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I find there is somewhat of a problem related to Kumdo/Kendo/Haedong Gumdo. I currently practice Haedong Gumdo. It is a traditional Korean sword art that is more closely related to Kenjutsu than Kendo(I have also practiced Kendo). Gumdo(not Kumdo)is much less sport orientated and more driven to actual battlefield techniques. In our school of Gumdo, we practice using the wooden training swords and can use the non sharpened ones. Once we hit black belt, that is when the "real" training begins and you must purchase a live blade. There is also empty hand techniques and 2 sword techniques involved later in training. We also spar, but we spar full contact without armour. This is only recommended to students who already have a strong background in a non-weapon art because we try to simulate as close as possible real combat, thus in sparring match you'll see a kick or punch thrown along with the shinai being brought into use. (unfortunatly, in our school, none of us are experienced enough yet....but some day... ;) ) Also, in Haedong Gumdo, there is the tameshigiri(sp)test cutting of the bamboo and matts(there is a Korean term, but I'm not too sure...) > My teacher was taught in Korea for several years and we are part of the World Haedong Gumdo Federation. It is a very, very um...non commercial. I'm trying to say it's not very well known and many martial artists argue that it's Kumdo/Kendo I'm taking. Like I said, it's very, very rare over here in North America. I've only seen one video(VHS)that is available(recognized by the World HG Federation) and one video CD. As far as I know, there are no books published regarding this art, at least in English. Most web sites are in Korean. If you understand Korean, I recommend going to the official web site under World Haedong Gumdo Federation. Or email me. I don't know much but I could direct you to our teacher and he would be more than happy to answer any questions. monkatonk@aol.com oh, I forget, that some practitioners spell Haedong Gumdo differently. I've seen: Haidong also. Cheers and rock on! Mark Monkman >
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