The Pyeongon is a

nunchaku is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks (traditionally made of wood), connected to each other at their ends by a short metal chain or a rope. It is approximately 30 cm (sticks) and 1 inch (rope). A person w ...

-like weapon used by the Joseon army and is first mentioned in a martial arts manual called

Muyesinbo The ''Muyesinbo'' (or ''Muyeshinbo'', meaning "new compendium of martial arts") is a Korean martial arts manual published in 1759.Ehwa University Press 2008, Sippalgi: Traditional Korean Martial Arts, Dr. B.K. Choi The book is a revision of th ...

. The weapon was inspired by the farmer's

flail A flail is an agriculture, agricultural tool used for threshing, the process of separating cereal, grains from their husks. It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the othe ...

to thresh rice with. In the West it mostly known as a two-section staff. The ''Pyeongon'' consists of a large pole (187cm) with a shorter stick (47cm) attached to it by a metal chain, but sometimes rope was used. The short stick could be covered with spikes.

Techniques

The ''Pyeongon'' is one of the weapons in the

Muyedobotongji Commissioned in 1790 by King Jeongjo (r. 1740–1810), the ''Muyedobotongji'' (or ''Muye Dobo Tong Ji''; translating to "Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts") expanded on the eighteen weapons systems identified in the '' Muyeshinbo' ...

that has special techniques for use on horseback as well. This was called ''Masang Pyeongon'' (마상편곤, 馬上鞭棍). For foot soldiers techniques are given against the long staff ( gonbang; 棍棒). Traditional Korean weapons Polearms {{Blunt-weapon-stub