Ssireum – One of Korea’s oldest martial arts

When talking about the history of Korean martial arts, most people usually think about striking. Specifically, most forms of Korean martial arts usually prioritize kicks. This can be seen with Taekwondo, Hapkido and Tang Soo Do which are all big on kicks. However, there is one exception. The martial art named Ssireum was formed in Korea during the 4th century.

Originally, Ssireum was made to help improve the military of Korea during this time. For those wondering, military conflict in some form has often been the origin of martial arts around the globe. Ssireum was a form of wrestling that is mechanically similar to sumo which is still practiced today. Although the art isn’t as common anymore – it is taught in the country and can even be trained in North Korea.

Yes, that’s correct – even the most closed-off country in the world still teaches martial arts and there are several parts of the country where tourists can learn Ssireum. Having said this, in modern times the art is mostly used in South Korea which has helped the art continue to live on in recent times.

What is Ssireum? And what is the ruleset?

Ssireum is somewhat similar to Sumo. With Korea being geographically close to Sumo with some cultural traditions, it’s not too surprising that the pair share many similarities. In short, the rules of Ssireum involve grappling to beat the opponent. Unlike other martial arts, Ssireum does not use any form of striking whatsoever. Remember, in Sumo you can defeat the opponent by slapping the opponent and knocking them out.

Instead, the idea is to defeat the opponent through grappling and preferably without hurting the opponent at all. Unlike Sumo, Ssireum also caters to smaller grapplers. For example, if you are under 75KG then you can compete in the flyweight bracket. Whilst you can get heavier Ssireum grapplers, generally this isn’t as common when compared to Sumo which is culturally geared towards bigger grapplers.

More specifically, you can win Ssireum by putting the opponent’s feet outside of the ring. This is similar to Sumo where one way of winning is to put the opponent outside of the boundaries. Similar to Sumo, the ring is usually covered in sand which makes the floor less hard to fall on and reduces injury. Not only this but it also adds friction to the floor to add to the grappling aspect.

Another way of winning in Ssireum is to make the opponent’s body touch the floor. Of course, the feet are allowed to touch the floor, and technically any body part below the knees is also allowed to touch the floor. This means if you are downed but land on your knees then you lose. Unlike Judo, there’s no reason to pin the opponent either, once a disallowed body part hits the floor that is over. When beginning the match, each grappler holds the other’s satba, which is the belt.

This can be used to control the opponent and throw them around. It should also be noted that the satba isn’t like most belts used in martial arts. Generally, it is bigger and thicker which allows for its practical use of being grabbed onto whilst sparring. Usually, the satba is the only form of clothing worn when training, meaning it is a no gi form of training.

Famous Ssireum practitioners

Perhaps the most famous Ssireum practitioner was K-1 Choi Hong-Man. He used a combination of Ssireum and kickboxing to become a K-1 champion and even defeated the giant Bob Sapp in the process. Sadly, Ssireum is not a commonly practiced martial art in modern times. Even in its home in Korea, it isn’t really trained that much when compared to more popular arts such as Taekwondo or Judo. Things get even worse for Ssireum outside of Korea where it isn’t taught at all and usually little is known about the art, especially in the western world.

Nonetheless, the success of Choi Hong-Man proved it could be applicable in MMA and fighting situations. As Hong-Man was 7’1 in height, these fighters are usually geared towards striking arts. Whilst Hong-Man did use a lot of kickboxing and his height to his advantage, he would also have to rely on grappling at times due to having a naturally worse base than smaller opponents due to his massive height. As a result, Ssireum would have come in handy when grappling, especially when defending takedowns.

Final Thoughts

Sadly, Ssireum isn’t a major martial art and is fairly obscure in terms of its popularity and presence. However, the art is still effective and worth learning. Whether for fun or self-defense, if you find yourself in North or South Korea, it may be fun to train, especially if you already enjoy grappling. It could be argued that Korea is generally too focused on striking arts – so a few of their fighters could learn a thing or two from the grappling skills taught by Ssireum.

Having said this, with the growth of wrestling in the west – as well as the global reputation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that continues to spread, it looks like Ssireum won’t catch on in popularity anytime soon. For the time being at least, it will remain a very small martial arts. However, it should never be said that Korea doesn’t have a history of grappling as that would be a wrong assumption.