kendo vs kumdo

[Old Warrior]

Forgive me if I appear irritated. I am more convinced than ever that the there is no difference between the two except the color of referee flags and the elimination of sonkyo. Any other difference is the result of the particular bend of the teacher. In our Kumdo school we: had a practicing Buddhist come in to teach how to meditate, zanshin is emphasized as a key part of an attack, kote and do are basically taught, mostly to keep the opponent honest for a men cut, etc. etc. There is not a single principle of good kendo - that we are not taught. I was corrected last night for poor posture and told "90% muhri (men), too much son mok (kote)". I just have to question the quality of the instruction if they are being taught anything else.

[taiwnezboi]

Forgive me if I appear irritated. I am more convinced than ever that the there is no difference between the two except the color of referee flags and the elimination of sonkyo. Any other difference is the result of the particular bend of the teacher. In our Kumdo school we: had a practicing Buddhist come in to teach how to meditate, zanshin is emphasized as a key part of an attack, kote and do are basically taught, mostly to keep the opponent honest for a men cut, etc. etc. There is not a single principle of good kendo - that we are not taught. I was corrected last night for poor posture and told "90% muhri (men), too much son mok (kote)". I just have to question the quality of the instruction if they are being taught anything else.

Our dojang is the same, except for the emphasis on "men" cuts. We're just taught all the techniques and pretty much given the freedom to find the one that we like the most. I guess I'm just odd, but I chose "doh" cuts, which I rarely ever see any Japanese players use. Now I'm playing around with the other skills, like the "men" cut =P

[bullet08]

i'm korean, as i said before, i believe kendo is japanese. rest koreans could call it whatever they want to call it and do whatever they want to do with it. in the end, it won't be a kendo any more.. but kumdo.. things evolve.. and things change over time. but that's that.

i practice kendo. have too much respect for the senseis to make freak show out of what they have taught me.

as to..
"Now only very few Japanese know Korean's propaganda, but if many of them get to know it,
they will get angry and anti-Korean sentiment will be spread out seriously."

i don't think any korean will give flying rat's ass if whole of japanese nation goes into collective seizure due to this.

[fe-taru tora]

so what exactly is kumdo ? is it like iaido and kendo mixed or somthing because everyone talks about it like they are a big difference.

[Lloromannic]

so what exactly is kumdo ? is it like iaido and kendo mixed or somthing because everyone talks about it like they are a big difference.

I guess it depends on which kumdo you are talking about. KKA kumdo is kendo. WKA is another thing entirely. There are also Haedong Gumdo (sp?) school which I think is what you mean with "iaido and kendo mixed". I would reccomend you go to the front page of Kendo World Magazine and read the article Black Ships of Kendo. It's very good.

[fe-taru tora]

I guess it depends on which kumdo you are talking about. KKA kumdo is kendo. WKA is another thing entirely. There are also Haedong Gumdo (sp?) school which I think is what you mean with "iaido and kendo mixed". I would reccomend you go to the front page of Kendo World Magazine and read the article Black Ships of Kendo. It's very good.

wow ....lots of info thank you, the thing is I would like to be able to be better at kendo by throwing in a second sword art into my mix. I'm going to read that right now. but do you think it would be wise of me too take iaido and kendo at the same time or would it mess me up, I don't think they have any form of kumdo here, but the one if any that would be good for kendo would be Haedong gumpo ?

[Lloromannic]

Many people take Iaido and Kendo. Others take Kendo, Iaido and/or Jodo. Although they are very interesting I have not seen anyone who uses techniques from any of them in Kendo and I doubt they would be of much use.

[not-I]

I would like to be able to be better at kendo by throwing in a second sword art into my mix. [...] but do you think it would be wise of me too take iaido and kendo at the same time or would it mess me up, I don't think they have any form of kumdo here, but the one if any that would be good for kendo would be Haedong gumpo ?

Doing iaido parallel to kendo will not "mess you up." In fact, they are often considered to be the two complimentary "wheels on the same cart." However, it is advisable to learn some solid basics in one or the other before you try both so as not to get confused or spread yourself too thinly.

As has been pointed out numerous times in this thread and elsewhere, in essence most Kumdo is basically Kendo, but with Korean names and often higher dojang fees. Do one or the other, practicing both is redundant. Beyond that, it gets more complicated. Read the Black Ships article.

From what i've seen of it Haedong Gumpo is related neither to kendo nor to iaido. It is a newly invented or "reconstructed" "ancient Korean art" that seems to consist mainly of choreography. It is unlikely that it would compliment or help your kendo/kumdo studies.

[fe-taru tora]

Doing iaido parallel to kendo will not "mess you up." In fact, they are often considered to be the two complimentary "wheels on the same cart." However, it is advisable to learn some solid basics in one or the other before you try both so as not to get confused or spread yourself too thinly.

As has been pointed out numerous times in this thread and elsewhere, in essence most Kumdo is basically Kendo, but with Korean names and often higher dojang fees. Do one or the other, practicing both is redundant. Beyond that, it gets more complicated. Read the Black Ships article.

From what i've seen of it Haedong Gumpo is related neither to kendo nor to iaido. It is a newly invented or "reconstructed" "ancient Korean art" that seems to consist mainly of choreography. It is unlikely that it would compliment or help your kendo/kumdo studies.

wow thank you both, I think I will do some iaido in addition to kendo my sempai says I have the basics down so it probably won't be too much of a problem, I wanted to study kung fu at one time but that would be a little cray, fun but crazy !

[Kyung]

I think it's a matter of Kimchi vs Kimuchi...Of course there's only 1 Kimchi. Kimuchi is some offshoot of Kimchi that is imitatory.
Kumdo is basically how koreans pronounce kendo. I really see no reasons for Koreans to refer Kendo as kendo since we have our own pronunciation of that hanja. We call Nihon Ilbon..are they going to hold us accountable for that?
I have no doubt in my mind that Kumdo is Kendo. But I would like to rather think that in Kumdo, you fight with Korean spirit. Spirit, to say, is not style or anything. So basically, it's the same thing in the end.
I admit I'm not fond of Japan. But I do like Kumdo along with other stuff from Japan. I go to a dojang, but we still do sonkyo and whatnot. I'm not fond of it, but I do it because I guess if I don't I might be shunned or something.
So many times I forget to bow after sparring. It irks my master all the time. But that's just me, unrelated to being rebellious to Japanese culture.
Haedong Gumdo and such are made up according to my master. I trust him.
My master tries to teach both Korean and Japanese terms for Kumdo, but I think I just listen to the Korean part because I understand that and ignore the Japanese part.
I've been doing it for a month so I suck. But I did learned you can't do the Jedi moves like in the movies. That's a start.

[Old Warrior]

I admit I'm not fond of Japan. But I do like Kumdo along with other stuff from Japan.

You would be better served if you kept these thoughts to yourself. If you wish to be accepted as a serious poster, your personal prejudices ought to remain - personal.

[Neil Gendzwill]

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