From The History of Hapkido by Dakin Bur**** (2001):

Chinese Martial Arts in Korea:



Many Chinese immigrated to Korea after the Chinese Revolution of 1949, including at least four teachers of k’ung hu (gongfu in Chinese): Poom-Chang Lim (1910-1982), Kyung-Ban Kang (1912-), Sue-Chon No, and Master Koo. Lim taught orthodox praying mantis style in the Seoul area. Kang taught praying mantis as well and was still teaching in Pusan and Taiwan in 1989. Chon taught the p’algwae (eight trigrams; bagua in Chinese) or “palm strike” method in Inchon. In China, he was called “the gate guard of the rich.” Koo taught six harmony Seorim k’ung hu (Shaolin gongfu), which was also known as changkweon (long fist; changquan in Chinese). Duk-Kang Lee studied under Master Koo and as of 1989 taught in Seoul. The teachers of monkey, crane, and “ying chun” styles “are not considered experts in these styles of kung-fu, because many feel they learned from books or videos.” According to Victor Cheng (c1947-), Chinese martial arts in Korea in the 1950s were very traditional:

“Old teachers closed their doors to anyone non-Chinese. Not Chinese, not get accepted. At the time, they referred to the Chinese system as 18 weapons or 18 techniques. It was only after a couple of students at my school opened their own schools that Koreans were accepted into the kung-fu system.”

Because of the closed nature of the schools, it is probable that gongfu had little impact on the development of Korean karate in the 1950s. In recent times, the Chinese arts have been much more widely distributed. As of 1989, there were about 450 k’ung hu gymnasiums in Korea. Eighty percent of these are Shaolin long fist, eight percent teach praying mantis, five percent teach p’algwae, and the rest are miscellaneous systems. The four k’ung hu associations in Korea are the Taehan K’ung hu Hoe (Korean Gongfu Association; about 100 gyms), the P’algwae Hoe (Eight Trigrams Association; about 30 schools, centered around Inchon), the Korean and Chinese K’ung hu and Musul Association (about 20 schools around Korea), and the Taehan Shipp’algi Hoe (Korean Eighteen Techniques Association; about 20 gyms). As of 1994, Kwang-Sub Kim was the President of the Taehan Shipp’algi Hoe, which was strongest in Seoul and Taegu City. Kim himself began studying shipp’algi at the age of sixteen under Myung-Duk Yoon. Kim’s main school is the Hanguk Muye Weon (Korean Martial Arts Institute) in Sin-Chon district of Seoul. The majority of k’ung hu schools are independent and do not belong to an association. Moon-Tak Hong (1948-) was a student of Poom-Chang Lim in praying mantis and shipp’alki, beginning his studies sometime before 1964. Hong was a member of the Korean K’ong Hu Association and in 1984, he was appointed to the post of vice-president of the World Guoshu Association (based in Taiwan). In 1986, Hong began building contacts with the People’s Republic of China Wushu Association and the Hangju City Martial Arts Association.

I have always wondered what "sipalki" is exactly. "Eighteen Weapons." A lot of websites have told me that it refers to something in the Muye Dobo Tonji, a military manual very much influenced by Qi Jiguang's "Ji Dao Xin Shu." Others have told me that it is a compliation of the popular styles of Kung Fu found in Korea- long fist, praying mantis, and bagua.

Can anyone tell me what the curriculum for Shippalgi looks like? I remember seeing a video about it, and it featured tantui forms and weapons. Maybe in terms of barehand taolu, all shippalgi has is Tantui?

Thanks.