erences to it in literature and art of the Yi dynasty and the memories of
those who learned and practiced t’aek’kyo ̆ n in the first decade of the twen-
tieth century, before the Japanese colonization of Korea. There are only two
written sources that convey the specifics of t’aek’kyo ̆ n before the twentieth
century. One source is Korean Games,by the American anthropologist Stu-
art Culin, published in 1895. The other is Haedong Chukchi,or East Sea
Annals,a work of history by Choi Yo ̆ ng-nyo ̆ n, published in 1921. There is
also a painting by Yu Suk, completed in 1846, called Tae K’wae To(Scene
of Great Cheer), which appears to be showing a t’aek’kyo ̆ n match.
Based on conclusions drawn from the extant material, t’aek’kyo ̆ n was
an activity of the common people. Also, it was practiced primarily as a
game or sport, although it did have combat applications. The poem in the
Haedong Chukchiconveys a clear sense of admiration for the skills in-
volved and implies that those skills were not minor. Probably because it
was associated with entertainment in a broadly social context, a notion
arose that Tak’kyon promoted, or at least coexisted with, vice, disorder,
and dissipation, which led to its formal prohibition. That this prohibition
was not, and probably could not have been, complete accounts for the sur-
vival of t’aek’kyo ̆ n to modern times.
Living knowledge of t’aek’kyo ̆ n comes almost exclusively from one
man, Song To ̆ k-ki. Song was born in Seoul in 1893. He began learning
t’aek’kyo ̆ n around 1905, at the direction of his father. According to Song
To ̆ k-ki, t’aek’kyo ̆ n was practiced almost exclusively by the common peo-
ple: shopkeepers, farmers, peasants, and gangsters. Its practice was re-
stricted to the area of Seoul.
T’aek’kyo ̆ n at that time was practiced in two general ways: as a game
and as a form of combat. In its play form, it could resemble a sport, with
teams, rules, and an organized procedure, or it could develop as a simple
match between two people. It was most common on the occasion of large
social occasions. Along with ssiru ̆m,t’aek’kyo ̆ n was an important part of
seasonal festivals in Seoul. T’aek’kyo ̆ n also could be employed as a fighting
system. As such, it existed primarily among gangsters, or their precursors.
Song had experience in both types of t’aek’kyo ̆n.
There was no conventional training system for t’aek’kyo ̆ n. It had no
formal ranking structure, and there were no prearranged patterns to aid in
learning or personal practice. Given its status as a social, public activity,
people were probably able to learn t’aek’kyo ̆ n piecemeal, at random times
and places with different teachers. One who wished to learn might imitate
those he saw practicing and eventually participate in games, without ever
having had any formal instruction. According to Song To ̆ k-ki, however, se-
rious students learned t’aek’kyo ̆ n in organized groups under specific teach-
ers, as in his experience. Most importantly, t’aek’kyo ̆ n itself clearly had a604 T’aek’kyo ̆n