# Taekwondo sword use?



## gavman (May 6, 2009)

Hi everybody,

I am a first degree decided black belt in the American Taekwondo Association, ATA. I recently re-joined the association after a subatical and I have been informed that now there is a weapon program for the sword. I would like to know if anyone could inform me about the requirements and the style of this weapon focus.

Thank You,

Gavman


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## NPTKD (May 6, 2009)

I'm sorry to here that..... If there is anything I can do please let me know.


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## granfire (May 6, 2009)

NPTKD said:


> I'm sorry to here that..... If there is anything I can do please let me know.



roflmao!


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## clfsean (May 6, 2009)

granfire said:


> roflmao!



That is funny... not surprising though


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## Masshiro (May 6, 2009)

more than likely if it is sword based it is "Gumdo" which is korea's equivelent of "kendo" the forms are a bit abstract to say the least. is has allot of jumping strikes in it. today i was learning one form that at the end it has a " jump strike, hop strike, jump strike" it is a little strange but i guess it is something you could get used to.


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## Dave Leverich (May 6, 2009)

Gavman, it's the Dao sword (although 'Korean' as everything was invented by Korea (see also: humor heh)). The form is actually pretty nice, but basic from a sword standpoint. It reminded me of my days in Tai Chi as far as speed etc in some parts.

Btw, a better place to post without all the peanut gallery is ataforums.com. I do understand _why_ the ATA gets so much flack, I just find I'm an exception to the rule when it comes to that org.

They also do have Kumdo, but again it's pretty basic levels of understanding. If you're looking to actually become proficient in the weapon, you'll want to find a kumdo instructor (or kendo, which has a few inch shorter blade).


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## granfire (May 7, 2009)

clfsean said:


> That is funny... not surprising though



LOL, you know me very well it seems!


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## terryl965 (May 7, 2009)

Best of Luck


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## clfsean (May 7, 2009)

granfire said:


> LOL, you know me very well it seems!



Not you laughing about it (I'm with you there) but laughing at the "ATA sword" requirement...


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## miguksaram (May 7, 2009)

Masshiro said:


> more than likely if it is sword based it is "Gumdo" which is korea's equivelent of "kendo" the forms are a bit abstract to say the least. is has allot of jumping strikes in it. today i was learning one form that at the end it has a " jump strike, hop strike, jump strike" it is a little strange but i guess it is something you could get used to.


Actually I believe the ATA is teaching Haidong Kumdo which is nothing like Daehan kumdo (Japanese Kendo).


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## NPTKD (May 7, 2009)

rent a star wars dvd. I think darth mal is doing the same form.


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## clfsean (May 7, 2009)

NPTKD said:


> rent a star wars dvd. I think darth mal is doing the same form.



Ray Park is a modern wushu/movie-fu player. 

Anybody gotta video of the ATA "dao" form?


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## granfire (May 7, 2009)

movie fu! HAHAHAHAHA


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## bluekey88 (May 7, 2009)

For those who my be confused by the humor in this situation, let me clarify.  Traditional TKD, of any flavor, has no weapons component.  It had been dropped from the Shotokan curriculum by Funakoshi well before the Koreans started their training in Japan.  Thus, anytime a weapons curriculum shows up in a TKD priogram...it is an import from somewhere else.  Quality and standards are often dubious (not always, but mroe often than not).

Peace,
Erik


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## clfsean (May 7, 2009)

ATA Kama??????





ATA Toothpick-like Stick





ATA Sword swingin' @ 3:57


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## miguksaram (May 7, 2009)

I take back my original thought on this.  I believe the ATA is just running an XMA sword program.  I do not believe it falls under Haidong or Daehan kumdo.  I don't know who is teaching them this, but over all they suck.  Their cuts are sloppy with no focus. 

I feel for you if you have to do this because it doesn't look like you are going to get any real sword training out of it.


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## Dave Leverich (May 7, 2009)

They have a Haidong program as well, run by 7th dan Raimondi (I forget his first name), I know he's trained in Haidong for decades. But, people take a course over a weekend, learn the moves and go back... yeah.

I think the idea with all of the weapon programs is more of a quick overview to give people insight into them. If anyone was serious about wanting to learn that weapon they'd have to take up study on their own at a suitable school.


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## Dave Leverich (May 7, 2009)

Ps. The Dao sword is a similar thing, learn a form etc, if you want to actually 'learn' the weapon.... well it's like any other artform, find a master and invest years etc.


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## Jphtkd (May 7, 2009)

ATA has turned into the walmart of the martial arts world, they pretty much sell a little of everything. XMA was floundering before ATA picked it up though so the relationship has been mutually beneficial.


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## Dave Leverich (May 7, 2009)

Definitely a bit of everything yeah. When I started my line was MDK (TSD & TKD, my instructors were from the time when the Kwan was becoming TKD instead of TSD 69-73) and that was it, while we did switch to the new forms they'd created, we still did JUST Taekwondo. Now there's a little bit of everything, and almost no Kwan lineage to any of the schools unless they have an old master.


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## Mark Lynn (May 8, 2009)

Dave Leverich said:


> I think the idea with all of the weapon programs is more of a quick overview to give people insight into them. If anyone was serious about wanting to learn that weapon they'd have to take up study on their own at a suitable school.


 
That or they want to make their program seem more robust than it really is.

Not all schools are like this of course but most are.  I visited a school a couple of months ago and saw that escrima was added to their TKD program.  I watched as some kids were out on the floor doing a basic pattern (Sumbrada) but they really didn't have much of a clue as to what was going on.  Afterwards a young BB got up and demonstrated a boken (wooden katana) combination of I think three cuts with the clearing of the blood off of the blade finish to the group of adult students.  Everyone followed his lead, I was glad to see no one was hurt with all of the wooden weapons/sticks flying around, clearing away the imaginary blood.

Look at most schools today teaching their students to hold the kama choked up to the blade so they can control it while they are doing flips through the air or cartwheels in the form competition at the local tournament (or even national tournament for that matter).  It is crazy.

At the same time though, I've added to my curriculum basic defenses against weapons (from the FMAs) in the Brown belt and higher ranks.  The difference being that I have also a curriculum based on the FMAs which I also teach for my adults.  Just FYI my main interest lies in the FMAs and I'm way more qualified to teach the FMA material than I am to teach my curiculum of Americanized TKD.  However since I have more kids than adults, and I really like teaching the kids, over the past two years I teach more TKD than arnis.

Mark


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## Cirdan (May 11, 2009)

You know seeing the title of this thread I saved it for monday. I was not disappointed. Thanks, it made me smile on an otherwise usually bleak day.


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