Suwon, about 45 minutes south of Seoul, is home to a unique group of martial artists. 

These men and women are keeping alive a set of skills used to teach South Korean warriors fighting. Created hundreds of years ago by studying the strengths and weaknesses of other martial arts, these arts are divided into unarmed, armed and horse-mounted styles. 

At the daily demonstration only the armed and unarmed styles are performed. The horse-mounted styles are saved for special occasions like the October citizen’s festival.

The performers come from all walks of life, from South Korean history scholars to ex Olympic alternates to local high school students. They train and perform six days a week, and sacrifice a lot to preserve this part of South Korean culture.

Durin the Suwon Citizen’s festival in October, the martial artists get a chance to display the horse martial arts and reenact a night assault on the Hwaseong fortress. Every year a lot of thought goes into making this event special and unique. Fireworks and hundreds of re-enactors take the guise of Japanese soldiers and samurai. 

The performance in Suwon has become so popular that they have started a performance in Seoul at Namsan tower. This performance is different in that it is more court based and flows more like a dance, while the one in Suwon is more military based.

They perform every day except Mondays at 11 a.m. from March to December at Hwaseong Haegung in Suwon. The performance is free. Another group performs at Namsan tower in Seoul every day except Monday at 3 p.m.