LCF Resident Korean Style Sword Fighters Given Black Belts

Three young men from La Cañada Flintridge were awarded black belts in the traditional Korean style of sword fighting called Haidong Gumdo.

They are the first three graduates in a program introduced in LCF three years ago and marks the culmination of a five year international project to continue the ancient art by teaching it at Korean Tae Kwon Do martial art schools world wide.

On Sept. 8, following a rigorous test, Derek Kang 12, LingKai Tang, 14, and Silas Hughes, 14, were awarded their black belts. During the black belt award ceremony Headmaster Julius Shinn said that the graduates should be especially proud of their accomplishment as they have lead the way for the program. He pointed out that the discipline they developed during the three years of training could be applied to other elements in the student’s lives.

Two of the new black belts, Kang and Tang, had previously earned their black belts in Tae Kwon Do, the Korean style of open hand fighting. Tang said that after completing the Tae Kwon Do program he was looking for a new challenge and Hughes said that he has always been interested in the excitement of sword fighting. Kang, who attends Pasadena Poly, said of Haidong Gumdo, “I’m Korean, it is part of my heritage”.

Headmaster Julius Shin brought Haidong Gumdo to LCF as part of an international project to add it to the curriculum of Tae Kwon Do schools. Working with Kim, the president of the World Haidong Gumdo Federation based in Korea, a special training program was developed to teach Tae Kwon Do masters the way of the sword and qualify them to teach it to their students.

This involved training in Korea and supervising visits from a regional instructor to certify new masters. USA Martial Arts School is a leader in the program.

The testing of the young men took about an hour. It started with 100 pushups and progressed to sword handling, solo and sparring with a partner. The students performed 12 forms or patterns of movements that involved two-handed sword fighting against an imaginary opponent.

Each form takes about a minute to perform and demonstrates the fundamental movements of the Korean way of the sword with increasing complexity and physical challenges. The sound of the practice swords could be heard slicing through the air as the students spun, leapt and slashed through the movements.

Master Abel Lozada, principle instructor, said, “Haidong Gumdo is a beautiful martial art filled with flowing, precise movements used to control the power of the sword. It is all about focus and mental clarity,”

To learn more about Haidong Gumdo, contact Master Lee Shin at the USA Martial Arts School, which is located at 2149 Foothill Blvd., or call 957-6889.