Curriculum

Rank

This sparring curriculum will have its own ranking system as it is not part of the World Haidong Gumdo Federation's curriculum. Those in this program will still wear their Haidong Gumdo rank belts. This is out of respect for the World Haidong Gumdo Federation and the skill the student.

There will only be four different rank levels. There is no need to have a half dozen or more ranks like most marital arts do. This is because the student have a rank in Haidong Gumdo and that already indicates a measure of their ability.

From lowest to highest rank the associated colors are white, blue, red, and black. To visually distinguish these ranks from each student they will be worn in two different places, one on the sword and the other on the head or helmet. This is done because some drills are done without protecting body gear and at times different types of swords are used. There is also a symbolic reasoning.

Sword

Head or Helment

The placement of rank here is symbolic of the student’s knowledge, while also having a traditional root. Below are example of historic head bands and plumes. Our designs will vary a little, but will still maintain a semblance of these examples.

The placement of rank here is symbolic of the student's fighting prowess. The bamboo sword will be used most of the time. They have removable guards and can easily be changed to show the student's rank. There is a large variety of these guards. A student can get approval to use a more personal design.

Warm up - used standard Haidong Gumdo basics, one steps, and breathing techniques (5 min)

Sparring drills* and review past techniques* (5-10 min)

Student interpretation and application - The instructor will ask a student or students to demonstrate their interpretation and application of a given drill or form from the standard Haidong Gumdo curriculum (10-15 min)

Teach the "Technique of the Week" (15-25 min)

Sparring* (15-25 min)

Discussions and questions during the cool down and stretching (5 min)

*May be chosen by the day's instructor if not already chosen during the Masters meeting

General Class Outline

(Time guide for a standard 1 hour class)

Technique of the Week

Saturday mornings there is a masters and instructors meeting. In this meeting we discuss the needs of our program and students. Based on this discussion we choose an existing technique or derive a new one to be taught as the "Technique of the Week" for the following week. Not only do we choose or create this technique we have to decide on how to teach it. This involves decisions such as: are we going to focus on the motion, strategy, or application, and on how to best teach it to the students of various ranks.

Reference material for techniques: the Haidong Gumdo (blue) Instructor's Manual, Haidong Gumdo class and seminars, Muye Dobo Tonji (tranlsated by Sang H. Kim), and the Wonjin Hapkido program.

There are three aspects of the Sparring Program's curriculum are detailed below.

The first covers the general class outline. This outline shows what is typically taught in a single class.

The second is titled the "Technique of the Week". This section describes how techniques and drills are continually developed. It also covers how and what will be taught for the next week of classes.

The third is the ranking system within this program.

(There is a forth aspect, that of different types of sparring. It is covered on the sparring page.)

Sept. 17 Technique of the Week

This is a drill that teaches how to:

get off line and block center cut.
circle around and continue the flow of the block into a angle cut.
perform a center cut
block an angle cut from behind and to the side.