Kari Bari Blog

It’s 1915 France. Trenches oppose trenches. Faces face faces. Guns point at guns. Europe is at a stalemate.
Neither team will give in. It’ll take 3 more years, 16,000,000 deaths and cultural devastation before the deadlock will be broken.
It could have all been so much simpler; if only somebody had uttered those immortal words: “rock paper, scissor!”

It’s 2010 Korea. Two students stare each other down in class. They want desperately to give each other Chinese burns, flicks to the face, water boarding; all manner of things considered illegal under the Geneva Convention. (Read: OK ways to kill other people)
On of them utters those immortal words: “Kari, bari, bo!”

Rock paper scissor, or kari bari bo, to give it its Korean name, carries genuine weight over here. If a standstill unfolds, a last pizza slice is being sought by more than one, or a decision about immigration policy is splitting the cabinet; there’s only one way to resolve things in Korea, and the people have it down to a fine art.
People limber up before hand; celebrate victory like a world cup. I saw one man running in the mountains training for a particularly tough rock paper scissor contest.

My students first educated me in the ways of kari bari bo (it must be said in full each time, to shorten it would only devalue the bo, although I have no idea which that one is) and I presumed it was limited to school debates over distribution of pain and reading duties in class (to many students those aren’t mutually exclusive events.)

However, I underestimated the cultural reach of the game. Soldiers will use it to distribute duties, professional men to decide who gets the final soju shot. MPs over what to claim next on expenses.

It really does take over everything.

Both of you want to watch a different film? Kari bari bo!
Not sure where to holiday this year? Kari bari bo!
Debating which oil laden Middle Eastern country to invade next? Kari bari bo!

Despite all this, the system would just fall apart were it not for the fact it is adhered to strictly. If somebody loses they will perform what is asked of them with no question.

I even read of a criminal ring that has recently emerged in Seoul, filled with people playing Russian kari bari bo, or ножницы утеса бумажные in native tongue. The winner takes all the loser’s possessions, whilst the loser is killed by the hand that beat them. I.e. death by either rock scissor, or rather more trickily, paper. Being paper cut to death is pretty high on my ‘top 10 list of ways not to die.’

Both Koreas are technically still at war, since no armistice has ever been signed. It’s surprising the whole thing hasn’t being solved by kari bari bo, although, to be fair, in Kim Jong-Il’s case it would most likely be rock scissor nuclear warhead.

So why not tale a little Korea culture into your life today? Next time you’re mulling over debates such as: spend or save, holiday or house, jump or don’t jump; take the stress out of life. Just limber your wrist, pull back your arm and utter those immortal words: Kari Bari Bo!