Bonguk geom
Bonguk geom in Joseon era Korean martial arts referred both to a type of sword and a style of swordsmanship.
The term was introduced in the Muyesinbo of 1759, and the system was supposedly a creation of Crown Prince Sado. It contrasts with Jedok geom, or "admiral sword", a system supposedly introduced by the Chinese admiral Li Rusong during the 16th-century Imjin War.
The Muyesinbo stresses the antiquity of this "national" Korean system by including the narrative of a Silla "Flower Youth" called Hwangchang, who killed Baekje's king while performing a sword dance, known as Geommu, at the court.
The historical swords of the Silla period would have been double-edged and comparable to those of the Eastern Han dynastic period. However, the Bonguk geom, as presented in the 18th-century manual, is historically based on a single-edged sword; a type common during that era.
In contemporary schools of Korean swordsmanship, the term bonguk geom is used to emphasize their "national" Korean character, without necessarily bearing a direct relation to the 18th-century system.
