I'm curious as to whether anyone can provide me with an unbiased explanation of the differences and similarities between the World Haedong Kumdo Federation, and the World Haidong Gumdo Federation. Martial arts politics can be quite confusing at times. It's really sad that there can be no agreement on philosophy and style...or even business, for that matter...

welcome to the forum. How about some introduction about yourself first before throwing a such big question?

No difference at all. They are just two seperate ways of saying the same thing. "World Haidong Gumdo Federation" is the the politicaly correct way of refering to the Korean sword art known as daehan haedong geomdo in Korea.

There are a few other styles of kumdo. Namely, there's the Japanese inspired "Kumdo" which is practically the same as Japanese Kendo. Others, resembling Haidong Gumdo a bit more, are Hanguk Haedong Geomdo, Whee Cho Ta Geomdo and Shimgumdo. These are just a few, but there are quite a few floating around in Korea. The one we, at the forum, train in is Daehan Haedong Geomdo, better known as "World Haidong Gumdo Federation.

Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong. Politics aren't my forte.

While most of the practitioners who make use of this resource are members of the Daehan Haidong Gumdo Federation's WHDGDF, there are some significant exceptions - even among founding members of the site.

The Daehan Haidong Gumdo Federation is considered the parent group. From it, the Hanguk Haedong Kumdo Federation split in 1992. The split was not acrimonious, nor was it for any one particular reason. Now however, competition between dojangs of each group for the same parts of town can definitely cause friction.

The Hanguk Haedong Kumdo Federation also has a World Federation. There are cosmetic differences with logos and uniforms, there are some small details which are different in the Ssangsu and Yedo forms [which is common even between dojangs anyway], and after these two sets of forms the curriculums diverge completely. Another possibly important difference is the rank progression which divides yedo between second and third dan.

There are a number of other small splinter groups. Some of these other splits, from each of these two large groups, do not always deserve the same respect. In addition, there are some notable fakers and frauds out there, such as Koryo Gumdo, which need to be given wide berth.

Why do you ask, John?

Apologies to Mr. Gihm. I meant no offense. Apparently, I'm still in the process of learning the proper etiquitte around here, as I'm sure Anthony can attest. To answer the question, I'm a 1st dan Taekwondo and Gicheon sword work student in the US. My master instructor and I are seeking to study Haidong Gumdo to eventually replace our Gicheon/Kendo curriculum at our school. We've attended a few seminars together, and other research. It was in doing some of this research that I came across the website for the World Haedong Kumdo Federation (www.haedong2001.com). I was until this point unaware of its existence, as all the material and instruction my master and I have gained access to thus far has been that of the World Haidong Gumdo Federation. I was honestly just confused. It's as if the two organizations were denying the existence of the other. Their logos are even similar, and when I inquired to them directly, all I got from each was a brief description of their own organization. At least with Taekwondo we've got the WTF and the ITF, rather than something like the World Taekwondo Federation and the World Taikwondo Federation. I'm not worried about it though. As I said in my first post, the various federations and their conflicts have little bearing on my personal view of the martial arts. I don't think it's about the kicks we throw and the swords we swing, so it sure as heck isn't about the logos on our uniforms...

I found the following quote on the World Haidong Kumdo Federation website.



At first it appeared to me as if they were claiming that Supreme Grand Master Jeong Ho Kim founded their art and federation. I'm now wondering if they are simply trying to state that their art is based off of what's taught by the World Haidong Gumdo Federation, as Supreme Grand Master Jeong Ho Kim is the founder and current President of the WHGDF.

Based on what their website says, it seems they claim to have taken Haidong Gumdo and added a few things and now call it Haidong Kumdo. Being that in Korean to English translations, the letter's "K" and "G" are often interchanged, I think it's a bit disappointing to see two federations with names so close. I'm tempted to think it should be considered trademark infringment.

Hopefully someone else on the forum has some light they can shed on this topic.

What's the site's address so we can look into this?

This group, based in Busan, essentially split away over curriculum elements. I am pleased that they mention and maintain a connection to their roots. We have [or have had] at least one member from this organization over the years.

The biggest difference I noted was the addition of ssang-gum material in the lower dan ranks. As time passes I'm sure there will be more differences.