What is the relationship between Kendo and Kumdo?
What is the difference??

Thank you


Your Brother
John

I haven't seen a LOT of kum-do but from what bit I've observed, it lacks the precision and focus of kendo and the footwork and body shifting is very different.

It depends upon the flavor of kumdo. Kendo, at least in the U.S. is pretty much the same, almost every kendo dojo is a member of the All U.S. Kendo Federation, which is in turn a member of the International Kendo Federation. Their rules are all the same, their practice is the same, the competitions are the same. There are several different kumdo organizations. Only one of them is connected with the IKF. THe only difference between IKF kendo and IKF kumdo is that in a kumdo match, they don't use sonkyo (crouch down position to start), and the shinpan's flags are blue and white instead of red and white. Other than that they are the same art. Kendo and Kumdo are different pronunciations of the same kanji.

I haven't seen a LOT of kum-do but from what bit I've observed, it lacks the precision and focus of kendo and the footwork and body shifting is very different.

I train in Hai Dong Gum Do. It does not lack the precision and focus of kendo, as they are as similar as pgsmith stated. The forms are drastically different though, Gumdo/Kumdo being a little more “flashy” and Kendo being more basic. (And I will of course put the caveat that I am speaking generaly.)

When it comes to stuff like precision and focus, I tend not to blame the art, I blame the practitioner.

Michael Tabone

When it comes to stuff like precision and focus, I tend not to blame the art, I blame the practitioner.

Michael Tabone
Mr. Tabone-
That's probably one of the WISEST single lines I've ever read on Martial Talk!!!
:asian:

Your Brother
John

thank you sir

:asian:

Paul's comments on kendo vs kumdo are correct. 'Kendo' and 'Kumdo' are the Japanese and the Korean pronunciation for the same Chinese characters, meaning 'way of the sword'. In Japan, 'kendo' has come to mean the sparring-focussed sword art practiced with bogu and shinai. In Korea, the word still retains more of the original meaning of any sword-related martial art. Thus, in Korea, all kendo is considered a type of kumdo (a sword 'way'), but not all kumdo is the same as kendo (just like all judo is a 'martial art', but not all martial arts are judo).

There are several lines of kumdo (Korean sword art) that are identical to kendo (Japanese sword sparring with shinai), and these include Daehan Kumdo (Korea Kumdo Association), which is officially sanctioned as Korea's representative organization in the IKF, and Hankuk Kumdo (Korea Kumdo Federation), which is not. As Paul mentioned, the only differences between these styles and kendo is the lack of the sonkyo, color of the scoring flags, and the use of Korean terms vs. Japanese terms. The two schools differ between each other in their short forms, and in their willingness to admit that their styles are essentially the same as kendo.

In addition to these two groups, there are dozens of Korean sword arts (also called 'kumdo') that are nothing at all like kendo. These include Daehan Haidong Gumdo, Hankuk Haedong Kumdo, Saegye Haedong Kumdo, Muye Eship Saban, Sip Palgi, Gicheonmun, Bonkuk Gumpup, and probably a dozen or so more. For some links to video clips that show *some* of these different groups, try this (http://www.kendojalisco.com/links.htm) website (that, believe-it-or-not, is an English-language links list for a kendo school in Mexico). The top section has links to clips for a half dozen Korean sword groups, and the rest of the page has some excellent links for all-things-kendo. There are also two decent overview clips on haidong gumdo at the bottom of this (http://www.hdgdforum.com/) webpage, and your usual mix of good, bad, and ugly film clips available through the search feature on www.youtube.com (http://www.youtube.com).

Ninjamom, love the info! Not much that I can add. I know that the thread is old, but I just had to give Kudos:)

Daniel

It depends upon the flavor of kumdo. Kendo, at least in the U.S. is pretty much the same, almost every kendo dojo is a member of the All U.S. Kendo Federation, which is in turn a member of the International Kendo Federation. Their rules are all the same, their practice is the same, the competitions are the same. There are several different kumdo organizations. Only one of them is connected with the IKF. THe only difference between IKF kendo and IKF kumdo is that in a kumdo match, they don't use sonkyo (crouch down position to start), and the shinpan's flags are blue and white instead of red and white. Other than that they are the same art. Kendo and Kumdo are different pronunciations of the same kanji.


This is a good description based on having the opportunity to train in both for awhile way back in the day. http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif

Kumdo is a Korean version of Kendo. It's much more similar to Kendo than Tae Kwon Do is to its root art, Karate. Take away the orean terminology and any differences in dress and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the arts.

Ninjamom is correct that there are some iaido/kenjutsu-like Korean arts that don't fit this model but do use the term kumdo or gumdo!

Given that kumdo/gumdo literally translates as 'sword way', it can be an umbrella term. Generally, I've never seen a non-kendo style kumdo termed as Gumdo, however. It seems that Gumdo is used in the west for those Korean arts dissimilar to kendo.

Our school practices the kendo sparring style with some Korean forms in the art portion of the curriculum. Iaito and kum bup (sword method) are a large part of our curriculum. I sometimes use the term, 'kuhapdo', but as we practice with a katana specifically (and have 'kendo' on our door), I generally stick with calling it iaito, as it is appropriate to the weapon and so people know what I'm talking about.

Daniel