Sosan tul 서산틀 So-san pattern

List of patterns

Number of movements:

72

Number of attacs:	42
Number of hand attacs:	33
Number of foot attacs:	9

Number of blocks:	25
Number of hand blocks:	25
Number of foot blocks:	0

Number of ready stances:	3
Diagram:

New techniques

Modified techniques

List of techniques

Ready posture: moa čunbi sogi A moa junbi sogi A 모아준비서기 close ready stance A

Ready posture: moa čunbi sogi A moa junbi sogi A 모아준비서기 close ready stance A

Interpretation

So-san is the pseudonym of the great monk Choi Hyong Ung (1520- 1604) during the Yi Dynasty. The 72 movements refer to his age when he organized a corps of monk soldiers with the assistance of his pupil Sa Myung Dang. The monk soldiers helped repulse the Japanese pirates who overran most of the Korean peninsula in 1592.

Choi Hyong Ung was a Korean Buddhist monk. As was common for monks in his day, he traveled from place to place and lived in a number of monasteries. Buddhist monks were not in a good position at this time, as during the Joseon dynasty (since 1392), Confucianism became the state religion, and Buddhism, which was widespread during the previous Korjo dynasty, was in decline.

Before becoming a military commander, Choi Hyong Ung was a first-class master of Seon Buddhism (similar to Japanese Zen Buddhism) and wrote a number of important religious texts. The most important is probably Seongagwigam - a practical guide to Seon Buddhism that Korean monks still study. Choi was first educated in neo-Confucianism, as were most monks during the Joseon dynasty. However, this did not satisfy him and he went to the mountain monasteries. Later, when he was already known as a teacher, Myeongjong (13th King of the Joseon Dynasty), who sympathized with Buddhism, made him an arbiter of the Seon School. However, Choi soon resigned from this post and returned to wandering among monasteries throughout Korea, where he deepened his knowledge of Seon Buddhism and taught it.

In the early 1990s, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, after consolidating his government in Japan, began preparing for a large-scale invasion of Joseon. Joseon did not know about the Japanese invasion and was not prepared for it. In 1592, approximately 200,000 Japanese troops invaded Joseon, beginning the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-98).

At the beginning of the first invasion, Seonjo (14th King of the Joseon Dynasty) fled the capital, leaving a weak, poorly trained army to defend the country. In desperation, he called Choi Hyong Ung to organize the monks into guerrilla units. Despite his age, Choi organized about 5,000 of these fighting monks and achieved success with them.

From the beginning, Joseon´s army was repeatedly defeated and the Japanese marched north to Pyongyang and Hamgyong Province. At sea, however, the Koreans gradually began to win under Admiral Yi Soon Sin. Volunteer armies began to form throughout the country, fighting the Japanese along with monks and the Joseon government army. The presence of an army of monks led by Choi Hyong Ung was a critical factor in repelling the Japanese in 1593 and again in 1598.

Pattern is practised by the V. Degree holder and above.