Weapons in TKD?

[Hogosha]

What weapons if any are used in Tae Kwon Do?

[Slydermv]

Well, in my Dojang we do Gum Do (Korean Wooden Swords) and Num Chuk's.

 

In the dojang ran by my masters brother... in a different city... they do some staff work *forget the name at the moment*

 

Hope that helps....

[mindsedgeblade]

We do some knife work. But mostly for self defense, and higher students tend to bring in whatever weapon they study outside class. Mind you, we're not strictly TKD.

[Pinmaster]

what is the difference between gumdo and kendo, i remembered that someone from some other board wrote that gumdo is just kendo and same goes for yudo and judo.

[Slydermv]

I'm not an expert in the the topic but I think they are the same thing, just with different names because of the languages the come from. The are both fighting with wooden swords after all.... heh.

As for differences in techniques or footwork or whatever, that would have to be answered by someone else. I've never done Kendo, and I'm only a rookie with Gumdo...

The basic techniques we are taugh are on my masters website if someone needs them for comparison.

https://www.masterseung.com

go to the Thunder Bay section....

[Dans tkd]

In my school we study Bo staff, Gumdo, Tonfas, Nunchaku and Sais. This is only just come in tho.

[kickcatcher]

The hands, feet and sometimes elbows?

[JaseP]

Kumdo (gumdo) is actually more like iado than it is Kendo, and it is Japanese derived. It was first incorporated into the Korean martial arts structure prior to 1789. Differences are yielded through coloration found in native Korean arts, and Chinese techniques, but it is primarily Japanese derived. The Koreans admired the Japanese swordsmanship and so overtly stole some of it. From the Muye Dobo Tongji (circa 1789):

... This weapon was introduced by the Japanese when they invaded China. When the Japanese soldiers danced with the sword, the glittering light overwhelmed our soldiers. With one stroke, they jumped more than one foot forward, cutting our soldiers in half...

- Muye Dobo Tongji, Book Two, SSang Soo Do; Long Sword, 1798)

What follows is more history and a description of the technique, including woodcuts...

[isshinryu5toforever]

Kendo is more forward movement based. In fact, Japanese sword work is all forward movement based. The Okinawan samurai tended to be more stable and more 50/50 in their weight distribution. The Korean sword work of Gum Do has almost all of the weight placed on the back leg. It was kind of like this:

The Japanese: Go forward at all costs, never lose the advantage of the attack

The Okinawans: Try to be the agressor, but always be ready to move out of the way of an imminent attack.

The Koreans: You two can kill eachother, but we're going to get out of here alive.

[JaseP]

Oh,... by the way, TaeKwonDo (and most "empty hand" Korean styles) are just that, "empty hand" styles. Weapons are adjuncts to training, so strickly speaking, aren't really part of TaeKwonDo.