It's both. They can co-exist.

i've always wanted to learn this hehehe ><
so does anyone know where they teach this in syd??

kumdo is korean. there's a big history. there were three schools who made kumdo and they ultimately decided on this style

i've done kumdo on and off since 7th grade...so...i'm a senior in college now...so...it's been a while since i started.

one of my dad's best friends teaches it, but he's usually in korea, so when he's not around, my friend (his son) teaches it. those two consistently win kumdo titles in the midwest

and if you aren't already aware, korea beat japan in the international open (i can't remember what the title of it is called) for 07!!

japan has always looked down on koreans in kumdo, saying that "kendo" is THEIR national pasttime. it's a lot of bs if you ask me. they got owwwwwwwwned

There's a Kumdo dojang near where I live and I've always wanted to try it since I did Fencing in High School.

lol But I don't want to feel out of place being the only non-Korean there.

i took kendo...
kendo is japanese
kumdo is korean
same thing said differently

ken/kum means blade.

ive always wanted to learn after seeing my brother play =[

=[ I've always wanted to take Kendo but I could never find any dojangs...They're too far away >_>;

I've never really heared of Kumdo but i'm guessing it's the Korean version of Kendo

I have taken Kumdo since I was 12. But I stopped going there when I was 18-19 years old. From experience, there has been numerous of people stop taking kumdo after a month or so because, it is both mentally and physically demanding. One of thing I hated about kumdo was how certain "teachers" are moody and if you ticked them off at the wrong time, you will be asking for trouble. For example, he will pick on you and tell you to do OVER 1,000 "shadow" head strike. But that is considered being lenient because, there are lot worse than that. But the good thing about Kumdo was how muscular I am now.

Didnt korea win the WKC last year? i really dont keep up with weapon arts

Kendo vs Kumdo?
As far as I'm concerned "Kumdo" is the Korean translation for "Kendo."
Of course Korea undoubtably had its own fighting system before Japan came over and burned everything but the swordsmanship they practice now is essentially Japanese, same techniques and everything just different terminology.

I think we should all just cross swords and hit each other in the head with sticks....peacefully...as one global community

As for everything else...
Yeah, Korea Won, with America in 2nd place. Japan was in an uproar as I believe this is the first time they didn't win.

I wanted to learn because my brother did it. I even have the sword thing (sorry i don't know what its called) lol

i always wanted to learn it. but i don't have time for it.

From what i understand the main difference between Kumdo and Kendo is that in Kumdo they practice a few forms taken from the muye tobo tongji but as stated earlier besides this Kendo is just a gift from japanese occupation along with Yudo.

isn't kumdo just the korean term for kendo? they look pretty much the same to me anyways.

i reckon kendo is just so cool. idk, but like people who do kendo just have this aura about them. teehee.

who ever doesnt take kendo....
YOU SHOULD TRY IT:D

I just started taking kendo last month. It is physically and mentally demanding but I think its worth it. The self discipline and training is good.

Equipment:

Training Sword = shinai *This is the bamboo sword
Wooden Sword = bokuto *Used mainly for bokken/kata practices

Bogu = armor *The armor consists of the 3 below
Men = helmet
Kote = gloves
Do = chest/torso plate

Uniform:

Keiko-gi = the top
Hakama = the pants

Good (proper) way to wash gi and hakama is:

1. Hand wash
2. In a plastic tub
3. With cold water
4. Add vinegar so that color will not fade *You must add vinegar the first time you wash it or else its useless after that
5. Dry in shade

4 Points of Strike:

Men = head strike
Kote = hand/wrist strike
Do = torso strike
Tsuki = throat strike *Only used by pros

Costs of Equipment:

A good online kendo store: www.e-bogu.com

These are the current average (maybe cheapest) costs of kendo equipment:

Shinai = $30
Bokuto = $15
Keiko-gi & Hakama = $125
Bogu = $300

*Reasons why it might be expensive is:

1. Imported from Japan
2. Keiko-gi and hakama are traditional made (naturally dye hence color fades if heavily soaked)
3. Shinai is traditionally made (hence the bamboo strips being strapped together by leather)

Where do you buy your Keiko gis?
I am interested in one.

I've always wanted to try kendo but I often hear that the uniform/gears stink. I could easily wash my karate uniform, but I dont know about kendo, since there is the sweaty chest plate & helmet.
But then owning a shinai would be pretty cool XDDD
Maybe I'll try kendo someday...

Well, in my case, my sensei ordered it from a company called e-Bogu at $125, the cheapest.




I just got my hakama and gi so I haven't washed it ... yet. lol. But I heard my sensei talking about it being hand washed and dried in a shaded area so the color doesn't fade. I need to research about it being machine washed. As for the chest plate and helmet and gloves ... hand washed for sure. And if it still stinks, thats why they invented perfume. lol.

kendo is a good sport but not many young people play it. i was a 3 degree black belt ( 3 dan ) but its both stamina consuming and boring. its an old samurai ways, i guess you can call it bushidou. its fun but without any motivation, its not going to last very long. plus when they miss hitting the 4 places ( men, kote, dou, tsuki) it hurts like hell! specially if they miss the thrust the the throat. i heard a famous japanese student had an accident and the miss to the throat crushed his vocal chords. lol all im saying is, its cool but a dangerous sport.

Kendo is Gendai Budo how does it have anything to do with the old Samurai ways i mean their maybe a relationship but its nothing like Samurai and Koryu.

alright dude i dont know if you researched it or not but its just what i went through and always believed in and was taught. cause i know kendo means the way of the sword, and every match(shiai) you have is either get killed or to kill( in spirit) and im just saying samurai would be one of the examples to be compared to. as you said, kendo is gendai budo but also its the basics of how the samurai were.

Kendo is kinda weird, cuz its not really way of the sword..... its way of the shinai lol
even if you do kendo for like a decade you couldn't fight with a real sword if your life depended on it

Ok but in my humble opinion
this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XRZF7IqakI aka kendo a Gendai Budo created during the end of the age of the Samurai is totaly different from this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7seU0jNQzok...feature=related
Yagyu Shinkage Ryu was actually used by the Samurai kendo was not. Kendo may draw from Samurai spirit(i rather say bushi spirit) but its not anywheres typical of how samurai would train.

ummm well it was used for battlefield trainig
and also are u japanese do u know any background history dating back to 900 A.D. that
states that it has nothing do with samurai and koryu?


lol it is way of the sword. its even stated in the history of kendo
well how are u sure cuz kendo was used to train for battling cuz using real ones
to practice caused too much damage. its a form of fencing.
kendo is made of two kanji characters
ken means sword and do means way which literally translates to the way of the sword
kendo training i admit is not throughly on samurai's ability and skill with the sword
but it through practice te samurai developes inner strength in mentally and character
it doesn't seem like it cuz theres no persoanl experience with it for u. but for a swordsman its different.


ummm youtube and wiki doesn't explain everything plus
u have 12-13 years of experience in kendo in order to know this
samurai do used kendo its stated:
Kendo-fik
plus it was stated in several histories of kendo that kendo is used for samurai training.
The History of Kendo Kenjyutsu Machidojo in Japan at the beginning
AucklandKendoClub
so before u resort to wiki and youtube touch up on the actual history of kendo.

Why dont you work on your reading comprehension skills first look at the first quote clearly look at OLD and Look at the word Relationship. I think that will solve your first question. If people with 12-13 years of Kendo Deny what i have said you have dranken the Kool-Aid i can post information that Taekwondo is 5,000 years old and derived from the Hwarang which is utter BS but it comes from the history site of verifiable schools, Does that make it true?
Kendo is a Gendai Budo is it not? Kendo as we know it today was not used on the battlefield. Kendo may draw from the Samurai Ethos but Kendo as we know it today was not used by the Samurai.

We can post this on Kendo World Forums and see what response we get, i bet they will side on my perspective more so than yours.

well I've only done around 4~5 years of kendo/kumdo
and yes I do know that ken/kum means sword and do is the way = meaning way of the sword
but from what I have heard with every sensei/sabunim that I have met, it really isn't what samurai did
I do not know much about history of japan or anything of samurais, but from some books or articles
that I have read Kendo is nothing more than a reminiscence of what used to be a training for samurai
I mean seriously... in kendo you practice 'hitting' then 'cutting'

ah see u said reminiscence of what used to be a traininig for samurai
so u basically supported my point that it is used by them not for battle but still used by them
i know the history so used to back up untunedstrings89 since he had 12-13 years of experience doing kendo.
it's true it is about 'hitting' then 'cutting' but i'm sure since u practiced it that when u actually do it feels like
a real work out right?

well Im not saying that kendo has nothing to do with samurai ;
or did I?.. lol
its just my point of view that Kendo now has very little to do with 'samurai' stuff
as time progresses it will continue to be much less and less involving

same with taekwondo, WTF is nothing more than olympic sport

lol damn just my small comment became a fight. well i dont know what information you got but im just saying what the teacher told me. and i think its also called knowledge/information when you hear it from a person with like... i dont know 30-40 years of experience? i think that would be something you cant look up? so i mean i respect your opinion and i dont mean to start up any arguments. this is just me trying to share some of MY knowledge of kendo, its as simple as that.

Ok im going to make a Comparison here between two forms of Gendai Budo, Kendo and Judo both.
Kendo comes from styles of Kenjutsu taken from different Koryu used by the Samurai.
Judo was created from Styles of Jujutsu used by the Samurai.
Both Kenjutsu and Jujutsu are Bujutsu correct?
Judo and Kendo are both Budo which is warrior way over Bujutsu which is warrior skill.
The thing is a Budo is not Bujutsu, Budo may have came from Bujutsu but the aim is totaly different.
The Aim of Kenjutsu was to kill preferably in one fell strike, the Aim of Jujutsu was to disarm and dispatch your opponent with your bare hands.

In Kendo the aim of the Martial Art is to sharpen the mind and body and some schools may follow Bushido like the stuff espoused in Bushido Shoshinshu other schools may just "play" Kendo as a Sport. In Judo the Aim is physical fitness and using your body to maximum efficiency with mutual benefit between tori and uke, other schools may just do Judo for sport. Honestly i do not see any old Samurai ways other than the principles. Samurais killed people Most Kendoka and Judoka have not. Do you understand my point why i do not think that Gendai Budo are of the old Samurai ways like untunedstrings said? Can techniques from Kendo and Judo kill people yes but do most people train Kendo and Judo for battle and the possibility of dying(Resolute Acceptance of Death played a big part in most Samurai lives) Would you be on your toes in a real swordfight or would you adopt a more traditional sankakudai? Would a Judoka pull turtle guard in a fist fight? Gendai Budo may draw from the Samurai Ethos but it is not how Samurai trained.

any ways this is a good discussion.

wow I don't really know anything about jutsu or anything;;

you guys must really research it?? lol

its like being otaku but in martial arts

oh man...when i read all of that my head hurts. but ya...a lot of dojos have different ideologies...some are more traditional and adopt the older philosophies, while the more modern ones treat it more like a sport.
Kendo is just like a watered down version of the way samurais fought.....extremely watered down, it was so that there wouldnt be any fatal injuries.

I do HaeDong Gumdo.
Its a korean kind and quite fun.
check it out~

If I remember well, kendo is the more modern form derived from the original samurai sword fighting style. Kendo was just created like during the 1800s or so?? Basically kendo is somewhat a compilation of the foundation/basics (footwork, body form, discipline) that lead to the combative styles. Kendo refines keenness and reaction and may assist you in simple self defense, but it wouldn't teach you how to fight like the samurai, in a sense kendo is more like a prep. Thats why usually most kendoka advance into Iaido or kenjutsu after kendo. Another side note: the modernity of kendo made it simpler for military training during the 1900s in Japan thus that was part of the purpose to why kendo was created.

hi
i have a question....
why is moving up a dan (level) important once you reach sho dan (1 dan)?
i've been sho dan for a while now... and i see a lot of my peers who used to be so much lower than me in rank taking tests to becom 2 dan already and i'm thinking WHY?
isn't it better to be a lower rank and be good enough to beat higher ranks than be a higher rank but get beaten by lower ranks?

I'm swaying off topic but jeeze, soompi has a lot of China and Japan antis.

well its just my opinion but
dan is just a test to see what level you are at
as you go up in rank, theres this feeling that you get
its called achivement
well I'm a shodan, doesn't mean I can't be beaten by kyu levels
or that I can't beat 2 dan +
which I did once in the nationals

Just got my bogu for 2 weeks now. I am so not ready. I don't have PE anymore so I'm freakin out of shape.

Kumdo Kendo basically the same thing but they have their own twist from history and different styles like in swords and they have different vocab words. I did Kumdo from age 15 or 16 till current.... and im 20 now... i did martial arts all my life but my favorite is Kumdo. I teach classes too ^^ i love it!!! my students hate it when i teach cuz its to tiring and hard ^^ oppppzzzzzzzz..... kekekek..... i think ill be doing kumdo all my life!

im in PA =]

www.philakumdo.com come n visit

my gwangjangneem is the best ^^

I just had my first spar. And I sucked. lol. I was just standing in the same spot most of the time. I need to try an all-outer some time. lol.

I'm Korean but Kendo is Kendo, not Kumdo. It should not be called Kumdo because Kendo is Japanese. I heard people call it Kendo even in Taiwan; they don't call it however they pronounce it in Chinese..

haha the first spar is almost always like that it went like that for me too , but after a little time you get more used to it what kyu are you?