Ka Gums

[MBuzzy]

When does your studio give their students Ka Gums?

 

[Ninjamom]

Our students can practice with and wear kagums at green belt, although I have made exceptions - I have one white belt student of great maturity, character, and control whom I let use a kagum while practicing stationary basic cuts and stances.

 

[brad]

And by 'give' you mean allow to use, yes?

 

[MBuzzy]

That is a good point....Does your school "issue" student's their ka gum? Basically a loan from the school or does each student buy their own or a little bit of both?

By yes, what do you mean? That your students do use them? At what level are they allowed?

 

[Ninjamom]

If they want 'em, they buy 'em. They are not required, and there is no pressure that they 'have' to get one. Any kagum must be approved by me first (I've already nixed swords of plastic, 440 stainless, and aluminum wushu-style), and their use is a privilege, not a right - if someone is operating in an unsafe manner, they must put the new toys away.

I have let students borrow mine ocassionally, for a limited time. I will let them practice whenever they want with my plastic and cardboard tubes - real scabbards are a lot easier (and more expensive) to break.

 

[MBuzzy]

Does the Federation supply them or can they come from any supplier?

 

[Ninjamom]

Keep in mind that we are NOT a Federation school (long story), so Federation swords are NOT required. In our class right now we have two Federation kagums, one MAS kagum, and two Cheness iaito.

 

[mtabone]

We are allowed to use kagums at 5th gup.

I usually have white belts do chuck bahl gums (draw/cut/sheath) with my kagum a couple of times to see the more realistic expression of the movements...but just enough to see what it feels like...

I love the cheness iaito's. I think you can't go wrong for the money. Though I also own a federation kagum, and an aluminum kagum with a bohi. I usualy only use the aluminum one for demo's/tournaments/and cutting paper, and the federation kagum is like my work horse...I keep it in my car because it requires no care basicly being a stainless blade, and I can train with it when ever time becomes available. Though for class and solo dojang training it is all about the cheness blade.

my two thoughts

haidong!

mtabone

 

[MBuzzy]

Anyone know how to clean a Kagum without damaging it or the finish? Particularly how to get the sticker residue off from the nice little Korean sticker that says "Don't play swordfighting." Thanks!

 

[cdunn]

Anyone know how to clean a Kagum without damaging it or the finish? Particularly how to get the sticker residue off from the nice little Korean sticker that says "Don't play swordfighting." Thanks!

Alcohol and elbow grease for the sticker, applied with a soft cloth. The Fed. Kagum doesn't need much care, just wipe down the blade with your favorite solvent if it starts to look particularly grimy.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Ka gums are not issued or loaned to our students; if they wish to use one, they must purchase it themselves. Use of any steel blade by a student must be approved by the instructor, both the use of the blade and the blade in question. The biggest consideration is the quality and construction of the grip. Cheesy grips with no tang and a foil style nut holding it together are not permited.

Daniel

 

[Namii]

Generally at purple belt but some of us started at green with ours. and as Daniel said thats how it goes here too.