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Originally posted by grubbogoppoly
Just an addition. I lost all respect for robert a long time ago. He claims to know all about ninjutsu and Hwa rang do. Funny how he associated tang soo do with hwa rang do because Tae soo do is the only art associated directly with hwa rang do. |
Oh gee, someone who practices an imaginary martial art has lost respect for me.
Douchebag I associated Tang Soo Do with Hwarang Do because they were both brought up as options in the thread together. That is, someone told that kid in L.A. that instead of training with Dan Inosanto he ought to do Tang So Do or Hwarang Do. I know they are not the same thing. Tang So Do comes directly from Japanese Karate. If memory serves me I believe it shares many forms with Shotokan. Hwarang Do is doctored up Hapkido, which they more or less admit to on their website (you know the bit where they say they originally called their art Hapkido--gee, maybe because it was?).
Once again, Hwarang Do was invented by the Lee brothers. Period. There is zero historical evidence indicating that the Hwarang as an institution survived until modern day Korea. As an instuition, in fact, I believe the Hwarang ended about 600 AD or thereabouts. The Hwarang were young men who were groomed for government positions. As this time Korea was very much influenced by China and Chinese forms of government. In order to prepare men for roles in government they went through rigorous education in the Chinese classics, Confucianism, some Taoism and Buddhism, archery and swordsmanship (but primarily archery). They didn't learn unarmed martial arts. Look it up. Since the Hwarang was really just an academy of sorts, men left once they were of age to get government jobs. That is, they were not warriors--though some men trained in the institution of the Hwarang might have gone on to become warriors. As an institution it was no overtly martial. To claim a distinctly Confucian institution as the basis of your martial art is totally absurd. I mean I know the Lee brothers read too many Remo Williams books growing up and wanted to be Sinanju masters just like Chun. But sorry, that is fantasy land. Hwarang Do, like nearly all contemporary Korean martial arts, is largely Karate based with some elements of Kung Fu added. It is not 2000 years old, it doesn't actually trace any history back to the heydey of classical Korea. Get over it and yourself. And while you're at it try reading up on Korean history, specifically martial history.
That said, its no big deal if people practice made up martial arts. I do. JKD is a recent invention, about 4 decades old now. Does that make it any less effective because of it modernity? No, its probably more effective. Arts that have been "preserved" are likely to have lost touch with reality over hundreds of years. But you didn't see Bruce trying to dress up JKD in Chinese mythology and poorly interpreted Chinese history. No, he said he made it up. I'd have more respect for Hwarang Do if they'd just admit that they invented it. They didn't train in some version of the Shaolin temple in the Korean mountains, and like Cain, come down the moutain and across the see to teach the secrets of Eastern wisdom to the white man. Nope. The saw that Bond movie with the ninjas, saw how Americans eat up crap like that, and then they decided to dress up hapkido with black pajamas and make money off the Americans. Hey, I admire their enterprising spirit. But its bogus and lets just admit that.
PS I never lost respect for you because I never had any to begin with.