Imperial Dragon and Jacques collectively cited strength, loyalty, courage, and military strategy as four desired facets of a warrior, and subsequently based their earlier picks on those factors. Feel free to add or subtract from those "categories" in your judgement of each matchup. Try to make a good case for your choice in each instance (read - not just because you "like him better")
I'll post my choices here (feel free to pick them apart). The whole point of this is to stimulate debate and conversation.
At the end of the week the collective winners will advance to the next round. Most of these first matches are not hard to pick, with the obvious exception of two or three of them.
Here are my picks and the reasons I picked them:
Kyun Hwon defeats Cho Won Jun primarily because he's superior in just about every aspect that you can consider. Strength is no contest, while loyalty and courage are also easy to pick. General Cho must have been strong though. He held a high position in the military before the emergence of the Archfiend, and after the death of Yi Ui-Bang. His knowledge of strategy must also have been good. Overall, however, I think that this one is a laugher.
Pick: King Kyun Hwon
Yi Ko defeats Park Sulhee, in a hotly contested battle of two very skilled and powerful warriors. Yi Ko cannot compare to Sulhee in terms of loyalty, but courage is another issue altogether. They are probably a near match in battle with regard to fearlessness against enemy armies. Sulhee, though, struggled against some of Bekjae's warriors, particularly due to his lack of self control, in his youth, and because he simply wasn't as powerful as any of his other 3 sworn brothers. Still, he was the symbol of the Goryeo armies at the establishment of the empire.
Yi Ko is fearless against a host of soldiers or a singular formidable opponent. They are two crazy warriors and this one is probably the most intriguing matchup listed.
Pick: Yi Ko
Yu Geumpil wins over Choi Chon Hoon.
I know that Archfiend4Life is terrified of Choi Chon Hoon
, and he seems to have been an extremely dangerous man. Yu Geumpil is one of the most illustrious warriors in Korean history, and suffers nothing against any foe in head to head combat, or military strategy (thanks Jacques). In addition, his loyalty is absolutely unquestionable. When the Emperor sent him into exile for two years, only to prove a point to the royal court, he said nothing and used the opportunity to serve Goryeo.
Pick: Yu Geumpil
Du Geonseung defeats Chu Huhjo. Huhjo was a warrior of renown in later Bekjae, and is a sworn brother of the King. He is known for his strength, and died protecting the princes and battling against Shilla at Daeya.
General Du is a warrior who stood for strength and loyalty during an extremely tumultuous and trustless period. According to Imperial Dragon, his name along with Yi Ui-Min's are mentioned in the annuls of the Korean fighting art known as Tae Kwon Do. It sounds to me as though he is included as one of the strongest warriors in Korea's history. His portrayal as a peer to the Archfiend is convincing enough for me.
Pick: Du Geongseung
The Archfiend defeats the high general of Koryo, Hong Yu. Though Hong Yu was dominant in nearly every battle he appeared in, he was unable to defeat Sudal, even with the help of two other generals. His loyalty to Wang Geon is unquestioned, however, he did struggle with jealousy over Yu Geumpil's rise to fame.
The Archfiend is an unbeaten warrior, and is far too strong to have been beaten head to head by General Hong.
Pick: The Archfiend
Shin Seoungyum defeats KDS in an interesting match, albeit one with a decisive outcome.
Shin Seoungyum, like Yi Ui-Min was an undefeated warrior, and is the highest ranking merit subject to serve under Taejo Wang Guhn. As Imperial Dragon mentioned earlier, he gave his life to save the Emperor when the Goryeo army fell into Choi Seung Woo's trap at Mt. Gong.
KDS is an intriguing character, who apparently stood for the right things, and was very strong. Their historical significance, however, would not allow me to pick KDS in this matchup.
Pick: Shin Seoungyeum
Yi Ui-Bang might defeat Sudal, and so I pick him here. I think that I could right, or I could be dead wrong on this one, because it is clearly the toughest one to pick here.
Ui-Bang, as stated in earlier posts, was the chief initial facilitator of the Age of Warriors period in Korea. He was in position to do so, and achieved this primarily due to his strength as a warrior, and as a military leader.
Sudal was one of the strongest warriors in the later three kingdoms period, and posessed legendary strength. He once defeated three of Goryeo's generals head to 3 heads, single handedly. Ui Bang is clearly not his match in loyalty or courage, as Sudal burned himself to death rather than betray his kingdom. Ui Bang couldn't even deny his own desire for Muby.
Ultimately, they both forged their legend and legacy, by brute force, and Ui-Bang made a bigger noise in history.
Pick: Yi Ui-Bang
Taejo Wang Geon defeats Che Won clearly and decisively, due to utter superiority in military skill and strategy, honor, and courage. He was surely a more skilled warrior than Che Won, even if he wasn't of greater physical strength.
Pick: Emperor Wang Geon