Hai Dong Gumdo - Frequently Asked Questions

• Do you use armour and bamboo swords (like Kendo / Kumdo)? Not as a rule. The art primarily deals with forms (called gumpup) and employs a hard wood sword (called a moggum). The instructors often offer armoured training at an individual level but do not employ the rules found in the competitive sparring of Kendo / Kumdo. Most people do not buy or use armour during their study of Hai Dong Gumdo but most of us have a bamboo sword (called a juk-to) somewhere. Kumdo is the Korean pronunciation of the chinese characters for "Sword Way". Kendo is the Japanese pronunciation of the same characters. There are very few differences between Kendo and Kumdo. There are endless differences between Hai Dong Gumdo and Kumdo. The Federtion chose to use the g-u-m-d-o spelling hoping to make it easier to recognize that there is a difference. The root of the difference lies in that Kumdo revolves around personal combat with one oponent while Hai Dong Gumdo practices battlefield techniques - everything with an eye to multiple attacks.
• Is it like Iaido or Kenjutsu? I suppose comparisons to Japanese arts are inevitable and throughout this site I make those comparisons myself as it seems to be the fastest way to explain some things. Hai Dong Gumdo is a martial art for self-discovery and improvement. Its focus is on battlefield sword use. The curriculum covers attacks from the draw, forms, breakfalls, cutting with real swords, abdominal breathing meditation (danjon ho-up) and moving meditation (ki gong), armoured and unarmoured sparring as well as unarmed combat.
• What weapons do you learn to use? Most training is done with a moggum (hard wood sword). After black belt the student regularly receives training with a real sword (jingum) for cutting and gumpup (forms). For safety reasons the moggum is used in group classes. At higher ranks, students begin to learn the use of two swords. Hai Dong Gumdo does not include other weapons training. It restricts itself to the use of the sword. The reason for this restriction is that the officers of the Federation chose to focus the art on self-improvement rather than the training of medieval warriors. The sword training is complete but unlike the warriors of the past, students will not receive training in pole arms and bows.
• Is there an external training program (video tapes / seminars)? At this time there are no training materials to learn Hai Dong Gumdo on your own. There are a few books in Korean from authors of varying experience in the art but none of these are training manuals. There are, of course, rumours of English books and manuals being written. We'll see. There are seminars performed throughout the year in various parts of the globe.
• Is the video from Turtlepress any good? I enjoy watching it. It is not an instructional video. It is an honest look at several practitioners demonstrating many aspects of the curriculum.
• Is the video from Robert Young's website any good? I haven't seen it so I can't say. I expect that it is. I do know that some of the material he presents about Hai Dong Gumdo does not entirely fit with the state of the art here in Korea as I know it. There seems to be no good explanation for these differences but that seems to be the nature of the beast which is Korean martial art.
• Where can I get a sword? If you would like to try dealing with a Korean company (and speak Korean) you can try the Korean Sword Company. If you would like a custom made sword from a respected smith in North America I choose to recommend Randal Graham at Dragon Fist Forge.
• How about tattoos and body art? Excuse me?

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