*kids laughing and korean traditional music in background* OK, so this is what again? (pause for 2 seconds?) Neolttwigi? (Pause) You want me to stand on the see-saw? Is that right? OK, but I’m pretty hefty 큰사이즈. I don’t think you’re going to WAAAAHHHH hhh *voice fades* aaaahhhHHHHHH UNNGGGGGHH!! Urraahhh… Knew I shouldn’t have dared them to jump…oye *joke Sting* *music stops*
Intro about topic; what we define as obscure and probably not going to become an Asian games sport.
Welcome everyone! Today on the show, we are talking about traditional and other games in Korea that have yet to become a full-fledged sport. There are probably some reasons why these games haven’t become sports, especially when I explain them to you. Some have been forgotten, some are kids games you might have seen on TV, and some are a bit obscure. If you’ve lived in Korea, you’ll recognize these from trips to folk villages. If you haven’t, you might have seen them on a historical drama or two because Kings have been known to play them. Did their scribes accurately record their wins and losses? Surprisingly, the scribes had a lot of leeway, so you don’t hear things like oh I don’t know, King Cheoljong being the GOAT of archery! *Joke sting* The scribes didn’t write something like quote Oh the mighty king shot 14 arrows all at the same time from his extra large 100 pound bow and turned the wild board into a pincushion unquote. Yeah OK King Hawkeye! Were you also on the Avengers? *Joke sting*
Tuho
First up is Tuho. Tuho is that stick throwing game you’ve seen at the folk villages. The objective is similar to horseshoes. You throw bamboo arrow shafts into the tall pot and count the number that went in. The winner is the team with the most points. Fairly simple. Could you turn this into a sport? I think Korea could but it’s somewhere between darts and golf. Not a lot of action, but remember that a few years back, axe throwing was on TV so there’s definitely a market for throwing sports. It can be exciting when you’re playing and figuring out whether to throw it straight or give it that English spin. I think if South Korea were to host the Olympics again, they could use this as a demo sport like they did with Ssireum.
Transition music. Seokjeon Stone throwing
Next we have something that not even your grandpa remembers playing. This is called Seokjeon stone throwing. Apparently in the Gorgoyeo and Joseon era, bored farmers used to gather in the outskirts of the cities in winter and gather in teams, then throw stones at each other, then hit each other with sticks to see who was the toughest. It also involved whole villages gathering at points to hit each other with stones, drive each other away then raid the village head’s house! It became very popular but casualties were frequent and various kings banned it, especially after some of their princes took part and got people killed. Even confused westerners got roped into it and got pelted, with one guy pulling out his revolver and shooting one in the leg. On Namu wiki they even talked about some cities being famous for using slings, or having well-trained people and even gangsters join the fun. Yeah you didn’t want to mess wit them Pyongyang boys. (Pause for two seconds) HAUH?? You Andong boys say y’all were tougher?? You want a rematch? Why can’t you let it slide? That match was 140 years ago! (pause for 2 seconds) You say you get ‘em this time? You sure? You sound tough but let’s see you feel that way once the first stone gets cast against your forehead. So anyway, you now know why this was banned. Nowadays, you can see this at field days at school but they use beanbags. Either way this is not becoming a sport anytime soon.
Juldarigi
Next up is Juldarigi, the korean traditional tug-of-war game. This one involves the residents of the east side challenging the west side residents, with the west side usually winning to ensure a good harvest. Because this was a big event, the ropes were ridiculously thick, at around a meter thick and 200 meters long and you guessed it, weighing at most 40 tons. There was a whole rigmarole of ceremonies that go along with it, with the ropes being cut up and sold because they were rumored to have special properties. Imagine Compton vs South Central getting settled with a tug of war match and an after-party. *Joke sting* So how does this work as a sport? Tug of war can be a sport but it seems like it’d be more interesting on some kinda gag show than in the Olympics.
transition music: Squid Game
The next one is one you’ve heard before, but not from me or a textbook. It’s called the Squid Game and yes the TV show got its title from this game. I’m going to talk more about it in a future episode, but there’s an aspect of it that resembles Kabbadi and that wild Japanese capture the flag variant called Bo Tashi. Could you make it into a sport with defined rules? Probably not since there aren’t any defined rules. You’d first have to come up with some sort of defined rules, then have people play them for a while so you can iron out any issues. And then you got to get foreigners to play but the name probably makes people scared. After all, who wants to get eliminated? Squid Game the show kinda had people thinking about survival games but this is not quite the same thing.
Gateball (potential Asian Games in Seniors section)
Next up is the popular park sport called Gateball. Originally a variant of croquet made in Japan after the war, it has spread around Asia and Australia. Now you can see old people playing gateball around city parks and sports complexes all over Korea. The game involves hitting balls through gates using mallets with one team getting odd-numbered balls and the other team getting even-numbered balls. It’s a pretty low impact sport compared to mini golf with not a lot of running even though there’s timer involved. It’s been around with international tournaments, but it hasn’t been picked up yet by the Asian games or the Olympics. So it’s on its way to becoming a major sport, especially with the rapidly aging populations out here and greater interest from South Asian countries like India. But I haven’t seen any tournaments or mentions on Korean sports networks or NAVER sports so even in Korea, it’s kinda limited to a game.
Disc golf (talk about the very good courses)
We also have a classic but nowhere near as popular as it should be. Disc Golf is active in Korea, with around 10 courses and one on the Camp Humphreys military base. There are some amateur clubs that keep the game active, along with US military participation. But it hasn’t risen much above a hobby activity in Korea and not many people here know about it. But with the rise of Padel and pickleball it’s only a matter of time. Of course, with dog ownership increasing, maybe instead of disc golf we’ll see more frisbee catch with dogs? Just try not to let your dog slobbar all over my disc. I need that. It’s harder…to throw…when there’s saliva all over it. *Joke sting*.
Racing Challenges
And finally we have a new one that might be worth your while, or you can do it as a bucket list option. The Hangang River ferry in Seoul is *evil voice* fully operational nwah hahah haha *end voice*. One Youtuber noticed it was a bit slow so he decided to race against it. On foot. He ran from Magok harbor to Jamsil and beat the ferry in 2 minutes. If you’re in good shape and like challenges, there’s a fun one. You can probably find similar challenges around Korea to try on your own. Don’t forget your selfie stick and battery pack *joke sting*!
Worst Persons: K League teams hiring players off LinkedIn, North Korean U17 players punching Japanese players in the postgame match, FC Anyang for losing to Suwon and stopping my desired meme match.
Yup, we’ve got the Worst Persons in the Korean Sports World, right on time with more sad sacks. Oye… The Nap Award goes to: Whomever at the K League has been signing players through LinkedIn. According to a side remark in the Taegukscout Notebook on substack, this is a common practice, or at least common enough to be known in the football community. LinkedIn, guys? Really? You do realize you’re not looking for an admin assistant, you’re looking for players. But I’m so confused by this revelation. What if I made an AI video of my head attached to Harry Kane and put it on my LinkedIn profile with some soccer tags? Does that mean I’ll get a call from Ansan? (Pause for 2 seconds) HAUNH? You said Chungnam FC is calling? I ain’t even made the video yet! (Pause for 2 seconds) Oh that’s right! They’re the broke team. No, don’t answer they calls. I ain’t playing for a team with worse money problems than the Cleveland Browns. *Joke sting*
Radon: The Radon award goes to…the North Korean U17 players for punching Japanese players in the pre game greet and shake. In the video posted on Chosun Biz, you can see a couple of North Korean players swing their fists at the palms of Japanese players. Then later in the game one of the players got a yellow card for rough play. Naturally, the Japanese won 1 to nil. No word on any shenanigans during the end of the game. I guess they couldn’t keep that same energy during the post game.
A second Radon award to the coach of the Samcheok City Hall track and field team, who grabbed marathon winner Lee Su-min after she crossed the finish line. On the video it shows her crossing the finish line and Coach Kim grabbing her while holding a towel then she pushes his arm away. According to her statement to the media, she felt pain in her chest from when he grabbed her and reacted to stop the pain. She said she didn’t realize it was the coach at the time and only realized it when she turned around. The coach has not apologized, saying quote “From a viewer’s perspective, seeing me grab her and her push me away may look like harassment, but this kind of situation is common in track and field. Women marathoners often collapse immediately after crossing the finish line, so if we don’t catch them, they can get hurt” unquote. I was suspicious of this statement, to say the least, and so I went on YouTube and watched 30 minutes of people crossing the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Now admittedly, this was probably after all the pros had crossed the line. But I counted a roughly equal number of men and women who needed assistance from the race staff to get off the road, including one man who was put in a wheelchair. And there was one soldier in full attire who did pushups at the finish line sooo yeah that was a thing *joke sting*. Maybe they’re collapsing after the finish line? Hell I’ve seen men and women sit down at the edge of the track just to give their feet and legs a break. So I’m willing to chalk this up to a botched chance at being helpful, but because the runner was injured or had injuries aggravated, plus the investigation by Samcheok city hall, and the fact that he hasn’t apologized directly to her, I’m not so sure about his intentions.
Plutonium: And finally the plutonium award, which of course involves a football team. I really wanted to give it to Jeonnam for losing against bad teams and falling out of the playoffs. But instead I’m more upset with FC Anyang for losing to Suwon and making me miss out on a meme matchup. Because Suwon won, they’ll either finish 10th place or 9th place, which is too high for a match against Suwon Bluewings. Thusly, I won’t have my meme matchup. This is what I get, listeners. This is what I get for being nice to teams. I dedicated a chunk of my episode to you, and even talked to one of your supporters. And this is how you do me. You can’t make me happy and you can’t make Suwon citizens happy with a meme match. Look, I don’t care if it makes me look petty. I ain’t inviting any of y’all back on the show! FC Anyang, today’s WORST PERSON in the SPORTS WORLD!
GOTW: The final match of the K2 playoffs will be on Sunday at Bucheon hosting Seongnam due to their win over E-Land on Wednesday. Whomever wins plays the K1 10th seed in the promotion playoffs. In basketball, we’ve got wheelchair basketball playoffs on Saturday at 2pm in Goyang Holt sports arena. The D-League is also in operation with games in Seoul somewhere, you’ll have to look on the KBL website. And in women’s basketball we’ve got KB Stars at home vs Hana on Saturday as well. And on Tuesday the 9th, LG is at home against Mongolian team Xac Broncos. But the biggest basketball event doesn’t even involve a game. The KBL and Marvel have teamed up to do a pop-up sale promotion from November 28th to December 7th at the Kinetic Ground on the second floor of Lotte Department Store Jamsil Branch. You can buy player and marvel character postcards and there will be player signings. I’m including the event details in the description. In ice hockey, Anyang is finally home against the Nikko Ice Bucks for a weekend set.
Ending
Thank you for tuning in today. We hope you learned something about Korean Sports because if you didn’t, you set the sleep timer too soon *joke sting*. Pass this pod on to anyone interested in Korean sports and especially rookies because trust me they need every ounce of help we can pour on them. If you don’t believe me, spend 5 minutes on Living in Korea subreddit *Joke sting*. If you wish to read along or contact the show, visit our website at hwatingsportspodcast dot com or our Facebook page and everything you need is right there. Give our podcast 5 stars if you have time. Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. You can reach him on Instagram @daf_daffy247. Cover art thanks to our cycling expert James! A shoutout to our listeners in Dar Es Salaam, home of the Simba Sports Club which has the fricken Lion King as a logo. Now you know I’m joking here since the club predates the movie by 40 something years. But yeah they got a great logo and now I want to get a team shirt when I go there. Anyway, next episode is in two weeks and it’ll be a post game show from the Gwanggeto bowl in Gunwi! Until next time, Korean Sports fans.
(AI voice) Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast get foot surgery done at Piede Pros, the best 3rd tier foot surgery clinic in always sunny Gwangyang. Did you kick your kids too hard and break your foot because they got a 75 on the middle school math finals? Don’t worry, be happy, they say, in Italian and Korean! They’ll get that foot stitched and stapled back together in no time. Plantar Fasciitis slowing your steps? Don’t worry, be happy! Their patent pending acupuncture technique will poke the pain away! *Fast voice* Needle therapy not recognized by FDA! Engage in kid kicking at your own risk!
Notes
Complete Guide To 5 Traditional Korean Games | KoreanBuddies
Korean Leisure Activities and Hobbies | Expat Guide Korea
Your Guide to Disc Golf in South Korea | UDisc
KBL-디즈니코리아, 28일부터 마블 테마 팝업스토어 연다 - 스포츠경향
Marathoner says coach offered no apology for ‘forceful’ finish-line grab; coach denies wrongdoing
North Korea U-17 players draw criticism for thuggish conduct against Japan - CHOSUNBIZ