Kumdo

Kumdo
(검도 (劍道), *kumdō*)
	; One way of Kumdo in Korea
Focus	Weaponry
Olympic sport	No
Official website	http://www.kumdo.org/

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Kumdo is a modern martial art descended from kendo, which is practiced in Korea. It is also romanized as kǒmdo, gumdo, or geomdo. The name means "the way of the sword," and is a cognate with the Japanese term. Kumdo is a martial art that has become engrained within Korean culture and society since being introduced from Japan. The term kumdo has within recent history also been used as a generic term for other Korean martial arts based upon swordsmanship and caution should be exercised so as not to confuse Kumdo with martial arts of Korean origin such as Haidong Gumdo and Hankumdo. Although identical to kendo, minor superficial differences exist due to appropriation and acculturation of kendo. Such differences include the use of native terminology, the use of blue referee flags in contrast to red flags. Furthermore, hakama without koshiita and hakama that use velcro rather than be tied have been developed within Korea, and can be seen in use along side traditional hakama.

[edit] History

Kendo, then still known as gekiken, was introduced to Korea from Japan in 1896 as a form of police and military training. After Japan outlawed many Korean martial arts, they introduced Japanese martial arts such as judo and kendo to schools^{[citation needed]}. Its popularity in Korea spread quickly as part of Korea's first national physical education system. Up until end of the occupation in 1945, kumdo developed in parallel with kendo^{[citation needed]}.

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^{[citation needed]}.

A brief time line of Kumdo.

1896 Japanese introduce gekiken, the precursor to modern kendo into the Korean police academies^{[citation needed]}

1904 Gekiken introduced as part of curriculum of the military academies^{[citation needed]}

1906 Gekiken introduced into Korean school curriculum^{[citation needed]}

1908 a tournament held between the Korean police and their Japanese counterparts. Gekiken was also included in the first official national physical education program for the general public^{[citation needed]}.

1910 Joseon is formally annexed by Japan and becomes part of growing Japanese empire. The term, kumdo, coined according to the Korea Kumdo Association. Japan begins efforts to replace and repress Korean culture^{[citation needed]}

1919 According to Japanese records, the term kendo is coined in Japan on August 1, 1919^{[citation needed]}.

1927 Kumdo becomes an official curricular subject in junior high schools^{[citation needed]}.

1935 Kumdo included in the 16th National Joseon Sports Festival^[1]

1938 National Joseon Sports Festival prohibited by Japanese ^[1]

1945 Kumdo began to flourish again after Korea regains independence from Japan ^[1]

1947 Korean kumdo began to restructure itself with the holding of the Seoul Police Kumdo Tournament ^[1]

1948 Approximately 100 highly ranked kumdo instructors gathered in Changdeokgung Palace and formed the predecessor to the Korean Kumdo Association ^[1]

1950 The 1st National Police Kumdo Tournament was held ^[1]

1952 A committee was created to oversee the formation of the KKA^[1]

1953 The KKA was inaugurated and became affiliated with the Korean Amateur Sports Association^[1]

The 1st National Individual Kumdo Championships were held (Same year that the All Japan Kendo Federation was formed)^[1]

1956 Kumdo was once more included as an official event of the National Sports Festival after a break of 20 years ^[1]

1959 Kumdo became increasingly popular with the President’s Cup Grade Category Tournament, and the National Student Championships ^[1]

1964 The Student Kumdo Federation became affiliated with the KKA ^[1]

1970 The Student Federation separated into the Collegiate Federation and the Secondary Schools Federation. The International Kendo Federation was formed and a Korean named as Vice President ^[1]

1972 Kumdo was included in the National Youth Sports Meet ^[1]

1979 The news agency Dong a Ilbo joined forces with the KKA in sponsoring the President’s Cup National Championships ^[1]

1988 The Korean Social Kumdo Federation was formed and followed by the 1st National Social

Championships ^[1]

1993 Inauguration of the SBS Royal National Championships^[1]

[edit] Today

Kumdo tournaments have abandoned some elements of Japanese culture, such as the squatting bow (sonkyo) performed by competing kumsa or kenshi at the beginning and end of a match.

[edit] Equipment

Protective equipment is used in Kumdo. This equipment is called bogu in Japanese but is referred to as hogu in the Korean language. (호구)

[edit] Clothing

While many practice with the same uniform as kendo, usually indigo-blue, kumdo practitioners have been willing to change elements of the uniform including the colour and other modifications. Many wear hakama without a koshiita and use velcro instead. In national tournaments, the Korean national team typically wears white keikogi with black trim and stripes on their hakama, in contrast to the all indigo-blue worn by kendo practitioners.

[edit] Levels/Ranks

Kumdo practitioners start at the lowest level of the 10th geup and progress upward, until the 1st geup. The requirements for each geup progression, depends usually upon the school and what organization they are affiliated with. After the geup levels, students reach master or dan and start at the 1st dan level. The students may then go onto higher levels in an increasing increment for their dan levels. Examinations are usually required in order to proceed to higher levels, and are monitored and observed by members of a respective organization to the school.

[edit] Forms

Forms practiced by kumdo practitioners include the Bonguk Geombeop (본국검법, 本國劍法), Joseon Saebeop(조선세법, 朝鮮勢法) and the ten bon or kendo no kata (검도의본, 劍道形), forms standardized by the FIK. The first two forms, the Bonguk Geombeop and Joeson Saebop are unique inthat they are practiced by Korean kendoists and are not practiced by Japanese counterparts. Proficiency with these forms is required for rank promotion tests conducted by the Korea Kumdo Association, the de-facto governing body for Korean kumdo, and its overseas affiliates. However, the bon originating from kendo are practiced in a modified manner, omitting the sonkyo bow and using Korean names and terminology in place of the original Japanese. Joseon Saebeop and Bonguk Geombeop serve as kumdo's practical historical link to Korean swordsmanship from previous eras, while bon and overall training and sparring style reflect Japanese influences on modern kumdo.

A few kumdo dojang or schools will also incorporate kuhapdo forms, 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.

[edit] Competition

Korea sends a team to the World Kendo Championships or WKC held every three years and have been strong competitors in the past WKCs. During the 13th World Kendo Championships held in Taipei, Taiwan from December 8–10, 2006, Korea defeated the United States to win the men's team championship for the first time, the first country other than Japan to win a title at the WKCs. The United States had earlier eliminated the Japanese team during the semi-finals.^[2] In competition, the main differences between kendo and kumdo are stylistic. Kumdo practitioners generally favor a dynamic style of play, focusing on using fast, aggressive, and effective small motion strikes to create openings for attacks more in line with battlefield use. Kendo practitioners however, general focus on the perfect single strike, waiting patiently for an opening and the correct timing to land a decisive attack. In recent years, with frequent contact between kendo and kumdo stylists through cross-training and competition, this distinction has somewhat blurred, as individual practitioners of either kendo and kumdo have preferred styles of play.

The scoring flags are different as well; blue and white instead of the red and white found in kendo.

[edit] Organizations

Though there are many kumdo organizations, the Korea Kumdo Association (KKA), a member of the Korean Sports Federation and by far the most influential and most dominant kumdo organization,^[1] claims to be the only official body for kumdo in Korea and serves as the Korean affiliate for the International Kendo Federation or FIK. Korean representatives to the World Kendo Championships (WKC) are typically chosen by the KKA, as the event is overseen by the FIK. 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 FIK affiliate for that country. For example, many of the kumdo dojangs in the United States choose to affiliate with an overseas branch of the KKA instead of seeking association with the All United States Kendo Federation (AUSKF), the FIK affiliate for the US. However, because the KKA is a FIK affiliate, rankings awarded by them, are honored and accepted by the other affiliates including the AUSKF. While 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 an overseas branch of the KKA in the US.

[edit] Notable 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 the art in the media. The art promoted by them, Daehan Kumdo (大韓劍道), is virtually identical to kendo as practiced in Japan, 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.

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. 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 FIK affiliates. Some WKA officials are noted as being practitioners of taekwondo rather than kumdo. It claims affiliates in other countries as well.

[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-iｃchi (気剣体一致). 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.