I'm interested in going to a tournament or seminar on the East Coast of the US. I'd like to learn/compete in Haidong Gumdo, so if it's a general martial arts tournament, it would need a weapons category.

Here's what I heard mumblings about, with no real information:

A tournament of some sort in Baltimore
A black belt test somewhere in Philadelphia
A cutting seminar this November in Philadelphia, being held by a master named "DJ Park".

So far, not enough information here to act upon. Does anyone know any additional details?

Thanks. I'm really interested in seeing what everyone else is doing.

Hey John,

I don't have the answers to your specific questions, but here is the website for the US Haidong Gumdo Association. In fact the master DJ Park that you mentioned is Master Dong Jin Park, the head of the US Gumdo Association located in Philadelphia, PA and this is his website

Thanks for the info. I did check it out, and it turns out that there's a cutting seminar being held in Virginia on November 12. That's definitely within range for me, so I'm going to try to get there. There's also a black belt test that day, so it should be fun to watch.

I haven't done much in the way of bamboo cutting, but I have practiced cutting paper in the past.

Paper cutting is such a deceptive type of cutting! Ask the average guy on the street if he thinks it would be hard to cut paper with a sword, and I'm quite certain that guy would say: are you insane? Of course not! However, when you give paper cutting a try, it can give you a real devil of a time. I've seen masters fail to cut paper with a front cut. If your sword blade is tilted the slightest bit, you will probably not have a clean cut, but rather a loud, ripping, nasty piece of business that gets everyone's attention. You might end up just crumbling the paper rather than cutting it! Ah, that's why I love gumdo. Unless you actually do it, you can't possibly understand it, or predict it. As Anthony Boyd says...there's no illusions in gumdo. Either you know it, or you don't; and it's easy to recognize the posers.

John, while you'd certainly be welcome at the upcoming cutting seminar in Virginia, I thought you might like to know that there will also be one held in North Carolina, probably the same month.

Thanks for the info, Casey.

A seminar in North Carolina? That's interesting. Is it being held by the same association as the one that's sponsoring the Virginia event? If you happen to have a date or a website I could visit, that would be helpful.

I also noticed on a previous posting that you mentioned you sell bamboo for cutting. Are you still in business? The bamboo forest on your property must be huge if you are. I wandered into a bamboo forest once when I was a kid, and I thought I had discovered something very unusual...almost magical. Now, as an adult, I discover that these bamboo forests are everywhere in the US.

The smell of freshly-cut bamboo is awesome, IMO.

This link should be of some help to you if you plan on attending the cutting seminar in Virginia: http://www.ushaidong.com/hdgd-seminar.htm

I am attending the cutting seminar as well as testing for my 1st dan at that location. It will be nice to meet and catch up with other members of this forum at that time.

Some friends and I are hoping to attend the cutting seminar. I was hoping to observe the testing. What time will it be and will there be 2nd dan testing as well?

Joe Kupina

The masters are testing from 9am - 11am. The student testing is from 11am - 2pm. Hopefully there will be some students testing for 2nd dan that day.

I don't see mention of a NC seminar on the site. Anyone have more information?

Dave.

The event I spoke of in the earlier post has already taken place.

There will be a cutting seminar on November 12 in northern VA. It will be held after the scheduled dan grading. Details can be obtained from the US HDGD Association's website.

Does anyone know if they will be taking money and registration forms seminar itself?