Haidong Gumdo

[Xue Sheng]

What is Haidong Gumdo?

And has anyone trained it?

I like to keep track of the MA schools in my area and a lot of (surprising) new ones have popped up and one teaches Haidong Gumdo and I do not know what that is exactly beyond a Korean Sword art.

 

[Ninjamom]

Hi, Xue!

Haidong Gumdo is a Korean sword art. The name comes from the Korean name for the ancient kingdom of Balhae (700-900 AD) that covered North Korea and parts of Manchuria - from China it was 'east of the sea', the meaning of 'haidong'. "Gumdo" is the Korean word for 'sword art', and it applies to any sword techniques, styles, or methods, from kendo to test cutting to kenjitsu to ... haidong gumdo.

The art was formalized (organized as a legal entity, name chosen, forms devised, a structured curriculum developed) about 1981, so in that respect, it is very modern. However, the techniques were drawn from the two founders' knowledge of two other indigenous Korean sword arts. The two founders (Kim, Jeong Ho, and Na, Ha Nil) both studied and were authorized to teach the Korean martial arts of "Gicheon Mun" (lit. 'gateway to heavenly energy', a little-known Korean martial art comprised of both empty-handed and sword components) and "ShimGumdo" (a modern sword sparring art devised by a Korean monk in the 1960's).

All of the stances and most of the sword strikes in haidong gumdo are taken directly from Gicheon Mun, which I have been able to trace in Korea back to about 1950 (recall that 'lineage' in Korean arts does not have the same emphasis as in Japanese arts, making it harder to trace specific teachers and techniques). Gicheon is based on Northern Chinese KF forms (Shandong Mantis, possibly plum blossom), and you might be able to recognize some of the stances, if you page through the thumbnails posted here. Haidong gumdo, as a ersult, is a very fluid, less 'linear' art, than most Japanese kenjitsu forms.

The one-handed sword sparring techniques in haidong gumdo are taken directly from Shimgumdo. Supposedly, the founder of ShimGumdo received the sword techniques while in meditation in a Buddhist monastery as a youth, and received permission to teach his methods as a path to "mind-sword enlightenment" (a very liberal translation of the word, 'shimgumdo'). The original founder of shimgumdo is still alive, now teaching in a Buddhist monastery outside of Boston, MA, USA. When the original haidong gumdo organization split, the larger group (Daehan Haidong Gumdo, under Kim Jeong Ho) discontinued use of the Shimgumdo components and the chukdo (bamboo sword; shinai) forms and techniques. The Hankuk Haedong Kumdo Federation, under Na, Ha Nil, still uses them.

The haidong gumdo organization got in some disrepute early on for drastic historical revisionism. The 'official' history of the art included Kim, Jeong Ho being taught a sword art from an ancient Korean kingdom of long ago by a master named JangBaek San. Several underlings in the organization ran with this story, and now you can find websites full of stories about monks in mountains thousands of years ago studying haidong gumdo and teaching the Japanese who took the Korean art and became samurai This did incalculable damage in defaming a good martial art and branding it in the minds of many as a fraud. The truth is, however, that both Kim, Jong Ho and Na, Han Il studied Gicheon (from Master Paek, De Yang) and ShimGumdo (from the founder, Master Kim, Chang Sik). Combining the first name of one Master Instructor with the Surname of the other, gives ChangPaek, which by Korean pronunciation is identical to JangBaek. ("Jangbaek San" means "JangBaek Mountain", and is another name for Mount Baekdu, the location of ancient Korea's founding according to legend, and a national symbol for Korea. I suspect the name 'JangBaek San' was chosen to honor the two masters who taught Masters Kim and Na, and to emphasize the 'native Korean-ness' of the art.)

Haidong gumdo emphasizes flowing forms (with wooden and metal swords) and actual cutting with live blade. Some haidong gumdo practitioners cut rolled mat, but most learn and practice on bamboo poles. The art is effective (as measured by the cutting skill of those it trains), and I find the forms to be elegant and beautiful. Some practitioners also practice sparring (with bamboo sword, padded sword, or wooden sword), but it is not (as of yet) an official part of the curriculum.

 

[Lynne]

My Tang Soo Do school teaches Haidong Gumdo. I really don't know much about the art:

http://www.rexerstangsoodokarateacademy.com/shimgumdo.html

I have the seen the forms at tournaments and know that some gymnastics are involved such as shoulder rolls and somersaults.

Before tests, students are worried that they won't be able to snuff out their candles with their swords.

I'm sure this was enlightening

 

[MBuzzy]

Wow...I think Ninjamom pretty well got it. I train in Gumdo too, although unfortunately I'm currently a man without a school. No schools close and while I am an instructor, I need to deal with insurance, finding a place to teach and getting students before I set up shop.

 

[Lynne]

Wow...I think Ninjamom pretty well got it. I train in Gumdo too, although unfortunately I'm currently a man without a school. No schools close and while I am an instructor, I need to deal with insurance, finding a place to teach and getting students before I set up shop.

I didn't realize you had moved from Ohio to Florida. Are you serious about starting a school? If so, I wish you the best!

 

[MBuzzy]

I didn't realize you had moved from Ohio to Florida. Are you serious about starting a school? If so, I wish you the best!

Yep, I got down here in early May. I have a few prospective students, but I don't think that I'll actually get any real estate, just teach out of my car in parks or on base. Thanks!