Hi, I'm wondering if I could get some thoughts about Hwarangdo's Gumtoogi. It looks really Japanese in nature, especially at how it really looks like Kendo. Except it has an attack towards the thighs.
It is similar. I think it was 2005 when WHRDA introduced Kumdo to the Hwa Rang Do Program as a launch point to develop our own weapons sparring program and it has grown quite a bit over the last 10 years. In the weapons sparring program, we not only have Gumtoogi in which we use single Jukdo and Ssang Gum (twin sword), but we also have Bongtoogi which has Jang Bong (staff) and Ssang Bong (twin mid-stick).
As for Gumtoogi, all of our fundamental footwork, training drills, and methods of striking are the same as Kendo/Kumdo with the same strike points. The leg strike (Dari) and the spin attacks (Hwejun) are inspired from the core Hwa Rang Do curriculum.
Aside from the leg strikes, it's kendo with a bit of Korean flair. Thanson02, the Dari; are you wearing a reinforced kapsang? It looks like the side pieces are actually rigid.
Aside from the leg strikes, it's kendo with a bit of Korean flair. Thanson02, the Dari; are you wearing a reinforced kapsang? It looks like the side pieces are actually rigid.
Yes. We call them Hachi Hogu. They strap to the kapsang and they have bamboo stints so you don't have to worry about hurting your training partner and fellow competitors.
All the same strike points as Kendo/Kumdo, with the addition of the leg strike. All strikes are 1 point, with the exception of the mok plate at the throat and spin attacks, which are 2 points. First person to 3 points wins.
One thing I will say is that they are fussy in tournament about the accuracy of the strike. If it is not a solid clean strike, they do not call it and you keep going. When we first started, we had long matches because everyone was sloppy. Happily, matches are much shorter these days, as well as being much cleaner.
In the early days of Hwa rang Do in Korea, in the 1960s, there was Hwa Rang Geumdo / Geumsool which kind of died out after DoJoo-nim moved here to the US. But, it was revived by Master Henry (TaeJoon) Lee in the mid 2000s as GeumToogi with a Japanese twist.
However, there is an older Korean sword style that predates Hwa Rang Do, Hapkido, HaeDong Geumdo and ShinGeumdo sword styles by about almost a century. It's the Han Moo Do, the Chosen era "MooYea" goes back before the coming of Japanese occupation of Korea.
