Korean swordsmanship
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The technique of Korean swordsmanship is relatively obscure to the West, but for martial arts masters of the east has regained its reputation from modern swordsmen and martial arts masters.
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[edit] History
Korean swords have a long history, comparable to martial histories in other East Asian countries, but little documentation remains and thus not much is known of the techniques and practice of Gum Do or "the way of the sword"
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. Chosun Se Bup, one of the few surviving techniques of historical Korean swordplay, is based on this work. Today, there are only two remaining documents that refer to ancient Korean martial arts[1].
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. However, kumdo is not usually understood to be a direct descendant of any of these ancient sword arts, rather it is the Korean version of Japanese Kendo, with almost all kata, techniques, rules and regulations identical between the two.
[edit] Gumdo
Gumdo is a modern martial art of fencing, the Korean equivalent of Japanese kendo.
The Korea Kumdo Association (KKA) is the de facto governing organization for kumdo in 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. The KKA has established overseas branches in other countries which have substantial Korean populations and have kumdo dojangs or schools. Unlike most of the FIK affiliates, including Japan, they wish to see kumdo/kendo become an Olympic sport as with Judo and Taekwondo.
The World Kumdo Association (WKA) - founded around 2001 as a merger of thirteen smaller, rival kumdo organizations, they are critical of the KKA and seek to become a rival to the FIK by having kumdo included in the Olympic games with them as the recognized governing body ahead of the FIK. They are proponents of changes to the format and scoring system, advocating the use of electric scoring as with fencing.
Haedong Gumdo (海東劍道 "Korean way of the sword") is a name coined around 1982 and used for several Korean martial art organizations that use swords. Practitioners of Haidong Gumdo engage in the practice of basic techqniues (kibon), forms (geompeob or pumsae), step sparring (yaksuk daeryun), sparring (hada), energy building exercises (qi gong) and cutting practice (begi).
[edit] Olympic fencing
Lim Mi-Kyung is one of the veterans of contemporary swordsmanship in Korea, and has represented the country at numerous competitions.
The current Korean fencing champions are known for being intense fighters, mentally tough, and with good strength according to their competitors.
Amongst other sabre and foil experts, increasingly dominated by the new vigorous women blades are:
- Seo Mi-jung
- Lee Gyu-young
- Lee Shin-mi
[edit] See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- Korean sword
- Kumdo
- Haedong Gumdo
- Gummu (Korean sword dance)
- Chung Suk Kuhapdo (Korean Iaido)
