Kum Do

Kum Do is a Korean style of sword fighting similar to Japanese Kendo. Kum Do uses the same practice swords and armor as Kendo. And as far as I can see the only difference is the language.

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Koreans were forced to take up many elements of Japanese culture, including kendo. After the end of the occupation, they attempted to claim kendo as their own, using some references to an ancient Korean sword tradition.

There were ancient sword traditions in Korea, but they were all extinct well prior to the occupation, making most claims about kum do revisionist propaganda, with a small kernel or fact behind them.

In kum do, there's more jumping than in kendo, and everything's in Korean, but it's materially the same. The Korean national team competes in the World Kendo Championships, and kum do players worldwide compete in kendo tournaments.

Cf. www.kumdo.com for the Korean perspective

While korean martial arts have been influenced by both chinese and japanese imperialism and nearly eliminated by the pre-wwII japanese occupation, the traditional korean martial arts were safeguarded, at great personal risk, by the practitioners of family martial arts( sado mu sool ) and by the secret practice of royal court martial arts( koong joong mu sool ), most notably by the family of kuk sool won founder Suh In Hyuk.The sword techniques employed by kuk sool practitoners differ from japanese style in many respects, including sword type, draw and the use of both straight and inverted grip.