All about Korean kite

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His Career

- Born in 1904 and passed away in 2011.

- Started to flying Bangpae from in 1918 when he was 15 years old.

- Entered Korean military academy in 1950 when he was 46 years old, entered Korean war, and

  leaved army as a lieutenant colonel in 1956.

- Was nominated the 4th human cultural assets of Seoul city in 1992.

- Was called and famous for  "Bangpae grandfather " in Korea.

- It's been handed down by word of mouth that he developed spars tension measuring with an elastic cord.

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His Career

Why is he called legend of Bangpae?

He is in his middle of seventies,but still healthy and energetic.He had been a motive of successive challenging to all Korean Bangpae fighters to overcome him.His line cut results had been near mythology till his middle of sixties.It's not too much to say that his kite was the origin of present Bangpae in Korea as a fighter kite.

source : Drachen

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His Career

- Born in 1958.

Contents of His contribution on Bangpae

-TBC-

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His Career

Born in 1956.

Entered Bangpae flying in 1972 when he was middle school boys.

Contents of His contribution on Bangpae

He lives in sourtheastern part of Korean peninsula, gentlemanly Korea No1. Bangpae line cut fighter, a role model as fighter seneior and works hard to train the upcoming Bangpae generation.He also has been doing his endless endeavour to develope Bangpae making and fighting skills.

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His Career

12th,Oct,2002.~ 8th,Mar,2011 : Chairman of Seoul folk kite preservation Club

Contents of His contribution on Bangpae

Lead this club members well with warm-hearted pesonality for unity and friendship between members.

All of members remember him a magnanimous person. He took care well many newcomers and members during his term.

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His Career

- Born in 1950.

Contents of His contribution on Bangpae

-TBC-

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1945 ~10th,Jan,2012

He passed away in 2012.His reel and knife can't be got anymore.

It might take at least more than 10 years to show up good reel like his.

Below picture was taken in 2005.His job was to make Korean reel and grooved knife.His is the best, and I think his personality was near artist. He had hotblood,accordingly sometimes he argued with kite fighters but everybody loved him,and admired his technology on these.Many Korean kite fliers miss,respect him so much.

He had made reels more than 30 years.It was really lucky Mr.Dominick and I had an opportunity to get his last Lot ebony reels.The reason why ebony the best material for Korean reel is that it has the largest specific gravity out of woods.Reeling applicates simultaneously hand power and higher inertia moment. 

Belows are wriiten by Kim, Hak-Bae with looking back on him

Always before every kite fighting festivals he used to talk " so unlucky guys to fight with me today !! ".He boasted openly with his unprepared,not trained fighting technics and less than 100(m) string  winded reel,but I hardly saw him winning the game.

Later, he hadn't entered fight contests, but he attended all kite festivals held over whole country,so we could see him always in those festivals. He lived a lonely, kook life, loved so much to drink, as usual artist does, he had so keen,straight sense and was wilful, and spoke frankly out on those persons to behave wrong to get some of anti-fans. I remember him to help me gladly to transport tents and jubbishes for the festival in Namhae 500(km) apart from Seoul. When I told him to make reel not to twist as time goes by, he joked me " Then how can eke out my living? ". I heard he quitted other good job to make reel well, it shows his passion on Bangpae and naive personality. I think we should remember his role and devotion on Bangpae developement.

 Bond : Two-liquid quick-drying Araldite

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I still remember the day and the shock I got when I saw the man,kite seller making Bangpae to teach me in my home.I didn't know the exact method of Bangpae making.I'd just been copying around 100 his kite with my imaginative way.I'd never thought how much Bangpae can be different by the construction method before I saw him doing it.I came to know I  just measured paper size,each spars dimensions of his and imitated. He torched, straightened spars and used around 3(cm) high bottle cap when he paste spars on paper to process volume up pasting.He made Bangpae so nicely.He was a hero to me for a while till I meet Mr.Tomcat(Lee,Jae-hern) on the KKFC(http://cafe.daum.net/yeonssaum) and introduced to Mr.Oh,Je-Hwan.

We chatted on there, Tomcat told me as if I don't know well about Bangpae,but I was a man had been already made more or less 100 Bangpae.At last, he drived car for an hour my home and showed his kite and flied it together. Absolutely,his kite was something different in apperaence and performance from mine,so fast that I couldn't controll well his.I vaguely able to understand higher level construction technology exist in this world I'd not experieced.

Tomcat learned it from Mr.Oh, and told me how kind Mr. Oh was to him during his trainning. 

Some of time passed and Mr.Oh gathered about six students, and we used to go his office for around 3 months 1~2 times a week and learn from him much.He was same age with me, but he had made Bangpae around several thousands pieces for 7 years living from 12 to 17 years old in home of a human cultural assets-he passes away 2 years ago- regarding Bangpae flying.I came to know Mr.Oh's kite making technic is the best in Korea.Usually masters tend to hide their know-hows got from their long experiences and don't open it well to others.It was actually his first try to make his desciples.We call us novice club members in the KKFC site.It was very lucky for me to have a chance to learn from Mr.Oh,Je-Hwan.He devoted to us,poured all of his to us.After that I haven't heard he used so long time for the other desciples club again.Some of the novice club members became a Bangpae devoted teacher as like their teacher did for them.Through wandering from place to place, at last I was guided to,settled down my place,after that I've made around 2~300 pieces of Bangpaes. Yes, I'd wandered almost a year from my first no-tailed Bangpae making, and good teacher,correct method are very important not to waste time and efforts.Bangpae has 5 spars means 5 variables to solve equations.That's the reason why it's not so simple to know her well.At first stage,please fully imitate my instructions here, and then understand, find your own way. I saw many kite fighters have been flying more than sevaral ten years flying with bad kites than those of novices.

Among six novice club members, only two persons those of me and Mr.Kang(http://www.kiteworld.co.kr/bbs/home/kiteworld/), still play with kites, the others can't see in this kite world.Below person,Tomcat also quit flying Bangpae.I miss him so much. Mr.Oh and Kang are falling into team performance with Delta kite and they are invited kite festivals held everywhere in the world.

Mr.Tomcat(Lee,Jae-hern)

Mr.Oh,Je-Hwan and his Bangpae

Below is Mr.Kang,Sung-Soo(the left person) and his posting to KKFC describing our tie to Mr.Oh in the 29th,Feb,2008

Written by Mr.Kang,Sung-Soo, and transrated by Peter,Nam.

The kite I made 3 months after entering kite fighting world.

At that time we were mad keen on Bangpae.

Our teacher Mr.Oh, Woo,Hyun-Taek, Tomcat(Lee,Je-Hern),Small kite(Peter,Nam), Mr.Park,Sul-Woong, Mr.Song,Woong-Ki, Mr.Jang,Soon-Nam, Mr.Kim,Choon-Sik...

We were fired up with understanding and technics on Bangpae day by day. 

Everyone differ in comprehension on kites, but helped one another selflessly.

We might call us " The 1st Novice club members", but our relationship is special. Ha-Ha!

Even masters have been play with kites several ten years differ in comprehension on kites.

It's right if I think over that point again.

Difference is better than equivalence.

Every kites differs by the human physical conditions,weather, etc.

Of course,the smaller the gap, the closer to the master level.

Despite masters, ten pieces of kites can not be the best kite.

So am I, Ha-ha!

Everyone has his own way to understand and construct a Kite,

but the basic is same,

Probably, I am lucky guy to meet a good teacher.

And also lucky to see good kite friends.

Furthermore, it's fortunate for us to get on the orthodox pedigree of Korean kite.

Influenced most person to my own Bangpae is Mr.Oh,Je-Hwan.

I made Bangpae only two times with Mr.Oh, but more than 80 percent of mine on kite making has come from Mr.Oh.

I pay my respect to Mr.Oh who has handed down me from A to Z all of his hard-won through life.

I say this story to newcomers to Banpae.

I hope next novice club to show up endlessly.

And I also stay in the mind of so pure novice club forever.

I have no kite below.

It probably passed away somewhere.

Compar to current level of mine, I've walked away so long from that time.Ha-ha.

I can see I missed balance when pull the diagonals.

I can feel the shoulder of diagoanals are weaker.

Of course, below is not any skills exerted, pure kite following after Mr.Oh's instruction at that level.

I remember he told me...

Please, follow only my instruction at each stage..

Don't follow anybody's word except me, despite your word from inside you.

Till you reach certain level and cross over it.

I hardly understood he told me at that time..

Now, I think over his words and come to feel it's lucky to me.

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His Career

Born in 1960.

Entered Bangpae flying in Apr,1995.

Opened KKFC(http://cafe.daum.net/yeonssaum) in Sep.,2000.

Invented glue jigs in 2002.

Tried to weigh spars tension on the scae first  in 2004.

Contents of His contribution on Bangpae

He invented glue jigs in 2002 applying handed down former method of double inclined plate to paste to central volume up.It's very helpful to glue spars with central volume up even novices.In Korea,he tried to measure spars tension accurately using scale first  in 2004.

And he helped so many newcomers to Bangpae world in many ways including giving glue jigs and materials for free.He has definitely been contributing Bangpae wide-spreading thorough the aboves and opening KKFC(Korean Kite Fighters Club) on the web. Current fighter population recovery near to early 1980s in Korea is attributed to his unconditional dedication.

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I was born to a poor family in 1965,west southern part of South Korea,a countryside in JeonBuk province.When I was a child, I saw so many neighbor friends and elders making and flying kites in winter. Two sorts of kites they flew, one was tailed lozenge, the other tailed Bangpae.I hardly saw anybody flying no tailed Bangpae or lozenge kite in my living rural area.I also made and flied tailed Bangpae,was unaware of no tailed ones for long time.I experienced it till around 12 years old before I moved alone to near city area to study in better educational environment.I've not heard,seen Korean used lozenge kite as a fighter kite, I don't know why they have.After that I totally had forgotten about kites, and graduated middle,high school in that city and one more moving alone followed to Seoul to study in a university.During university times, I majored mechanical engineering,but I remember, it was times of a struggle against the dark monsters,and main interest was about social conflicts.After military service and graduation from university,my life was almost same with those of ordinary people,took a job, married and got one son,one daughter.I had worked for automobile parts making companies and come to have many Japanese friends during this work.

In 2004, when my daughter attended kindergarten, one of her homework was making Korean kites.Generally if somebody encountered this case, Korean parent usually buy a kite kit and help kids assemble and complete their homework.But, it wasn't my case,it suddenly evoked memories of my childhood times on flying kites.I called my friend still living in hometown to ask available bamboo field he concerned, that day I drived my car 2 hours to birthplace and cut some of it back to my living place near Seoul.I tried to search my memories how I did. I forgot almost,but managed to complete the 1st job.I wanted to show my lovely daughter her father's childhood days and who your father is,but..It didn't fly well at all.I felt shame and pretty embarrassed.Why? Maybe it was because the wind past and current I greet are totally different, was so strong and steady, is turbulanced by buildings and trees.I tried it in a park,front of big reservoir surrounded by mountains,wind was pretty weak and unstable.Most of all, my kite was not good.A guy,actually first teacher to me,sold Bangpae,of course no tailed, flew very well, and he showed fantastic acrobatic movement to the passersby on the pond,he didn't adress me, just saw me and smiled.I used to go to the park and tried once a week for 4 weeks,but I couldn't success.At last, I was compelled to buy one of his at a price of 10,000(KRW)-approximately 10(USD)-.I came back home, disassembled his and copied it.It was my first success flying with no tailed Bangpae,despite hurt my pride.

Belows are flying pictures in early spring, March, 2005, with so many copied kites I had made around 100 copies of Bangpae sellers.It takes 5~8 hours to construct a Bangpae.I used so many times till late night after back from work, almost everyday for several months.Oneday the seller suggested me to learn Bangpae in earnest, I agreed on,and I bought he prepared necessary tools for me and he taught me one time for 4~5 hours how to make Bangpae.

Bangpae made in 2005 by me, I've lost them to the wind or gave them others at those times, below is unique one left to me.

Time passes like an arrow, kids grown up, I've got older, is it life? 

Some time passed and I became associated with Mr.Oh.Je-Hwan with my novice club friends.That story will be followed soon.