Kum Do for kids?

[taekwondomom]

My son is in a new weapons class: "Tiger Kum Do," a class designed for children ages 8-12. They work out with the usual jukdo and mukdo (I think that's how you spell them), but they spar with swords made from PVC pipe covered with a thick layer of foam. (We did not have to buy these expensive sparring swords; the dojang has them.) And of course, they wear helmets, mitts, and hogu.

My question: Does anyone else know of this kind of class for children? My boy loves it (he is 10)!

And: where can we find information about Kum Do forms and about Kum Do in general. There is not much on the internet.

[jdhunts]

Try looking up Kendo, it's the Japanese sport version of Kenjutsu (sword)

[tufrthanu]

No this is something else...and for the life of me I cant remember the name. Dana Abbott had an article in the new issue of Black Belt magazine about it. They use foam covered weapons to start teaching swordplay to children at a younger age than they would be able to with kendo. Oh I know its called Chanbara. It's getting big quick as a competitive sport.

[Drithen]

I used to get together with a few of my friends and fight with various "swords" which were nothing but pvc covered with foam and wrapped in duct tape, its very fun and even without pads its not too dangerous.. we only drew blood a few times

[Kill Jill]

You should also try searching under 'Gumdo', rather than 'Kumdo', as this is a more accurate transcription of the Korean pronunciation.

Kendo, the Japanese art, has parallels, but it is not exactly the same. It also depends on which branch of Gumdo the school follows. As you know, there are many variations on a theme when it comes to martial arts.

[Kill Jill]

Just as I thought, I entered 'gumdo' on the Google search engine, and there are zillions of hits. I'm sure if you search through them, you can find something useful.

[Kill Jill]

Alas...then I tried to search 'Kumdo', and there are also lots of links! Even more than 'Gumdo', so my theory was not correct. My new theory thus - that you haven't tried to search for either! (sorry)

[AndrewGreen]

Yup, done it with a lot more then just swords

We've had kids spar with sticks, staffs, nunchaku, tonfa, shield and short sword, 3-sectional staff, sai and a few others.

Except made our own weapons, it was cheaper

[Jane Doe]

My question: Does anyone else know of this kind of class for children? My boy loves it (he is 10)!

There are tons of schools now that play with weapons now even though traditionally they didn't. The advent of the flashier forms in competitions have lots of schools using weapons that weren't typically found in their style before.

Just a few years ago where I am from there were very few schools that did what you describe but now almost every TKD and karate school incorporates some type of weapon work. Kids love it and it can be great fun sparring with padded weapons.

Flavour du jour to be a 'kobudo expert', even if you have never really trained officially with the weapons. Check your teacher out carefully!

Glad your child is having so much fun...that is what it should be!

[taekwondomom]

Thanks for the advice--and the suggestion to search Kumdo and Gumdo instead of Kum Do (I was searching with two words, and had little success)

I like the idea of making one's own weapons. More on that?

TKDmom