Seme and Kumdo

[nonamehandle]

It has only recently hit me, after talking in depth with the kenshis here in korea, that there is no comparable term in korean for "seme". most do not understand what the "term" seme is, and those who are familiar with the term seme through experiencing kendo/kumdo theory/practice outside of korea, tell me that they express it in many different ways here in korea. i'm just surprised that something that seems so fundamental does not have a comparable terminology for the kumdo population.

would like to hear what is the situation with other kumdoist, i don't think there are many on this forum who are in korea, but there seems to enough who are in kunmdo dojangs outside of korea, so it would be interesting to hear from them how seme is expressed or termed in your dojang.

this means all those times i told the university kohais that they need to work on "seme" that they might have had no idea what i was referring to (idiot! they should have asked, WTF are you talking about)~ in my attempt to find a comparable korean word, i have used the term "kisae", 기세, 氣勢, to try to express it, but not sure that they fully understand what i am trying to get at either....

[ahmed61086]

In my dojang we say "pressure" unless both people know what the word seme is. I also try to use the word "communication" along with "pressure" to try and explain.

[cesarekim]

We just use the word seme but that's because we use Japanese and Korean terminology interchangeably.

[nonamehandle]

interesting guys...

somewhat related to this, i personally do think that kendo and kumdo can be considered dissimilar; not in the sense of american football to soccer, but in the sense of brazilian soccer versus english soccer.

[Kenshi]

I think comparing India and Bangladesh at Kabaadi might work better.

[ZEROtoNINE]

interesting guys...

somewhat related to this, i personally do think that kendo and kumdo can be considered dissimilar; not in the sense of american football to soccer, but in the sense of brazilian soccer versus english soccer.

Not at our dojang. Terminology is the main difference, though we also incorporate single person forms/kata (not Kendo kata - we do that also - it's called Bon) into our cirriculum. Maybe it's because our Sabunim contuniues his training at a Kendo dojo. I've heard that at some dojangs sonkyo is not performed, but we do it.

[Shazzanzzz]

Some of the Korean people I know also don't learn the philosophy of seme at their dojang either. Althought they're taught to be very aggressive and most are, which is a form of seme, it's somewhat different from what we typically learn from japanese teachers, who emphasize the seme mentality in early stages.
Frankly, seme is a really hard thing to teach and learn, since it's more of a feeling than anything else. I don't think it's possilbe to teach anyone how to feel, it's something they have to experience themselves.
(This is totally generalizing by the way...) Comparing low level and high level people in kendo and kumdo, i would say at they high levels, they converge to the same model. The difference is the lower level. Kumdo dojangs don't usually emphasize seme, they just experience and learn it through practice. Most Kendo people are taught seme, and taught techniques using the idea of seme.... But how long before they really understand it? I even see some beginners who think about seme way too much hindering their kendo development.

[nonamehandle]

I think comparing India and Bangladesh at Kabaadi might work better.

i have no knowledge on kabaadi to comment, esp. on the difference between indian and pakistani styles, but if it is anything like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16PCOrkpTD8 i think i can dig it :)



Not at our dojang. Terminology is the main difference, though we also incorporate single person forms/kata (not Kendo kata - we do that also - it's called Bon) into our cirriculum. Maybe it's because our Sabunim contuniues his training at a Kendo dojo. I've heard that at some dojangs sonkyo is not performed, but we do it.

i have seen as much difference amongst kendo dojos as between kendo and kumdo dojangs...and i would imagine that as more and more world people practice kendo, we will see more and more difference amongst them as well as between them and japanese dojos. btw, maybe you might have known already, but kata is just a pronunciation of 本, which is pronounced "bon" in korean.



Some of the Korean people I know also don't learn the philosophy of seme at their dojang either. Althought they're taught to be very aggressive and most are, which is a form of seme, it's somewhat different from what we typically learn from japanese teachers, who emphasize the seme mentality in early stages.
Frankly, seme is a really hard thing to teach and learn, since it's more of a feeling than anything else. I don't think it's possilbe to teach anyone how to feel, it's something they have to experience themselves......


i would generally agree with you, i just wanted to know how others actually termed and spoke about the concept of seme in korean.