Shura as a Haidong Gumdo dojo (dojang) cutter

by Hak
(Chestnut Hill, MA)

I practice a Korean style called Haidong Gumdo, and people seem to find it a bit odd that I'm using a Japanese sword in a Korean martial art. Sadly this whole time I thought all the practitioners were using katanas and didn't even consider looking for a Korean sword.

The swords that the higher level practitioners of Haidong Gumdo use are apparently called "jin-gum" or "jingum" which basically translates to "true sword" which made me think that these were just swords with live blades, as opposed to "ka-gum (fake swords)" that were made of aluminum and had blunted edges for practice. These swords seem extremely expensive and are made by only a few makers. Even the ka-gum costs $200+, and they can't even cut anything.

The lengths are about the same and the only differences I see are that jingums have a slightly different wrapping on the handle and are a bit lighter even without the bo-hi. The hamon is also very different in that it has no pattern and just goes straight (if you google "jingum" you can take a look).

My teacher owns three swords. One for tatami, one for bamboo, and another for both. Performance-wise my Shura and my teachers swords aren't so different, except that it has trouble keeping up with his tatami cutting sword while cutting light targets (it goes through targets like they aren't even there and doesn't disturb them at all even after its cut). But with his bamboo and all-around cutter, the Shura is on par with both.

I actually think hes a bit annoyed by it. he seemed heavily skeptical when I told him what I paid for the Shura and that I bought it from a maker hes never heard of. I haven't tried cutting tatami with a bamboo core yet, but the Shura does very well against bamboo and tatami separately. It is a bit heavier than the jingums which apparently should make it harder to cut targets in a choreographed course, but the difference feels fairly negligible, and I feel that the additional weight helps the sword go through the targets (the cuts feel more satisfying at least).

If anyone who reads this practices Haidong gumdo, I encourage them to try out Shura or any other katana in their practices (I actually want to try a Kaze next and see if it could compete with the straw cutter). Even if I am made fun of a bit, I could at least find comfort in that the Shura definitely beats all of them in sturdiness.