I was recently asked by another friend of mine, a World Haidong Gumdo Federation member, about the historical basis of Haedong Kumdo's Yedo series of sword forms. Her logic was that as HDGD (or HDKD, depending) stems from Gicheon and Shim Gumdo, there should exist some basis for Yedo techniques within these older systems. I've never studied Shim Gumdo, but I'm certainly ok to address the Gicheon relevance.
There are indeed sword forms in Gicheon not unlike some of the Yedo series. I have never been told anything about specific applications or historical uses, though based on the question, I can actually very easily see how at least two forms that I can think of would make very effective use of a slightly shorter blade in close quarters, such as a building interior. I do not know of any differentiated series in Gicheon, (such as HDGD's Ssang-su, Yedo, Bonguk, etc) but links to HDGD are unmistakeable. HDGD's basics, for example, are basically exactly the same as Gicheon's first form, with only slight modifications and additions. SSGB1, respectively, is essentially similar to Gicheon's second form. HDGD basics and SSGB1 & 2 are also performed in a manner more similar to that of all of Gicheon's sword forms. I see more of a differentiation beginning in SSGB3. Gicheon is much more "meditative" than HDGD, with each movement being given the utmost attention. Thus, progress is slower than that of the HDGD student, and there is certainly not as much material to cover.Though I no longer study with the WHDGDF, I think Master Kim, (and Na Han-Il) added something invaluable to the study of Korean sword techniques. There is definitely an element to HDGD not present in Gicheon that very much helped me to surpass a plateau I had been experiencing in my training for some time. I can't describe this exactly, but I would say it has something to do with power, flow, and, believe it or not, theatrics. That last thing is definitely an HDGD staple, and I actually think it does help, rather than hinder, a student's progress and understanding.
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I just had a question on your comparison between Gicheon and Haidong Kumdo. You wrote in your post that HDGD basics are essentially Gicheon Gumdo's first form, and that HDGD ssangsugumbup 1 is essentially Gicheon Gumdo's second form. And HDGD ssangsugumbup 3 is where HDGD starts to diverge from Gicheon Gumdo. What about HDGD ssangsugumbup 2 then? Is there any comparison to Gicheon? Are there any other similarities when looking at the forms?
o and one more thing,
just how many sword forms does gicheon have?
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