these three kingdoms. Silla, despite being the smallest of the three, was
eventually able to unify the entire peninsula by 800. Tradition attributes
part of the success of the Silla kingdom to the practice of martial arts by a
specific branch of the military known as the hwarang,which can be defined
as the “flowering of manhood.” Hwarang soldiers were expected to be
proficient in all areas of the martial arts, both armed and unarmed, as well
as to demonstrate loyalty to the ruler and uphold the Confucian values of
a civilized society. Tradition has compared the hwarang to the samurai of
Japan and the knight from the medieval period of Western European his-
tory, both of whom were expected to follow warrior codes of behavior. The
collective martial arts of the hwarang were known as hwarang-dô (the way
of the flowering of manhood).
The country fell into disunity again in 900, but was later unified under
the Koryo dynasty and became known as Koryo by the beginning of the mil-
lennium. From the time of the unification of the nation until about 1400,
the Korean martial arts entered into a period of expansion, experimenta-
tion, and development. Oral tradition maintains that hwarang-dô continued
to be practiced and expanded by the hwarang warriors. The martial arts of
t’aek’kyo ̆ n, primarily a kick-oriented martial art, and subak,a fist-oriented
Taekwondo 609Side kick delivered by Miss Kim, ca. 1950. (Courtesy of Joe Svinth)