South Korean Recreation



     If you thought of South Korea as a country with very distinct and unusual sports, you would be partially right and partially wrong. There are the martial arts, such as Tae Kwon Do and Ssirum. Then there are the very exciting kite fighting and Korean Seesaw. There are also sports like baseball, basketball, tennis, and soccer. Koreans also enjoy the festivals that travel town to town. The children and teenagers are as much into TV and video games as Japan and the U.S.

Instead of telling all of the sports that are played in South Korea these are the most popular amongst the people in South Korea. The sports are; basketball, baseball, and table tennis or most commonly to the people in the US as Ping-Pong.

There are several types f martial arts practiced in South Korea. For anyone who doesn’t know what that means, a martial art is a practice of self-defense.

Ssirum is a type of the martial arts, which is unique to South Korea. Ssirum began as a method of self-defense over 1500 years ago. The competitor tries to grasp the opponent’s belt (or satba) and throw them to the ground. If the wrestler’s body touches the ground anywhere above the knee, the other person wins.

                                                     Tae Kwon Do is another martial art practiced in South Korea. Tae Kwon Do originated in Korea 200 years ago as an exercise of self-defense. Advanced students can break wooden planks of wood with their bare hands and feet. Instructors try to instill a sense of fair play, encourage self-confidence, and a sense of spiritual well being. This is studied by all ages to help develop the body and mind.

                                                                          

On their leisure time, which is mostly after work for adults and after chores for children. They tend to go to Hot Springs in the winter and in the summer they go to pools to cool off and swim for a while. There is an abundance of Hot Springs that have been there for thousands of years. The pools are visited by almost everyone throughout the year. So that way they have somewhere to go all year long. On vacations and weekends, people enjoy hiking and mountain climbing.

                                                                                
 

Video games have been around a few years now and South Korea has had as much fun with video games and TV as the US and Japan, maybe even a little more. They come up with many video games for the consoles and play them before the US does.

Korean Seesaw is another activity, which is unique to South Korea. This is made of a strong board on top of several straw mats. The children stand on the board and jump high into the air as the board pushes them up. Each person tries to see how high he or she can go, coming down at just the right time with both feet together.

As you can see the people of South Korea enjoy a variety of entertainment, activities, and sports to take up their leisure time.
 

TRY THESE LINKS:

http://cwr.utoronto.ca/cultural/english

www.lifeinkorea.com/Activites/sports/htm

www.ibrc.bschool.ukans.edu/cultural_perspectives/korea.htm

Bibliography:

Caldwell, John C. and Elisie F Caldwell. Let's Visit Korea. New York:The John Day Co.

Culture Grams(Volume 2).U.S.A: Brigham Young University, 2000

"South Korea" {Online} Availible http://www.ibrc.bschool.ukans.edu/cultural_perspectives/korea.htm

"South Korean Sports" {Online} Available http://cwr.utoronto.ca/cultural/english

"Tae Kwan Do"{Online} Available http://essayonkorea.org/facts/main.htm#Government