I not too long ago had two or three students in my Wing Chun course ask for training in swordsmanship. Now, Kung Fu has lots of weapons sorts, However they are generally stylized, in lieu of sparring formats. I initially considered teaching them Kendo, about the Japanese kinds, but owning just taken some Tae Kwon Do classes of my own, I decided to search a little bit further afield. I discovered the Korean cognate of Kendo, identified as kumdo.
Whilst There are many of practitioners of kumdo who claim that their methods are handed down more than the generations in mystery rituals, a little bit of digging showed that it’s unbelievably not likely that This is actually the situation. Once the Imperial Army of Japan occupied Chosun (now Korea) from the early 20th century, they introduced kendo with them. Previous to that, as a result of Confucian influences from China, and a Korean superstition about sharp objects, the art in the sword in Korea had been withering about the vine for going on 300 several years. The Koreans, Like several tradition that adopts guns, experienced relegated the sword into a secondary, and inevitably tertiary weapon for military services coaching, and Confucianism put a more robust emphasis on scholarship than martial arts.
So, kumdo form of grew from Kendo, and it's got many noticeable similarities. You use a split bamboo exercise sword (termed a shinai in Kendo, as well as a jukdo in kumdo), and don rigid exercise armor (called a bogu in kendo and also a hogu in kumdo.) The 2 arts happen 해외스포츠중계 to be diverging bit by bit since 1945, though the basic varieties are almost equivalent from what I’ve been on the lookout up. The Korean protecting gear is a bit more modern-day and simple https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=해외스포츠중계 in style, currently being a tad less tied to tradition than the kendo gear. It is kind of wonderful to have the ability to use kendo gear for it, or blend and match. (We've some gear still left more than from when a previous instructor at The varsity attempted to train Kendo. It didn’t go about very well, but the gear continues to be in this article at The varsity.)
Kumdo and Kendo are shut more than enough in variety that Kumdo teams be involved in the globe Kendo Championships. When there are a few variances (Kumdo focuses a tiny bit far more on stage strikes than energy and velocity), the kumdo groups do respectably.
General, it seems like a very good fit with what my learners are requesting, and that is a lot more an overview of swordsmanship techniques, and as there’s a powerful Korean Neighborhood in Las Vegas, I could possibly build classes that has a broader viewers. Kumdo is the second hottest Activity in Korea, so it may have some traction here.