Kendo and Kumdo
At Christchurch Aotearoa Kendo Club, we treat Kendo and Kumdo as inter-changeable
words that mean the same thing - the Way of the Sword.
There are some differences though - or mainly some "extra's" with Kumdo.
Kendo
The elements that make up Kendo are determined by the All Japan Kendo Federation and
the World Kendo Federation or International Kendo Federation. Predominantly, the direction
has come from Japan and the events that took place immediately after WWII. (See the
section about Kendo for more details). The elements agreed are what constitutes a valid
point in a competition and all competition rules, and the makeup of the Kata, and Grading
requirements. These are all described elsewhere.
Kumdo
Kumdo is Korean for "Kendo". Mostly this is exactly the same as the above, however,
the Kumdo Kata have been added.
Here are some links to other sites which have further information on this topic.
