| UL-JI Movements - 42 Ready Posture - PARALLEL STANCE WITH AN X-BACK HAND Pattern Meaning UL- JI is named after general Ul-Ji Moon Dok who successfully defended Korea against a Tang's invasion force of nearly one million soldiers led by Yang Je in 612 A.D., Ul-Ji employing hit and run guerrilla tactics, was able to decimate a large percentage of the force. The diagram represents his surname. The 42 movements represent the author's age when he designed the pattern. |
UL-JI
| IV |
Blue Cottage Taekwon-Do
Eulji Mundeok was a noted military leader of early 7th century Goguryeo, one of
the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Often numbered among the greatest heroes in
Korean military history, he defended Goguryeo against the Sui Chinese.
Background
Mundeok was born in the mid-6th century and died sometime after 618, although
the exact date is unknown. At the time of his birth, the kingdom of Goguryeo had
grown to a powerful and belligerent empire, constantly warring with its
neighbours, Chinese states to its north and west, and its fellow Korean kingdoms
Silla and Baekje to its southeast and southwest respectively.
A unbalance of power was maintained between these Three Kingdoms of Korea,
until outside influence, namely the much larger Tang Dynasty of China, finally
tipped the advantage to Silla. In 589, the Sui Dynasty had reunified China for the
first time since the fall of the Han Dynasty over three centuries before. The Sui
early on launched several large military campaigns against recalcitrant Goguryeo
unwilling to submit to Sui dominance.
in his name is some form of Goguryeo rank or title) was an educated man, skilled
in both "mun" political and the "mu" military sciences. He eventually rose to
become Minister of Goguryeo.
The Battle of Salsu River
After the founding of the Sui dynasty in 589, a precarious peace obtained for
several years between the new Chinese dynasty and Goguryeo. In 597, however,
the Goguryeo king launched raids across the Liao River (the traditional border
with China). In response, the Sui invaded Goguryeo, but the invasion failed as the
invasion force was scattered by a typhoon.
In the early 7th century, however, the new Sui emperor Yangdi learned of secret
Goguryeo correspondence with the Eastern Turkish khanate. Yangdi took a hard
stand and demanded the Goguryeo king come and submit personally to Sui or
face an "imperial tour of his territories". When the Goguryeo king failed to submit
in this fashion, Yangdi prepared for war. He mustered an army of over 1,133,800
troops and more than 2 million auxiliaries and personally led them against
Goguryeo in 612. They quickly overran Goguryeo's border defenses, camped on
the banks of the Liao River and prepared to bridge it. Eulji Mundeok,
commissioned as a Field Marshal, was called upon to assist in the defence of the
nation, and prepared his troops to meet the superior Sui forces with a strategy of
false retreat, deception and attack. After the Sui forces crossed the Liao River, a
small contingent was sent to attack the Goguryeo city of Liaodong, but Field
Marshal Eulji sent Admiral Gang Yi-sik and his forces to meet them there and
drove them out. As the rainy season progressed, the Sui forces launched other
small probing attacks, but held off from making any large moves before the end
of the rainy season. When the rains stopped, Yangdi moved his forces to the
banks of the Yalu River in northwestern Korea and prepared for a major battle.
Fighting only small engagements at times and places of his choosing, he drew
the Sui forces further and further from their supply centers. A Sui advance force
of over 305,000 men was sent to take the city of Pyongyang. After allowing the
force to approach the city, Field Marshall Eulji ambushed it. His forces attacked
from all sides, driving the Sui troops back in utter confusion. His troops pursued
the retreating army, slaughtering them at will; records claim that only 2,700 men
of the massive force returned alive to the main Chinese army. This battle, the
Battle of Salsu, came known as one of the most glorious military triumphs in
Korea's national history. (It was said that Eulji had built a large dam upon the
Salsu river which made the waterbed shallow, and as the Sui troops crossed the
dam was broken down, releasing a huge current of water upon the unsuspecting
troops, thus wiping out nearly the entire fleet with one blow). After the battle,
winter began to set in and the Sui forces, short on provisions, were forced to
return home.
Death
Eulji Mundeok managed to protect Shin Fortress (신성) from a Sui invasion force,
but he died not long after.
The Sui Dynasty was beginning to disintegrate and Yangdi decided that he
urgently needed to expand his empire in order to regain power, but two more
attacks on Goguryeo by Yangdi the following spring met with similar disaster, and
eventually internal rebellion in China forced the Sui to abandon their desire for
Goguryeo. By 618, the relatively short-lived Sui Dynasty was replaced by the
Tang Dynasty. Field Marshal Eulji Mundeok's strategy and leadership had
protected Goguryeo from the Chinese expansion to the Korean peninsula.
Legacy
One of the most distinguished military leaders of the Goguryeo period and one of
the most famous figures in ancient Korean history, Eulji's leadership and tactical
acumen was the decisive factor in sparing defeating the Sui invasion. Facing
vastly numerically superior forces, he developed a strategy that allowed him to
secure a decisive victory. Such spectacular tactical success was sufficient to
earn him a permanent place among Korea's most famous leaders. That said, it
was only in the early 20th century that Eulji Mundeok began to acquire the
veneration he enjoys today among Koreans. This reassessment of Mundeok may
have begun with the Korean nationalist historian Sin Chaeho 申采浩 (1880-1936),
who published a biography of Mundeok in 1908 and held him out as an example of
Korea's traditional nationalist spirit at a time when Korea was suffering under the
yoke of Japanese colonization. Eulji Mundeok is still celebrated as a great Korean
hero. One of the most preeminent Korean scholars of the 20th century, Lee Ki-
baik, noted that Mundeok's efforts in halting the Sui attempt at conquest stand as
one of the earliest examples of Korean attempts to fend of foreign domination.
Today a main thoroughfare in downtown Seoul, Euljiro, is named after Eulji
Mundeok. The second highest Military Decoration of South Korea, Field Marshal
Lord Eulji's Order of Military Merit, is also named in his honour. He is featured in
the new Korean SBS drama Yeon Gaesomun which is about the life of powerful
prime minister of the same name.
Eulji Mundeok's literary work, the Eulji Mundeok Hansi, is one of the oldest
surviving poems in Korean literature.
Trivia
One of the annual Combined Forces Command Exercise between South Korea
and the United States is called Ulchi Focus Lens (UFL) in honor of Eulji Mundeok.
Ulchi Focus Lens is a Command Post Exercise (CPX) with the tactical situation
portrayed through the use of computer simulation models and master scenario
events list. Ulchi Focus Lens is the world's largest computerized command and
control exercise. The exercise focuses on how U.S. and South Korean forces
would defend against a North Korean attack.
the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Often numbered among the greatest heroes in
Korean military history, he defended Goguryeo against the Sui Chinese.
Background
Mundeok was born in the mid-6th century and died sometime after 618, although
the exact date is unknown. At the time of his birth, the kingdom of Goguryeo had
grown to a powerful and belligerent empire, constantly warring with its
neighbours, Chinese states to its north and west, and its fellow Korean kingdoms
Silla and Baekje to its southeast and southwest respectively.
A unbalance of power was maintained between these Three Kingdoms of Korea,
until outside influence, namely the much larger Tang Dynasty of China, finally
tipped the advantage to Silla. In 589, the Sui Dynasty had reunified China for the
first time since the fall of the Han Dynasty over three centuries before. The Sui
early on launched several large military campaigns against recalcitrant Goguryeo
unwilling to submit to Sui dominance.
in his name is some form of Goguryeo rank or title) was an educated man, skilled
in both "mun" political and the "mu" military sciences. He eventually rose to
become Minister of Goguryeo.
The Battle of Salsu River
After the founding of the Sui dynasty in 589, a precarious peace obtained for
several years between the new Chinese dynasty and Goguryeo. In 597, however,
the Goguryeo king launched raids across the Liao River (the traditional border
with China). In response, the Sui invaded Goguryeo, but the invasion failed as the
invasion force was scattered by a typhoon.
In the early 7th century, however, the new Sui emperor Yangdi learned of secret
Goguryeo correspondence with the Eastern Turkish khanate. Yangdi took a hard
stand and demanded the Goguryeo king come and submit personally to Sui or
face an "imperial tour of his territories". When the Goguryeo king failed to submit
in this fashion, Yangdi prepared for war. He mustered an army of over 1,133,800
troops and more than 2 million auxiliaries and personally led them against
Goguryeo in 612. They quickly overran Goguryeo's border defenses, camped on
the banks of the Liao River and prepared to bridge it. Eulji Mundeok,
commissioned as a Field Marshal, was called upon to assist in the defence of the
nation, and prepared his troops to meet the superior Sui forces with a strategy of
false retreat, deception and attack. After the Sui forces crossed the Liao River, a
small contingent was sent to attack the Goguryeo city of Liaodong, but Field
Marshal Eulji sent Admiral Gang Yi-sik and his forces to meet them there and
drove them out. As the rainy season progressed, the Sui forces launched other
small probing attacks, but held off from making any large moves before the end
of the rainy season. When the rains stopped, Yangdi moved his forces to the
banks of the Yalu River in northwestern Korea and prepared for a major battle.
Fighting only small engagements at times and places of his choosing, he drew
the Sui forces further and further from their supply centers. A Sui advance force
of over 305,000 men was sent to take the city of Pyongyang. After allowing the
force to approach the city, Field Marshall Eulji ambushed it. His forces attacked
from all sides, driving the Sui troops back in utter confusion. His troops pursued
the retreating army, slaughtering them at will; records claim that only 2,700 men
of the massive force returned alive to the main Chinese army. This battle, the
Battle of Salsu, came known as one of the most glorious military triumphs in
Korea's national history. (It was said that Eulji had built a large dam upon the
Salsu river which made the waterbed shallow, and as the Sui troops crossed the
dam was broken down, releasing a huge current of water upon the unsuspecting
troops, thus wiping out nearly the entire fleet with one blow). After the battle,
winter began to set in and the Sui forces, short on provisions, were forced to
return home.
Death
Eulji Mundeok managed to protect Shin Fortress (신성) from a Sui invasion force,
but he died not long after.
The Sui Dynasty was beginning to disintegrate and Yangdi decided that he
urgently needed to expand his empire in order to regain power, but two more
attacks on Goguryeo by Yangdi the following spring met with similar disaster, and
eventually internal rebellion in China forced the Sui to abandon their desire for
Goguryeo. By 618, the relatively short-lived Sui Dynasty was replaced by the
Tang Dynasty. Field Marshal Eulji Mundeok's strategy and leadership had
protected Goguryeo from the Chinese expansion to the Korean peninsula.
Legacy
One of the most distinguished military leaders of the Goguryeo period and one of
the most famous figures in ancient Korean history, Eulji's leadership and tactical
acumen was the decisive factor in sparing defeating the Sui invasion. Facing
vastly numerically superior forces, he developed a strategy that allowed him to
secure a decisive victory. Such spectacular tactical success was sufficient to
earn him a permanent place among Korea's most famous leaders. That said, it
was only in the early 20th century that Eulji Mundeok began to acquire the
veneration he enjoys today among Koreans. This reassessment of Mundeok may
have begun with the Korean nationalist historian Sin Chaeho 申采浩 (1880-1936),
who published a biography of Mundeok in 1908 and held him out as an example of
Korea's traditional nationalist spirit at a time when Korea was suffering under the
yoke of Japanese colonization. Eulji Mundeok is still celebrated as a great Korean
hero. One of the most preeminent Korean scholars of the 20th century, Lee Ki-
baik, noted that Mundeok's efforts in halting the Sui attempt at conquest stand as
one of the earliest examples of Korean attempts to fend of foreign domination.
Today a main thoroughfare in downtown Seoul, Euljiro, is named after Eulji
Mundeok. The second highest Military Decoration of South Korea, Field Marshal
Lord Eulji's Order of Military Merit, is also named in his honour. He is featured in
the new Korean SBS drama Yeon Gaesomun which is about the life of powerful
prime minister of the same name.
Eulji Mundeok's literary work, the Eulji Mundeok Hansi, is one of the oldest
surviving poems in Korean literature.
Trivia
One of the annual Combined Forces Command Exercise between South Korea
and the United States is called Ulchi Focus Lens (UFL) in honor of Eulji Mundeok.
Ulchi Focus Lens is a Command Post Exercise (CPX) with the tactical situation
portrayed through the use of computer simulation models and master scenario
events list. Ulchi Focus Lens is the world's largest computerized command and
control exercise. The exercise focuses on how U.S. and South Korean forces
would defend against a North Korean attack.
