by Hyung Min Jung Black Belt Magazine - September, 2000
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BLACK BELT: What made up the training of a Hwarang warrior?
LEE: Hwarang training was geared toward developing a human being who used his maximum potential. You've heard of potential and kinetic energy, right? Potential energy is like having a rock on a high cliff. It's useless until someone or something pushes it off the cliff. When it's falling, the rock has kinetic energy, or energy of movement. It can crush anything below it.
Human beings are the same. Most people have a lot of potential. They have the ability to achieve great things, but unless an event or force pushes them in a particular direction, that ability might never be used. Look at all the obese kids in America who would rather sit around playing video games [than] do some sort of exercise. They might have the potential to be great athletes, but they're not using their potential. Nobody's guiding them in the right direction.
Hwarang training provided a direction for people. The noble youth trained under masters who taught them a vast curriculum. Imagine knowing someone who in today's terms could do the work of a doctor, poet, musician, assassin, general, historian, priest and statesmen all rolled into one. That's basically what the Hwarang were trained for. They spent countless hours developing fighting skills, which involved every aspect of combat. This included kicking, punching, joint manipulation, throwing, grappling, internal-energy training, pressure-point attacks, acrobatics, breakfalling, horsemanship and 108 weapons.
BLACK BELT: Did they learn anything else?
LEE: They were also well-versed in traditional medicine, which involved treatment of the gamut of injuries they might cause or sustain in combat or training. This part of their training included bonesetting, acupressure, acupuncture, herbal remedies and ki (internal energy) healing. Their meditative practices gave them mental powers that would be considered incredible by today's standards. They could withstand extreme pain and perform feats of mind-over-matter. They were distinguished outside the martial arts as well, developing a style of poetry know as hyang ga. They were the original Renaissance men.
BLACK BELT: What happened to the Hwarang after the fall of the Silla dynasty?
LEE: A Hwarang general named Wanggum assumed control of the country and renamed it Koryo. It lasted from 936 to 1392. The Hwarang institution continued but under different titles such as kuk so do and pung wol do. These titles carried the suffix "do," which means "disciple." The Korean language has many homophones - words that sound the same [but have] different meanings. This suffix does not mean the same thing as the "do" suffix of taekwondo, hapkido or karate-do. The "do" at the end of those names means "way."
BLACK BELT: Getting back to history....
LEE: In 1392, another Hwarang general, Yi Sung-gye, overthrew Koryo and established the Chosun kingdom, which is also known as the Yi (or Lee) dynasty. It lasted until 1910. It was during the Yi dynasty that the martial arts began their decline in popularity in Korea. Because King Taejong felt that the Hwarang bands were a potential menace to his supremacy and because he knew that Hwarang-trained generals overthrew two preceding kings, he declared that all Hwarang bands must fall under the direct control of the central government, stripping the local warlords of independent control. He then established Confucianism as the state religion.
BLACK BELT: What does the switch to Confucianism have to do with the growth of the martial arts?
LEE: This is important for all students of traditional Asian martial arts to understand. Buddhist monks were responsible for a lot of the development of the arts in East Asia. Just look at the Shaolin Temple in China. Taoists have their own self defense methods as well. Confucianism also had a lot to do with the success of the Hwarang institution, but on a moral level.
If you look at Won Kwang Beopsa's Five Codes, you'll notice that some of the rules of conduct have a decidedly Confucian message of filial piety, loyalty to the king and honor between friends. The last code is the only one with a decidedly Buddhist injunction, against indiscriminate killing. The fourth code, which allowed no retreat in battle, imbued the Hwarang and their disciples with amazing courage and strength. However, orthodox Confucianism places a huge importance on academic learning and views the military with great disdain. In fact, Confucianism traditionally ranks people in society by four levels. In descending order of importance, they are scholars, peasants, artisans and merchants. Soldiers are not even considered part of society. So you can say that Confucianism really had a lot to with the decline of the martial arts when it became a state doctrine.
BLACK BELT: What happened to those Hwarang who wouldn't follow King Taejong's decree?
LEE: This is when many of the Hwarang fled into the mountains and remote places of Korea. They lived their lives like wandering hermits, devoting themselves to spiritual study, passing on their vast knowledge of religion, combat skills and healing techniques to only a select few disciples instead of the huge bands that they did before. King Taejong's edict requiring all Hwarang generals to place their soldiers under the direct control of the king meant that the soldier-disciples were no longer ultimately loyal to the Hwarang master who trained and led them, but to the king. This created deep disgust in the heart of many Hwarang generals, causing them to leave society permanently.
The Confucian-based government still maintained a combat-skills tradition to protect the country. It even complied the textbook called Mu Yea Do Tong Ji. However, the Hwarang combat skills continued to be passed on only in secret from master to disciple. As a result, the vast body of knowledge that the Hwarang had developed began slowly dying out. These masters would occasionally accept disciples, but whenever a master did not find a student who was worthy of receiving the Hwarang legacy, he simply kept his skills to himself. In many instances, they took their wisdom to the grave. A great deal of traditional Hwarang combat skill began to vanish. This signaled the beginning of the end of Korea's golden age.
About the interviewer: Hyung Min Jung is a Sino-Korean martial arts researcher based in Los Angeles. He can be contacted at hyungmjung@aol.com.