Sunmudo: Meditation in Martial Arts

As a part of our temple stay in Bulgulsa temple in Gyeongju we had the opportunity to experience a traditional Korean martial art called Sunmudo. Sunmudo is a training method that Buddhist monks used throughout Korean history as early as the Shilla dynasty in 57 BCE-935 CE (http://www.sunmudo.com/). This martial art combines yoga style postures and and dynamic and powerful movements of the body. Sunmudo literally means “the way of doing meditative martial arts” (http://www.sunmudo.com/). Let me gloss this Korean word. The word ‘sun’ has its origins in Sanskrit and derives from the word “dhyana” (meditation). The term ‘mu’ means martial art. The word ‘do’ means the way.
Hundreds of years ago, monks used to practise Sunmudo when they were soldiers. This ancient Martial Art was revived in 20th century. In the late 1980s Grandmaster Jeog Un Sunim introduced Sunmudo to the public. In the 1990s he established Bulgulsa as the headquarters for Sunmudo. Now people who visit the temple have an opportunity to take part in the Sunmudo practice.
I enjoyed the Sunmudo practice very much because it combined dynamic exercises with postures and movements that help us build up strength as well as flexibility. Some of the exercises reminded me of Ashtanga yoga. At the end of the practice, however, we all gathered into a circle and performed controlled, slow meditative movements that were completely new to me. After we returned to England, I tried to find a Sunmudo community in Bath so that I could incorporate Sunmudo into my personal life. Unfortunately I could not find any Sunmudo communities in UK. According to the website “Sunmudo.com” there are Sunmudo centers outside Korea in France, Austria and United States. I hope one day Sunmudo would become more widely known so that it benefits others as much as it benefitted me.

Commentary by Maija Rautemaa
Link of the Photograph: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Gyeongju-Golgulsa-Sunmudo-06.jpg

Women, Honour and Korean Patriarchy

In Gyeongju, we had several healthy and delicious vegetarian meals. In our meals together, our guide, Mr. Truman Kim, told us about Korean culture, history and beliefs. In Korea even numbers are considered feminine and odd numbers masculine. According to Mr. Kim because we are living now in an even numbered century—century of women—in which more and more women are getting into high ranking positions in politics and leadership.

At one time, Mr. Kim told us about the Silla dynasty and honour. According to Mr. Kim, during the Silla Dynasty women carried daggers close to their chest in case of an attack by a man from invading forces. I thought that it was meant for self-defence but Mr. Kim clarified that it was for the women to maintain their honour by committing suicide if they were raped. This led us to a long discussion about the whole concept of honour, shame and equality between men and women. There emerged the cultural differences between traditional Korean thinking and Western way of life. Even though I got the impression that things are coming closer to a western way of thinking in Korea the so called traditional divide between men and women is still there. Women are considered to be the experts on domestic life and men in charge of life outside the home. Korea seems still very patriarchal: women are expected first and foremost to be wives and mothers who take care of the home while men go out to the world to earn a living for the family.

Commentary by Maija Rautemaa

Korean Popular Music K-pop

When in Korea, one thing that one cannot avoid is Korean popular music widely known as K-pop. Most of the time, the songs are sung in Korean but surprisingly artists sometimes sing in English, too. The music takes inspiration from the western genre of RnB and Hiphop. Koreans have added their own style to make the songs their own. Songs are heard in train stations, supermarkets, shops, bus stations and buses. No doubt the Koreans certainly love their music. One of the most popular songs at the time of our travel was ‘Good Girl, Bad Girl’ of the Korean girl band known as ‘Miss A.’ A popular artist in Korea today is Rain. He is a renowned actor, having appeared in a couple of Hollywood films including ‘Speed Racer’ (2008). His popular songs include ‘I’m Coming’ and ‘Rainism.’

Commentary by Zaina Budaly

Departing Seoul and Last Reflections

The last day in Seoul! I spent my last day in South Korea experiencing the things that most Korean girls would experience on a Saturday away from school. I got up early and packed things ready to leave for the next day. The flight was going to be long; my in-flight bag was broken and decided to buy things to keep me entertained for the flight. I went and had breakfast in a cafe just around the corner. I desperately needed a new bag for the flight. I went to Myeongdong to buy a bag. Once I finished shopping, I had the last Korean Meal in a self-service restaurant in the centre of Myeongdong. I was quite sad that it was probably the last chance to ever experience Korean food, and made the most of it by eating quite a lot!

After the meal went to the cinema to watch Inception. As a cinema employee it was almost a nice bridge between being in Korea and being at home. The cinema was very big (6 floors) and the cinema screens were very big. The Inception was screened in English with Korean subtitles.

After the film was over, I grabbed some snack foods for dinner and headed back to the guesthouse. With my team, I discussed how the trip had gone, sitting in the park just behind the guesthouse. We all had really enjoyed this once in a lifetime opportunity. We felt we had experienced a lot of different aspects of Korean life. Although stressful at times, the experience taught us a lot about the Eastern culture and its values. If we had another opportunity we would have gone again and may have done things differently. We would not give up a chance to explore South Korea once more.

Commentary by Lydia Braisby
3rd Year Study of Religions

Shamanism at Work: Women in Trance

August 2010, Gyeongju, South Korea
While we were in the British Council funded education abroad programme in South Korea, our team spent nearly a week outside Seoul in the ancient capital Gyeongju and stayed at the Dongguk University's sister campus. Because of a friendship developed with Dr. Deegalle, Mr. Truman Kim, a professional tourist guide, guided us through beautiful spots in Gyeongju and surrounding areas for a few days.

Mr. Kim showed us many great places in the coastal areas of Gyeongju. On one of our short trips we went to visit the beautiful traditional temple of Shilla on Ham Wol Mountain called Ki Rim Sa. The drive up to the temple was long serpentine road curving through the beautiful, rugged forest hills. Once we had finally reached the top we were up for another climb by foot. Finally we reached the top and a beautiful area unfolded in front of us. We walked around admiring the architecture of the area, its beautiful gardens and ancient buildings. The temple there grows vegetables and tea. We were offered tea that was prepared and served in traditional Korean way.

After the visit to the temple Mr. Kim took us to a beach by the sea of Japan. This beach was rather quiet. We witnessed Shamanist women performing Shamanist rituals. That beach is known for such Shamanist practices. Some of them were very close to the shore line sitting on a blanket and others a bit further away on an elevated platform. They were all facing towards the sea, in pairs or alone with plenty of different kind of offerings (fruits, sweets, fish, etc.) scattered around them. They were playing drums and chanting continuously. It was fascinating to watch their trance like state into which they seemed to have got in successfully.

Commentary and Photos by Maija Rautemaa
3rd Year Media Communications and Creative Writing

Aromatic Korean Dishes

Before leaving Korea, Min Ju, my host family guide, gave me a couple of very easy Korean recipes to try at home. (a) One of the recipes was for making the Korean ravioli also known as Man-doo-guk. Man-doo-guk is popular as a New Year’s Day food. It is served with rice cakes.

(b) I learnt to make Bi-Bim-Bop. To make Bi-Bim-Bop, one needs rice, vegetables, beef or chicken (can be Vegetarian also), sesame oil and red pepper paste (Go-chu-ang). They can be mixed in a hot bowl. This was one of my favourite dishes in Korea along with the South Korean barbeque.

(c) I also received a recipe to make ‘Baek-suk,’ a well seasoned Korean-style chicken soup. For this a whole chicken is stuffed with ginseng, milk and Chinese Pearl Barley. It can be seasoned if desired. It needs to be boiled for 50 minutes until chicken is cooked and becomes tender. It can be served with plain rice. The water used for cooking the chicken becomes the soup. It can be seasoned with salt and pepper.

Commentary by Zaina Budaly, 2nd Year Creative Writing
Photos by Dr Mahinda Deegalle

Our Visit of Korean Churches in Seoul

I was lucky to receive the British Council Grant and be part of the Bath Spa team that visited Dongguk University for studies in Summer 2010. I took the opportunity to do things that I liked to do in Korea.

Before my arrival in Seoul, I expected to see a completely different form of Christianity. To my surprise, there were only very few and minor differences. Though Christianity is newer to South Korea, the tradition still remains the same. To a greater extent, it exists in harmony with Buddhism.

On 27th July, some of us visited several churches. Our first destination was Myeong-dong Catholic Cathedral. The cathedral was situated at the top of a small hill in the middle of the city, amongst busy shops and restaurants. An English speaking Korean woman, who was handing out leaflets about the service we wanted to attend, greeted us. An Irish priest led the mass in English. The church was so big. There were plasma TVs mounted on pillars for all to see the service. Once the service was over we were able to take photos of the Cathedral and walk around. We didn’t have long time as people were beginning to fill the church ready for the next service.

After the lunch break we visited the Seoul Anglican Cathedral. The architecture of the building was very Romanesque and grand. The service that was going on inside the church had been recorded and played on loudspeakers. Although the service that we attended was conducted in Korean, we learnt from one of the regular churchgoers that there was an English mass every Sunday morning.

We finished our day of exploration by visiting the Catholic Martyr Museum. We expected to see a building full of information about the numerous Martyrs who died during the times when Christianity was introduced to Korea. To our surprise, the museum in fact turned out to be mainly a shrine. There was a large and beautifully kept garden full of statues and pictures of Korean and European Martyrs. At the centre, there was a monument, which we could climb in order to get a closer view of the river running by just the other side of the road.

Lydia Braisby
3rd Year, Study of Religions
8th April 2011