Ancient Korean fencing

According to the Army Account of Military Arts and Science, a Ming dynasty strategy book written in 1629 by Mao Yuanyi, Korean fencing (Cháoxian shìfa) was a martial art that had reached Korea through Chinese martial artists. Much of this text was based on earlier works by Ming general Qi Jiguang, who successfully adapted and emulated the use of the Japanese katana by developing the wodao, to respond to the prevalent threat of the Japanese wokou or pirates. Chosun Se Bup, one of the few surviving techniques of historical Korean swordplay, is based on this work.

However, warriors were regarded as secondary to scholars during parts of the Goryeo Dynasty and much of the Joseon Dynasty, due to the heavy influence of Confucianism and martial arts other than traditional Korean archery were little practiced except by members of the military. As a result, many arts died out without successors to carry on its traditions. Today, there are only two remaining documents that refer to ancient Korean martial arts.

These ancient arts are not popularly considered to be ancestors of kumdo, though some kumdo scholars, including those at the Korea Kumdo Association, believe ancient Korean fencing as outlined in a Silla dynasty book known as Bonguk Geombeop (Korean Sword Method) was the basis of all modern two-handed sword techniques. This belief is not commonly held outside Korea. However, kumdo is not usually understood to be a direct descendant of any of these ancient sword arts, rather it is the Korean version of Japanese Kendo, with almost all kata, techniques, rules and regulations identical between the two.

Kumdo is a modern martial art of fencing, the Korean equivalent of Japanese kendo. It is also romanized as komdo, gumdo, or geomdo. The name in hanja is  equivalent to the Japanese, literally translating to "the way of the sword".

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