What is Swords Dance? (Kummu, 검무)

How does the JSKR-Haedong Kumdo ‘Swords Dance’ reflect the ideals of Creativity & Harmony?

Whether it be in training or day-to-day life, the concepts of Creativity & Harmony are of utmost importance. In order to fully benefit from Creativity & Harmony, we must first understand what it means to “think out of the box”. The Swords Dance is an important part of Haedong Kumdo for a number of reasons, the most important being that it acts as a catalyst for developing a strong technical foundation, stimulating multi-faceted training, and understanding the core learning & theories of JSKR-HK.

It is through the Swords Dance that the many techniques of JSKR-HK are displayed together. However, it is not worth to show Swords Dance as a part of HK training without understanding and perfecting the core sword skills, or kumbup [劍法].

 

How do we develop Creativity & Harmony?

In order to develop Creativity & Harmony, it is important that the individual possesses self-awareness to identify areas of improvement and also be willing to improve where necessary.

First Stage : Relax, and feel the energy

Second Stage : Focus, and see it

Third Stage : Realize, and do it

In the early stages of training, you may feel as though you are very much in touch with your energy. This is only natural as you are perceiving something new for the first time. However, one must be careful when coming to such a conclusion as truly understanding and feeling one’s energy goes beyond awareness.

As I often emphasize, everything in the universe is connected. We must be aware that our presence and movements affect our environment and surroundings, be it directly or indirectly. These changes in the environment will affect us in turn.

It is also important to note that energy does not actually belong to any one individual. Energy is in nature and is not something we can collect and hold on to. Instead, we must come to an understanding of energy by learning how it moves, what it is, and how it affects us. We need to do this in a sincere and humble manner, not in the hope of controlling it.

Through training and being mindful of the impact you have on your surroundings, your energy will become increasingly ‘pure’. This pure energy will help focus your mind and strengthen your body, manifesting itself not only in your training but also in your daily life, improving your quality of life over time. Finally if we could come to know that it will guide us on our surroundings, it would be wonderful and could start to try to do something newly in both training and life.

These improvements come as a result of constant fundamental changes of consciousness with “thinking out of the box”. However, the absence of pure energy, which results from negative behaviors in saying and doing, even into the thought, stands to disrupt your way in both training and life. The beauty of the concepts of Creativity & Harmony is these they can be learned in both training, such as through the Swords Dance, and the events of our daily life. My hope is that this new book, Think Out of the Box, will help you develop Creativity & Harmony and better understand the core of JSKR-Haedong Kumdo. 

Practitioners of JSKR-HK must be cognizant of the idea of the “Basic Mind”, a simple yet significant concept common in both daily life and training.

 

🟠 In het paasweekend van 7 – 10 april organiseren we diverse workshops met Master Kim. Bekijk hier het complete programma: Dutch workshops 2023 – Happy Easter edition – Dutch Haedong Kumdo Association

🟠 Updates ontvangen? Dat kan!

 

Information on this page is an excerpt of the book Think out of the Box – through the training of Haedong Kumdo – volume 1 – and is published with courtesy of the author Grand Master Kim, Jeong Seong. For orders of volume 1 & 2 you can reach us at info@haedongkumdo.nl

Visit Kelly’s instagram @swordsincluded

 

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