Dangpa is the Korean

Korean language

Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

 name for a three-pronged spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

 first described in the Muyejebo

Muyejebo

The Muyejebo is a Korean martial art manual written during the reign of King Seonjo in 1598.-History:As the Imjin war dragged on for years, Korea needed a way to effectively train a large number of troops, and the Korean military adopted a training methodology based on a Chinese military manual...

, a 16th century martial arts manual from the Joseon Dynasty

Joseon Dynasty

Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

.

Types

There were several types of dangpa, like the iron dang pa, called cheolpa (철파, 鐵鈀) and the wooden dangpa, called mokpa (목파, 木鈀). The two outer teeth of the cheolpa would be slightly crooked. The teeth of the mokpa were made of wood, but covered with iron.

The middle tip would always be slightly longer than the two other tips. This design was intended to lessen the chance of the weapon becoming stuck in an opponent's body.

At the other end of the pole would be a sharp tip as well, in the event that two-handed combat with the dangpa became necessary in battle - this way soldiers fighting with the dangpa had fighting edges on both ends of the weapon.

Techniques

In the Muyedobotongji

Muyedobotongji

In 1790, King Jeongjo of Korea commissioned a book called the Muyedobotongji which was an illustrated manual of Korean martial arts. This book, written by Yi Deokmu and Pak Jega , described in detail Korea's martial arts of which an unarmed combat style of kicking and punching is extensively...

one set of techniques is given. This form of 22 movements is called dangpa chongbo (당파총보, 鐺鈀總譜) accompanied by a diagram to explain the same form called dangpa chongdo (당파총도, 鐺鈀總圖).