he military examination selected 190 candidates in the first stage, of whom 28 were allowed to pass the second stage.[22] Of these, 70 came from the capital and the remainder from the various provinces, with Gyeongsang contributing 30, Chungcheong and Jeolla contributing 25, and the remaining provinces 10 candidates each.[19]
The military examinations tested a mixture of military and literary criteria. The first stage of the test was a practical test of various military skills, focused on Korean archery but the second stage, in which the successful applicants were selected, was an oral examination of applicants' knowledge of the Confucian canon and certain classics of military thought. Of importance were Sun Tzu's Art of War, as well as Hanbizi and Wutzu.[23] The third stage, in which the candidates were ranked, was again based on practical military skills. These include horsemanship, and mounted archery. The story of Yi Sunshin failing the Mugwa the first time due to falling off his horse during this phase, at which point he applied a hasty tourniquet using willow branches, and finishing his mounted archery portion is well known.