Nederlands
EnglishHankumdo
Hankumdo, the Korean way of the sword, is a swordfighting martial art based on the Korean alphabet (Hangul) and developed by kuksanim Myong Jae Nam. In Korea and the Netherlands the art was taught first in 1996. At the opening ceremony of the 3rd edition of the International HKD Games, in 1997, hankumdo was introduced to the public.
Hankumdo techniques can be divided in two parts, striking techniques (the basics) and selfdefence techniques.
Basics
With five basic striking technique one can write the entire Korean alphabet which consists of 24 different characters. Every character consits out of one or more of these five basic techniques. One who is familiar with Korean writing can learn the basics of Hankumdo in a few weeks.
Of course then you'll only know the basics, and will have to practice a lot more to be able to perform the techniques perfectly.
Writing the Korean alphabet is not the goal of Hankumdo, instead it is a tool for learning the basics of how to handle a sword. This way we can prepare our students for more advanced techniques in a safe way.
Besides the different strikes, you also learn how to draw and withdraw your sword in different ways.
Self defense
How to defend your self against sword attacks is thaught in Hankumdo as well. The selfdefence techniques are based on the principles of Hankido.
Although the chance of somebody attacking you with a sword is of course very small, the techniques can be valuable for the further development of you martial skills.
