The Muyesinbo is a Korean martial arts manual published in 1759. The book is a revision of the older Muyejebo, made during the reign of King Youngjo. It adds twelve disciplines or "skills" of both armed and unarmed fighting by Prince Sado to the original six which were descbribed in the Muyejebo. No copies of the Muyesinbo have survived, but its contents can easily be determined by tracing back and comparing the Muyejebo with the later Muyedobotongji. Prince Sado also originated the term Sib Pal Gi, shortened from Bonjo Muye Sib Pal Ban. This mirrors the Chinese concept of the "Eighteen Arms of Wushu" to identify the Korean collection of weapons depicted in the Mu Ye Sin Bo.
Historical background
The earlier manual of 1610, Muyejebo had as its background the Imjin War, which revealed severe shortcomings in the Korean national army causing King Seonjo to order reforms based on the successful training model of the Chinese General Qi Jiguang. During the reign of King Yeongjo the Muyejebo was revised, and supplemented with 12 additional fighting methods by Prince Sado, published in 1759. Prince Sado was the heir-apparent of king Yeongjo, but he suffered from a mental illness which triggered violent outbreaks. After the prince took to randomly killing and raping people in the palace, he was executed by suffocation in 1762, aged 27. Both the Muyejebo and Muyesinbo formed the basis for the later Muyedobotongji of 1795, which added 4 already depicted disciplines only as executed on horseback in addition to horsemanship itself as well as a polo-like game, bringing the total number of systems to 24.
The Eighteen Skills
These are the eighteen "skills" which are classified into three categories and reflect strong influence from Chinese martial arts. The first six skills already present in the Muyejebo can also be found in the Muyesinbo:
Woldo 월도 月刀: a polearm with a curving blade paralleling the Chinese guandao.
Hyeopdo 협도 : a polearm paralleling the Japanese naginata or nagamaki.
Ssang geom 쌍검 雙劍 : fighting with two identical swords; twin-swords were made to be carried in a single sheath.
Jedok geom 제독검 將軍劍 : techniques introduced by Chinese admiral Li Rusong, who fought on the Korean side in the Imjin War. Li used straight-bladed swords with a single edge for slashing and a double-edged sword for stabbing. The manual gives 14 basic stances for this discipline.
Bonguk geom 본국검 邦國劍: a method of swordsmanship stressing traditional Korean origin.
Gwonbeop 권법 拳搏: based on the 1567Ji Xiao Shin Shu紀效新書 or "Manual of New Military Tactics" by General Qi Jiguang戚継光. Of the original 32 methods cited by General Qi, about 19 methods are identified in the Muyesinbo, besides another 14 original methods, yielding a total of 33.
The term Sip Pal Gi in modern Korean martial arts has come to identify three separate but related activities.
Modern reception
In modern Korean martial arts, Sip Pal Gi has come to be used generically, much like "kung fu" in the west. There are, however, small groups of practitioners who use the term Sip Pal Gi historically, for the attempted reconstruction of 18th-century Korean martial arts based on the historical manuals, much in the same way as martial arts reconstruction in the West.
