Korea Ssireum Association will mark its 100th anniversary in 2027. This is based on Nov. 27, 1927, when the Jeonjosun Ssireum Association was founded. The Joseon Ssireum Association was formed by gymnastics teachers Kang Nak-won, Seo Sang-cheon, Han Jin-hee and Kang Jin-gu joining forces, and in the founding year held the first Jeonjosun Ssireum Tournament for three days from Dec. 20 to 22 at the Gyeongseong Jongno Youth Hall (now YMCA).
Until now the first Jeonjosun Ssireum Tournament had been widely reported as having been held Sept. 5 and 6, 1929, at Whimoon High School, but the recent Ssireum 100-year history compilation team searched contemporary reports including DONG-A ILBO and confirmed it was in 1927.
According to a DONG-A ILBO preview article dated Dec. 9, 1927, the first Joseon Ssireum Tournament was announced as being hosted by the Jongno Youth Hall and sponsored by the DONG-A ILBO sports section, saying it would "be held in the heart of Gyeongseong, Jongno." Our traditional ssireum, having taken on the form of a modern sport, was first showcased in that Jeonjosun Ssireum Tournament.
People strong in strength are commonly called "jangsa." In his novel "The Dream of a Jangsa," writer Hwang Sok-yong wrote, "I liked tug-of-war and stone-throwing, but stepping onto the ssireum ring was the most thrilling. I didn't know how endearing the guy standing stubbornly in front could become. When you grab the satba and rub shoulders, it's important to be the first to find the itchy spots, the sore spots, the places that throb. You have to become his body. 'Araratchachacha...' and you pry into the opponent's spot you noticed. The joyous, goosebump-inducing resonance of that shout rings in the ears."
There is no need to say more about his skill in depicting ssireum scenes so deeply and vividly. So when did the designation "jangsa" begin to be commonly used?
After liberation on Aug. 15, ssireum took a leap forward in 1959 when the Hankook Ilbo, celebrating its fifth anniversary, organized the first national jangsa ssireum tournament under the auspices of the Korea Ssireum Association, and the event was a great success. The Hankook Ilbo planned ssireum tournaments twice a year, "spring and autumn," around the Dano and Gaecheonjeol holidays and decided to hold them annually. The first tournament set up a special stadium in the square in front of the central government building and held night matches every day from 7 p.m. for eight days from June 24 to July 2. The tournament officially advocated "left ssireum (current standard)," seeking to unify competition methods, and the "barun ssireum" mainly held in the Honam region was staged as an exhibition match for high school students.
A notable point was that for the first time the tournament winner's name was given the title "jangsa (壯士)." The individual left-ssireum winner received a bull as a prize and was bestowed the title jangsa. Depending on players' abilities, ranks were assigned with "jangsa" at the apex, followed by "janggun" and "seonsu." Thereafter the title "jangsa" naturally accompanied ssireum champions.
The inaugural jangsa title went to 23-year-old Kim Ki-su from Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang, who won all 16 matches. Buoyed by the crowd's enthusiasm, the Hankook Ilbo held the second tournament (autumn competition) from Oct. 10 that year, and on Oct. 16 the giant (214 cm) ssireum wrestler Kim Yong-ju won and received two bulls as a prize. At the time President Rhee Syng-man presented the Hankook Ilbo owner Jang Gi-young with a handwritten calligraphy of "Cheonhajangsa," and the trophy bearing that calligraphy, produced exactly as written, was held by Kim Yong-ju. That was the first time the title "Cheonhajangsa" was attached to the winner.
Ssireum prospered after the first professional Cheonhajangsa tournament (April 17, 1983) under the banner of "professionalization," and reached great popularity in the era of the so-called "three Lees" (Lee Man-ki, Lee Jun-hee, Lee Bong-geol), led by the sand-ring master Lee Man-ki, before gradually declining through the eras of Baek Seung-il, Kang Ho-dong and Hwang Dae-woong and Lee Tae-hyun.
On Jan. 4, 2024, the death from a fall from the roof of a rehabilitation hospital of two-time Cheonhajangsa winner Hwang Dae-woong at the relatively young age of 58 saddened many. His sudden death underscored the ephemeral change of eras in folk ssireum and marked the departure of the second generation of professional ssireum figures.
The day Hwang Dae-woong rose to Cheonhajangsa at the 21st Cheonhajangsa tournament on March 25, 1991, was also the day Lee Man-ki's retirement made the generational change starkly evident. Hwang Dae-woong, who later became a comedian and had been a peer of Kang Ho-dong during their active days, was a symbolic wrestler from Honam (Jangseong, South Jeolla) following Baek Seung-il (three-time Cheonhajangsa winner). He earned the Cheonhajangsa title twice and the Baekdujangsa title six times, and after the launch of folk ssireum was the first to pass 300 and 500 wins (Jan. 29, 1998). Hwang Dae-woong's personal record was 501 matches with 329 wins and 172 losses, and his records for most matches and most wins remain unbroken.
At the Withus Pharmaceutical 2025 Uiseong Cheonhajangsa Ssireum Grand Festival, which summed up the 2025 ssireum season (Nov. 29, Uiseong gymnasium), Kim Min-jae, 23, of the Yeongam County folk ssireum team, achieved a second consecutive Cheonhajangsa title and has been like timely rain for a ssireum world that longed for the rise of a great wrestler. In 2025 Kim Min-jae dominated with overwhelming performances, winning three major tournaments (2025 Seollal, Chuseok and Cheonhajangsa) and lifted his 17th jangsa trophy overall (14 Baekdujangsa, 3 Cheonhajangsa). Had he not been injured midseason, he could have dominated the heaviest weight class alone.
Kim Min-jae's emergence can be seen as a symbolic event that could help revive a ssireum scene that had long languished in a slump.
Born in 2002, Kim Min-jae was at Ulsan University through 2022 and has competed for the Yeongam ssireum team since 2023. In 2022, as a sophomore at Ulsan University, he drew attention by winning the Baekdu division at the Gangneung Dano Festival and then capturing the Cheonhajangsa title in the year-end tournament.
Kim Min-jae has a folk ssireum personal record of 125 matches with 112 wins and 13 losses (win rate 89.6%), a clear contrast even against Choi Seong-min, who had been a rival since high school (200 matches with 139 wins and 59 losses, win rate 69.5%).
Kim Min-jae's rapid rise resembles the emergence of Lee Man-ki about 40 years ago. Lee Man-ki, then a third-year student at Kyungnam University, became the inaugural Cheonhajangsa on April 17, 1983, at Jangchung Arena, where he defeated a field of formidable masters under the banner of reviving folk ssireum.
Although it is unnecessary to dwell on regions, it is encouraging from the perspective of balanced development between Yeongnam and Honam that Kim Min-jae, born in Jangheung near Yeongam County, continues the relatively rare line of great ssireum wrestlers from Honam.
For reference, looking at past folk ssireum winners with priority given to the number of Cheonhajangsa victories, Lee Man-ki stands alone. Lee Man-ki won the Cheonhajangsa 10 times, Baekdujangsa 18 times and Hallajangsa seven times, amassing 35 official titles. Next is Lee Tae-hyun with 23 (Cheonha 3 + Baekdu 20), and Kim Min-jae already has 17 (Cheonhajangsa 3 + Baekdu 14) and seems poised to surpass Lee Tae-hyun soon. Kang Ho-dong, though his active period was short, won the Cheonhajangsa five times and the Baekdu division seven times. Lee June-hee and Baek Seung-il each heard the Cheonhajangsa call three times.
Kim Min-jae's rise vividly demonstrates the succession in the ssireum world. Folk ssireum passes from one era to another, and now an era of a new outstanding figure led from the front by Kim Min-jae has arrived.
By Hong Yun-pyo OSEN senior reporter
Photo provided by Korea Ssireum Association