Song Deok-gi (); (19 January 1893 – 23 July 1987) was a martial artist from Korea. One of the last practitioners of the ancient martial art of Taekkyon, he helped convey the art during 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 ...

(1910–1945) and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

(1950–1953). Based on his efforts, the South Korean government acknowledged Taekkyon as the 76th

Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Korea National Intangible Cultural Heritage () is a national-level designation within the Heritage preservation in South Korea, heritage preservation system of South Korea for intangible cultural heritage. This and other national-level designations are ...

and recognized him as a Human Cultural Asset ( Ingan-munhwage). He used Hyeonam () as a pen name.

Biography

Song Deok-Gi was born in 1893 in Sajik-dong, Seoul, in a family of Taekkyon practitioners. He was introduced by his father to renowned Taekkyon Master Im Ho () when he was 12 years old and began training under his tutelage for about 10 years. At that time, Taekkyon was practised as a martial art and a folk game by people in the vicinity of Seoul. Song learnt in a glade located on the flanks of the

Inwangsan Inwangsan () is a mountain in central Seoul, South Korea. It is in parts of Jongno District and Seodaemun District and has a height of . The name literally means "compassionate/benevolent king" in Korean. The mountain covers an area of 1,086,69 ...

mountain near the Archery center called Hwanghakjeong (). At the time, the High-village or Widaepae () designated those who lived inside of Seoul town walls and Araedaepae or Low-village (), those who lived outside . Song Deok-Gi was from the Widaepae so he competed a lot with Araedaepae. Both village had their own style and techniques. After the Japanese annexion of Korea, indigenous martial arts became prohibited under Japanese cultural assimilation policies. Nevertheless, Song kept practising his Taekkyon skills in secret and never stopped training. He also practised Korean archery (

Gungdo The Korean Bow ( hanja: , or ''horn bow'') is a water buffalo horn-based composite reflex bow, standardized centuries ago from a variety of similar weapons in earlier use. Due to its long use by Koreans, it is also known as Guk Gung ( hanja: , or ...

) and became the first official referee of the sport. In 1958, he showed a demonstration of

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 ...

in front of the president

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965), also known by his art name Unam (), was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisiona ...

for his birthday with Kim Sung-hwan (1904?–1958), another pupil of Im Ho. This event sparked the renaissance of Taekkyon and introduced the art to a new public.

Career

Song worked as a physical instructor for the Korean Army and the Royal guard before its dissolution by the Japanese. Later on, he became a professional soccer player and even won the Cup of Joseon in 1922. After the

, he was virtually the only practitioner able to teach Taekkyon left. In the following decades, he passed on his knowledge to a new generation of masters, thus laying the seeds for the art's regeneration. Until his passing, he was known as "The Last Taekkyon Master of

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

". The first of June 1983, Song became a

national treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

as Taekkyon was designated as the 76th

by the

Cultural Heritage Administration The Korea Heritage Service (), formerly the Cultural Heritage Administration and Cultural Properties Administration, is the agency of the South Korean government charged with preserving and promoting Korean cultural heritage. It is headquartere ...

. To this day, it remains one of only two martial arts which possesses such a classification (the other being

Ssireum ''Ssireum'' (; ) or Korean wrestling is a folk wrestling style and traditional national sport of Korea that began in the fourth century. In the modern form each contestant wears a belt (satba) that wraps around the waist and the thigh. The co ...

). This recognition attracted many more students and helped secure the transmission of the art. Most leaders of the current Taekkyon Associations started their formation during that time. Song established the Widae Taekkyon Preservation Society with his student Lee Jun-Seo the same year. He died aged 94 in 1987.

Honors

* Skill Holder of Intangible Cultural Asset No. 76 Taekkyon. * Living National Treasure No. 283. Relinquished after his death.

Biography

Career

Honors

See also

References

Further reading