Monday, January 12, 2009

The Art of Taekkyon

First off, I snuck in a little time to write up a quick entry into Jason's awesome Clarity of Night competition. Mine is number 59. I shouldn't have because I am so behind on my revisions, but perhaps because I've been struggling, it was good to write something else for a change. So if you have a moment, please click over and let me know what you think!

On a different note, I want to introduce you all to something that most of you probably have never heard of. Taekkyon is an ancient martial art of Korea which is considered by many to be the predecessor of the modern Tae Kwon Do martial art. The history of Taekkyon is fascinating. It nearly died completely out during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The story goes that a crazed sword wielding Japanese soldier was killed by an unarmed Korean man using only taekkyon. The Japanese immediately outlawed the practice, stating that it was too deadly, and killing anyone associated with or continuing the teaching of taekkyon. After many years, the art was nearly forgotten until not that long ago, when an 80 year old man was seen practicing the movements and an ancient art was reborn.

Taekkyon is a major part of my Seven Kingdoms novel and now that my novel has a female protagonist, I get to show you what I envision she would look like. Here is a famous Korean taekkyon martial artist showing you the both the power and the beauty of this ancient art.

22 comments:

Kimbra Kasch said...

Oh I love strong female protagonists. This reminds me of the kickboxing classes I took - only with ballet mixed in. Very graceful.

Rena Jones said...

Wow! If I could get my leg that high up, I know I'd never get it down again. Interesting clip!

C.R. Evers said...

oh wow! that's impressive! The movements are so powerful and beautiful all at the same time!

Great clip! And I already love your protagonist!

Christy

Cheryl Kauffman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cheryl Kauffman said...

My daughter has been taking Tae Kwon Do for several years now. Taekkyon is much more graceful. I can't wait to read your book!

Charles Gramlich said...

I just didn't have time to put anything into Jason's contest this time. I'd like to but too much other stuff.

Interesting about that historical martial art. I'm not sure I've ever heard of it.

LarramieG said...

Beautiful yet deadly, huh? More girl power!

Christina Farley said...

Taekwon rocks! Of course, I've written my whole book on it. :)

Loved the clip by the way.

pacatrue said...

I'll buy whatever she's selling.

Stacy Nyikos said...

I love finding old treasures and bringing them to life. This is such a neat thing to have in your book. I can't wait to read it!

Stuart Neville said...

What IS she selling?

Carrie Harris said...

It's like Mortal Kombat! I love it, and my ninja friends are going to go all crazy over it. :)

Mary Witzl said...

My kids love this, Ello -- this was made for them. They're feminists; they spend all their time watching Korean dramas; if they ever got off the sofa, they'd love to kick guys to pieces. What's not to like?

Tyhitia Green said...

Okay, Ello, did I tell ya that I LOVE all forms of martial arts and that was sooooo cool. :-)

And also, I don't care who you promised copies of your book to, but I want my autographed copy of your novel!!! :-)

I'll give you one of mine, whenever I stop being lazy and get the manuscript finished, but that's beside the point. I'll eb waiting. :-D

Steve Malley said...

Where'd you find film of Elderly Aunt Agatha? I didn't think conventional photography could capture her...

;)

Nora MacFarlane said...

It looks like martial arts and ballet. Great clip!

cindy said...

totally awesome! what was the commercial for? the girl was so pretty she looked like an anime. ha!

Unknown said...

Wow, amazing martial art form - so graceful as well as so powerful! Great clip!

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Hey guys - Ok don't laugh, but I think it is a feminine care product commercial. HA HA HA HA HAAAA!

Korean maxi pad or tampons something like that.

Ok that's funny, right?

Kiki Hamilton said...

YAY Girlpower! I love tough girls and that lady is BEAUTIFUL and TOUGH - the perfect combination to rule the world- ha! So, Ello, was your protag a male before? Are you working on agent requested revisions or from an editor? And is it YA?

Nandini said...

Cool! Looks like she's a waterbender from Avatar - the Last Airbender(my kids loved that show). Must show them this clip! They did one year of Taekwondo, and though they've switched to Kempo now, they'll still get a kick out of this.

laughingwolf said...

wow... talk about high kicking... she's amazing, not to mention cute! ;) lol

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