If you ever feel meaningless watching TV on a long hot summer day or get sick of playing computer games, try some traditional Korean games! Traditional Korean games are not only fun, but train the body and cultivate a sound spirit of competition and cooperation.


Yoennalligi (Kite Flying)

Yeonnalligi is part of traditional Korean New Years celebrations, during which people wish for good health and happiness. They write well-wishing phrases or mottos like áêäøçÊÜØ (drive misfortune out, welcome good fortune) on a yeon (kite), which is then sent up into the sky as far as the attached string will go and then cut loose.

How to play
Basic

1. Stand with you back to the wind.
2. With a helper holding the yeon, unwind its string up to 30 meters.
3. When the helper lets the yeon go, run back into the wind.
4. Let out the string and draw it in to fly well.

Yeon Ssaum (Kite Fighting)

1. Grind broken glass pieces and mix with starch.
2. Apply to the string of a kite.
3. While flying the kite, try to cut the opponent's string by slicing it with one's own one.
4. The person who cuts the opponent's string first wins.

Yutnori

Yutnori is a traditional New Year¡¯s Day game. There is no fixed theory about the origin of yutnori, however, according to Suseo, a book of Chinese history, yutnori existed around the fourth century in Korea. Yutnori is played with four sticks called yut, four stones called yunmal, and a board called a yutpan. Each side of a yut represents the sky and earth, which signifies that in throwing them, man can be in control of nature. Twenty-nine circles that are drawn on the yutpan represent the stars. The movement of yunmal expresses the rotation of the stars. When our ancestors played yunnori, they were also keeping in mind harmony between humans and nature.

How to play

1. Throw four yut, landing them with one side up.
2. Advance your stones forward according to the number of sticks that land bottom-side-up. If all yut land top-side-up, move forward five spaces. If all yut face top or bottom side up, take an extra turn.
3. You can move any yunmal on the yutpan.
4. If your yunmal lands on the same space as your opponents, the other team's yunmal goes back to the start. If it lands on another yunmal of your own, they can move together.
5. The first team to bring home all the yunmal wins.

Jaegichagi (Kicking the Jaegi)

According to legends, Jegichagi originated from China¡¯s martial arts, where martial artists trained by kicking small leather sacks. Because this game requires a sense of balance and a lot of leg motion, it is good for developing balanced leg muscles and correcting body posture.

How to make a jaegi?

You¡¯ll need: three or four coins, two sheets of hanji paper (if you don¡¯t have hanji, a plastic bag is also fine) string, scissors

1. Pile up three to four coins and wrap them with tape.



2. Put the stack of coins on the center of two sheets of hanji paper and wrap it up.



3. Hold the coins in the center and use the string to tie them in place.



4. Cut the hanji paper into a tassel, making each tassel parallel.



5. Crumble the hanji paper into the shape of your preference.

How to play

The person who can kick jaegi the longest without dropping it wins. Whenever you play jaegichagi, you can change rules very diversely because there are variable methods of kicks: kicking the jaegi with two feet only; holding it on the foot before kicking it; only using the outside of the foot.
You can also kick the jaegi with other friends. Four people kick the jaegi in the direction sequence of north, east, west, south, and so on, while the person who drops the jaegi loses.


Tuho

Tuho was a popular game among the aristocrats and royal families in the past. The objective of Tuho is to throw the arrows into the hole of a vase. It looks easy, but the hole is quite small and to throw the arrows accurately to make it go into the hole is not as easy as it seems, for it requires good concentration and patience.

How to play

1. Divide people into two teams.
2. Each team must put the most arrows (or sticks) into a specified vessel.

Cock fighting

The name cockfighting originates from the postures of players that resemble chickens. There is no definite theory about the origin of the game, but many people speculate that it stemmed from Ssireum (Korean wrestling). A good sense of balance is the key to this game.

How to play

1. Standing up straight, lift up one leg and hold it up by grabbing by your ankle.
2. Hopping with one leg, ram into your opponents to make them fall.
3. The person who makes the opponent fall down or drop his or her lifted leg to the ground wins.

By Lee Hye-lim