Week 2: Drawing and Withdrawing the Sword

The first time my master told me that drawing and withdrawing the sword will take more than a week to master, I did not believe him. I mean, how hard could it be? You simply pull the sword out, and pull it back in? However, the first time I held a real sword and tried to pull it out, I realized I look really dumb. Here's an embarrassing video of myself trying to pull out and put in a sword.  

So you get the point, it's actually not that easy of a task. There are specific steps and details that must be followed, in order for yourself to not look as dumb as I did in the video. Here are the steps I have learned.

1. The Angle 

     Before drawing the sword, the left hand must rotate the sword 90 degrees to the left. This will face the sides of the sword parallel to the ground. If the sword is not rotated, I would have to awkwardly twist my wrist to grab the handle of the sword.

   

2. Tip of the Handle 

     The tip of the handle of the sword must face FORWARD when drawing and withdrawing the sword. As you could see in the video above, I did not know that correctly. In order to do this, the right shoulder and leg must come forward. This lets the handle of the sword, which was currently facing right, turn to the front.  

3. Pull out completely 

     Because the sword is longer than my arm, I had a hard time completely pulling the sword out of the case before I turn the sword to its original angle. As a result, the sword scrapes the inner part of the case as it comes twisting out. This became worse as I stiffened my body and only used my arm to pull out the sword. Watching this, my master told me to relax and use the turning of my entire body to add an extra length to pull out the sword. 

4. Blood on the sword

     Not that I will ever actually cut someone with a sword, let's just say I did for the sake of the martial art. The sword would be covered with blood and probably some disgusting flesh, and it would be nasty if all that blood went inside the case with the sword. Thus, before withdrawing the sword back in, we let the blood drip off by doing this,

5. Create a tighter hole as thin as the sword. 

     Which hole would be harder to put the sword in? A big hole or small hole? You probably thought it would be the big hole (or at least I did), but it is actually the opposite. The bigger the hole and empty, the more the sword will move around while searching for the entrance to the case. In order to prevent this, I had to create a tighter hole with my fingers that covers up the hole of the case. 

6. Slide the back of the sword on the hand.

     Putting the sword back into its case is essentially the same concept. The case of the sword should be rotated left 90 degrees, and the tip of the handle must face forward.  However, there is one additional step. In order to find the hole created with the fingers, the sword must trace its path to the hole. This is done by sliding the back of the sword on your hand until the tip of the sword reaches the hole. 

7. Back to the original angle

     As soon as the tip of the sword reaches the hole, the sword should rotate back to its original angle(the sides of the sword being perpendicular to the ground) Finally, the sword should slide back into its case, smoothly and lightly pushing down the non-sharp side of the sword. 

Product of Week 1

As my master has already said, I must put in more time to put all these steps into one smooth movement. My back should stay straight at all times, and my elbow should unfold completely when pulling out and putting in the sword. My master told me that I have improved a lot, but he wants me to keep practicing as I move on to the movements of Chosun Saebub. 

That's it for this week. Come back next week to see the first 3 movements of Chosun Saebub, Bye!

Timeline

Week 1: Drawing and Withdrawing Sword

Week 2: Learn the 1st(擧鼎), 2nd(跨左), and 3rd(跨右) movement of Chosun Saebub.

Week 3: Learn the 4th(坦腹), 5th(豹頭), and 6th(左夾) movement of Chosun Saebub.

Week 4: Learn the 7th(右夾), 8th(御車), and 9th(御車) movement of Chosun Saebub.

Week 5: Learn the 10th(展翅), 11th(腰擊), and 12th(鳳頭) movement of Chosun Saebub.

Week 6. Practice all 12 movements of Chosun Saebub.

Week 1: My Passion

The Genius project asked me about my passion. It was one of the easier questions for me (which is rare) because there is only one time my lazy body works harder than ever: when I'm practicing Kumdo. Before I get in any deeper into this topic, I bet half of you are wondering how to pronounce that word, so I will make it clear that it is pronounced as "come-doe"

Kendo is a Japanese martial art of swordsmanship, and Kumdo is the same thing except Korean. If one has not been properly trained on how to fight with swords, it is hard for them to realize how difficult the sport might be. A friend of mine asked me "Why can't you just swing the sword like a baseball bat and hit the other guy?"

There is a clear difference between being a thug, and a swordsman in Kumdo. Precise control of the sword, efficient and quick footwork, mentality, and concise trajectory of the sword is what differentiates thugs fighting with sticks and a swordsman fighting with a sword. 

I have planned to polish the quality of my Kumdo skills by practicing the Chosunsaebub, the traditional Korean swordsmanship. This will help my ability to effectively control the space between myself and my opponent, have a more proper form for my strikes, and get better control of my sword. My master at Yong Kum Kwan (the place I train) will train and assess me through the process, helping me measure my progress throughout the project. By the end, I will be able to perform the Chosunsaebub on my own in a smooth and accurate fashion.