Kumdo

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Kumdo
Hangul:	검도
Hanja:	劍道
Revised Romanization:	Geomdo
McCune-Reischauer:	Kǒmdo

Kumdo is a modern martial art of fencing, the Korean equivalent of Japanese kendo. It is also romanized as kǒmdo, gumdo, or geomdo. The name means "the way of the sword," using the same Chinese characters as kendo.

1 History
- 1.1 Ancient Korean fencing
- 1.2 Gekiken, kendo, and kumdo
2 Kumdo today
- 2.1 Terminology
- 2.2 Organizations
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Ancient Korean fencing

According to the Army Account of Military Arts and Science (Hanzi: 武備志; Pinyin: Wǔ Bèi Zhì), a Ming dynasty strategy book written in 1629 by Mao Yuanyi, Korean fencing (朝鮮勢法; Cháoxiǎn shìfǎ) was a martial art that had reached Korea through Chinese martial artists. Much of this text was based on earlier works by Ming general Qi Jiguang, who successfully adapted and emulated the use of the Japanese katana by developing the wodao, to respond to the prevalent threat of the Japanese wokou or pirates. Chosun Se Bup, one of the few surviving techniques of historical Korean swordplay, is based on this work.

However, warriors were regarded as secondary to scholars during parts of the Goryeo Dynasty and much of the Joseon Dynasty, due to the heavy influence of Confucianism and martial arts other than traditional Korean archery were little practised except by members of the military or mostly lost. Many arts died out without sucessors to carry on its traditions as a result. Today, there are only two remaining documents that refer to ancient Korean martial arts.

These ancient arts are not popularly considered to be ancestors of kumdo, though some kumdo scholars, including those at the Korea Kumdo Association, believe ancient Korean fencing as outlined in a Silla dynasty book known as Bonguk Geombeop (本國劍法; Korean Sword Method) was the basis of all modern two-handed sword techniques. This belief is not commonly held outside Korea.

[edit] Gekiken, kendo, and kumdo

Kendo, then still known as gekiken, was introduced to Korea from Japan at the end of the 19th century as a form of police and military training. During the Japanese occupation, its popularity in Korea spread quickly as part of Korea's first national physical education system. Around 1920, the name kumdo was coined as a translation of the sport's new name in Japan, kendo. Up until the end of the occupation in 1945, kumdo developed in parallel with kendo.

After the occupation ended, kumdo restructured itself, and the Korean Kumdo Association was formed in 1947. When the Korean National Sports Festival was reinstituted in South Korea in 1956, Kumdo was included as an official event.

[edit] Kumdo today

The rules and the equipment are almost the same as those of kendo because the two have only been allowed to diverge since 1945. Kumdo tournaments have abandoned some elements of Japanese culture, such as the squatting bow (sonkyo). The hogu (호구; 防具), or armor, are often simplified compared to kendo's bogu. The scoring flags are different as well; blue and white instead of the red and white found in kendo.

While many practice with the same navy blue uniform as kendo, kumdo practictioners have been willing to change elements of the uniform including the colour and other modifications. Many wear hakama without a koshita and use velcro instead. In particular, the Korean national team wears white keikogi or dobok with black trim and stripes on their hakama, in contrast to the all navy-blue worn by kendo practitioners. This style of uniform has become popular among kumdo dojang both in Korea and in countries like the United States, which have a substantial Korean population.

Many kumdo practitioners will practice the standardized 10 forms or kata for kendo in a modified manner, omitting the sonkyo bow and using Korean names and terminology. Others will also learn Korean forms including the Bon Guk Kum Bup and Chosun Se Bup.

A few kumdo dojang or schools will also incorporate kuhapdo, the Korean variant for iaido in their curriculum as opposed to the typical distinction where iaido is taught as a distinctly different though complementary art alongside kendo.

While kumdo practitioners can enter and compete in kendo tournaments, they normally compete in their own tournaments for kumdo and avoid kendo tournaments because of a perceived bias against the Korean kumdo style by tournament officials. However, Korea does send a team to the World Kendo Championships or WKC held every three years and have been strong competitors in the past WKCs, with numerous second place finishes in team competition and third places finishes in individual competitions. In the most recent WKC (13th) held in Taipei,Taiwan from December 8 - 10, 2006, Korea finally ended Japan's monopoly and dominance by winning the men's championship for the first time, ending Japan's run of men's titles since the first WKC.

Kumdo practitioners in Korea now number over 400,000 and is considered the second most popular martial art in Korea today, with Taekwondo being the most popular and Yudo and Hapkido tied for a distant third. There are over 200 kumdo organizations in Korea. However, the Korea Kumdo Association (KKA), a member of the Korean Sports Federation and by far the most influential and most dominant kumdo organization, claims to be the only official body for Kumdo in Korea and serves as the Korean affiliate for the International Kendo Federation or IKF. Korean representatives to the World Kendo Championships (WKC) are typically chosen by the KKA, as the event is overseen by the IKF. The KKA's status is similar to that of the All Japan Kendo Federation, which is the dominant body for kendo in Japan and claims to be the only official body, despite the presence of numerous, but smaller kendo organizations.

There are also a number of Kumdo dojang outside Korea, primarily where there are large numbers of Korean immigrants, such as the United States. Many of these dojangs choose to be affiliated with overseas branches of kumdo organizations like the KKA rather than the local IKF affiliate for that country. For example, many of the kumdo dojangs in the United States choose to affiliate with an overseas branch organized by the KKA instead of seeking association with the All United States Kendo Federation (AUSKF), the IKF affiliate for the US. However, because the KKA is an IKF affiliate, rankings awarded by them, are honored and accepted by the other affiliates including the AUSKF. While some kumdo practitioners outside Korea will also compete in kendo tournaments, many choose to compete only at tournaments sponsored by a kumdo organization rather than a kendo organization. One example is the Bong-Rim-Gi kumdo tournament held annually in the summer among kumdo schools in the United States and sponsored by the overseas branch of the KKA in the US.

Many Koreans, who remember Japan's occupation and suppression of Korean culture from 1910 to 1945 and continue to harbor anti-Japanese resentment, practice kumdo claiming that its origins and that of koryu kenjutsu, the forerunner of modern Japanese kendo, lie in ancient Korea. Some even consider kumdo part of traditional Korean culture, thus claiming kumdo to be as much of a birthright for Koreans as kendo is for Japanese. However, they are willing to admit that the Japanese were instrumental in developing much of the equipment and methodology used in modern kumdo. Others, especially practitioners from the younger generations, admit that the kumdo they practice is essentially Japanese, at least in its present form.

In competition, the main difference between kendo and kumdo is fighting style. Kumdo practitioners favor a dynamic style of play, focusing on faster, smaller and more aggressive attacks to create openings for attacks. Kendo practitioners however, focus on the perfect single blow, waiting patiently for openings and timings for larger strikes.

[edit] Terminology

Kumdo uses Korean language terminology exclusively, though much of it is cognate with the original kendo terms. For instance, the criteria used to determine whether a point is scored is known as gigeomche (기검체; 氣劍體), instead of ki-ken-tai-ichi (気剣体一). This name derives from the same Chinese roots; "gi" (氣) for qi or spirit, "geom" (劍) for the sword, and "che" (體) for the body. Below is a table comparing some other similar terms and their corresponding Chinese characters. Note slight differences in the appearance of some characters are due to Japanese use of shinjitai characters.

Terminology
	kendo(剣道)	kumdo(劍道)
sword	shinai(竹刀)	jukdo(竹刀)
armor	bogu(防具)	hogu(防具)

[edit] Organizations

Noteworthy Organizations:

Korea Kumdo Association (KKA) - the de facto governing organization for kumdo in Korea due to its size and its influence through their heavy promotion of kumdo throughout Korea. The art promoted by them, Daehan Kumdo (大韓劍道), is virtually identical to kendo, with noted changes to reflect Korean cultural influences and methodology, and is the kumdo which Koreans normally refer to. However, many have criticized it for its affiliation with the IKF, which is dominated by practitioners of Japanese kendo. The KKA has established overseas branches in other countries which have substantial Korean populations and have kumdo dojangs or schools. Unlike most of the IKF affiliates, they wish to see kumdo/kendo become an Olympic sport as with Judo and Taekwondo. It traditionally claims that kumdo's origins lie in the Hwarang from ancient Silla.

World Kumdo Association (WKA) - founded around 2001 as an merger of thirteen of the smaller, rival kumdo organizations, they are critical of the KKA and seek to become a rival to the IKF by having kumdo included in the Olympic games with them as the recognized governing body ahead of the IKF. They are proponents of changes to the format and scoring system, advocating the use of electric scoring as with fencing. Although they have strong political ties with people who were involved in making Taekwondo part of the Olympics, their membership is far smaller in number to that of the KKA and many IKF affiliates. Some WKA officials are noted as being practictioners of taekwondo rather than kumdo. It too claims affiliates in other countries.

Haidong Gumdo, founded by members who seceded from the KKA. Haidong Gumdo is significantly modified in style from standard kumdo, emphasizing what they consider a native Korean "battlefield" style of combat over the one-on-one dueling style found in standard or Daehan Kumdo. As such, it is generally unrelated to modern, standard kumdo, although it also claims to be kumdo.