Ancient Koreans were recorded to have engaged in numerous traditional sports games, such as kite flying, tug-of-war, geune, jegichagi, neolttwigi as well as taekwondo and ssireum. Kite flying is one of the most popular winter season sports when strong winds are prevalent. Traditionally, New Year's Day was set aside for flying kites of various shapes and colors.
Korean tug-of-war involves a large group of villagers participating in the contest, divided into two teams. Team members at both ends of a long thick rope, which was made of rice straw, pull on the rope, believing that the winning side would enjoy a good harvest that year.
Geune was popular among women, and is still being done mainly on Dano in May
or June of each year. There are various styles of competition, including single-swinging
and duo-swinging on two strands of rope suspended from high above.
Jegichagi, a game for boys, was normally played during the winter season. A
shuttlecock was made of old coins with a hole in the center, which were wrapped
with paper or cloth, through which feathers were inserted and fanned out into
a circle. The shuttlecock is kicked with one foot or both feet into the air,
and the person who kicks it the most number of times without it touching the
ground wins the game.
Neolttwigi resembles the Western game of seesaw. It involves a long board called
neol, a full bag of rice or rice and straw mixture, is placed under the center
of the board. Two girls in colorful traditional costumes stand on each end of
the plank and bounce each other into the air alternately.
Among all other traditional sports that have been revived in modern times, the
martial art of Taekwon-do is the best known internationally and the only officially
acknowledged international sport to originate in Korea, which is practiced worldwide.
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| Taekwondo, a Korean art of self-defense, draws worldwide fans. | Ssireum, Korean traditional wrestling, is a popular sports event. |
Taekwondo uses the entire body, particularly the hands and feet. It not only
strengthens one's physical well-being, but also cultivates character via physical
and mental training, coupled with techniques for discipline. This self-defense
martial art has become a popular international sport in the last quarter century,
with some 3,000 Korean instructors now teaching Taekwondo in more than 150 countries.
Evidence of Taekwondo's existence as a systematic defense method using the body's
instinctive reflexes can be traced back to ceremonial games that were performed
during religious events in the era of the ancient tribal states.
During religious ceremonies such as Yeonggo, Dongmaeng (a sort of Thanksgiving
ceremony), or Mucheon (Dance to Heaven), ancient Koreans performed a unique
exercise for physical training and this exercise led to the development of Taekwondo.
In Korea, the Taekwondo Association has a membership of about 3.8 million, constituting the largest affiliate of the Korea Sports Council. The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), with its headquarters in Seoul, was officially approved as the governing body of the sport by the International Olympic Committee in 1980. Taekwondo was a demonstration sport in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, reflecting its worldwide popularity.
It became an official Olympic medal event beginning in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Ssireum, a Korean traditional form of wrestling, is a type of folk competition in which two players, holding on to a satba (a cloth-sash tied around the waist and thigh), use their strength and various techniques to wrestle each other to the ground. The history of ssireum began at the same time that communities began to form. In primitive societies, people inevitably had to fight against wild beasts, not only for self-defense, but also for securing food. In addition, it was impossible for these communities to avoid getting into conflicts with other tribes. As a result, people ended up practicing different forms of martial arts to protect themselves.
The ultimate winner of a ssireum tournament was customarily awarded a bull, which was not only a symbol of strength, but also a valuable asset in an agricultural society.
In Korea today, ssireum has emerged as a sport with a large following, rather than a mere traditional folk competition conducted only on holidays. The Korean Ssireum Association has succeeded in generating a nationwide boom in this traditional sport by sponsoring highly competitive matches. Its popularity, as one of the favorite spectator sports in the nation, is such that matches are regularly broadcast on TV so that people can enjoy matches from their homes. With the development of consistent rules and guidelines, ssireum has continued to progress from a traditional sport and self-defense method into a well-loved folk competition
and popular modern sport that is a part of the lives of Koreans today.
