojŏng 本國劍 : 朝鮮劍法敎程), Tongmunsŏn.
*Kim Kwang-sŏk (2002), "Joseon-era Spear and Staff Syllabus" (Chosŏn chʻangbong kyojŏng 朝鮮槍捧教程), Tongmunsŏn munye sinsŏ
��文選 文藝新書vol. 208, Seoul, .
External links
Sib Pal Gi Association (sibpalki.or.kr)
Sib Pal Gi Preservation Society (sippalki.com)Kim Gwang-suk (Hwarang Foundation, Amsterdam)
Reseña sobre Sipalki por Andres Esquivel (ARGENTINA)
{{Korean martial arts
South Korean martial arts
Martial arts organizations