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Haidong Gumdo - Korean art of the sword

Haidong Gumdo is the art of the sword and roughly translates into "the land of the eastern seas sword art".  It's considered a battlefield or melee martial art system which derives from ancient origins, and variations of technique can be found in the Muyedobotongji, a Korean martial arts field manual of about 26 different weapons systems, written in the 18th century which has influenced Korean, Japanese and Chinese martial arts. 

 

Other Korean martial arts like Tae Kwon Do began springing up in the 1950's.  Haidong Gumdo was being redeveloped in the 1960's and started to spread around the world in the 1980's.

 

Haidong Gumdo is now regulated by the World Haidong Gumdo Federation.

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Other incarnations of gumdo exist.  For instance, Haidong Kumdo, which focuses on two sword battlefield martial arts, Daehan Kumdo (or just Kumdo) which is similar to Japanese Kendo.  

Techniques

Soomgum

Foam Sword

Beginner sword made from foam with a plastic core.  Used for target training and sparring.

Competitions

The World Haidong Gumdo Federation has coordinated with other martial arts associations to form an open martial arts olympics for Haidong Gumdo, TaeKwonDo, Hapkido, Wushu and more.  Starting around 2000 the Mulimpics was born.  After a legal battle about the name being too similar to the Olympics, the Mulimpics was reintroduced as the Mulimpia in 2013.  The World Mulimpia is held in South Korea every two years during the odd years.  During the even years, continental championships are held, PanAm, Euro and Oceana Mulimpias.

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