Kumdo is a modern martial art of fencing, the Korean equivalent of Japanese kendo. It is also romanized as kǒmdo, gumdo, or geomdo. The name means “the way of the sword,” using the same Chinese characters as kendo. The main differences between kendo and kumdo are stylistic.

Kumdo practitioners generally favor a dynamic style of play, focusing on using fast and aggressive small motion strikes to create openings for attacks.

Kendo practitioners however, tend to focus on the perfect single strike, waiting patiently to find an opening and the correct timing to land an attack typically larger in motion than a kumdo stylist.

Kumdo practitioners in Korea now number over 400,000 and is considered the second most popular martial art in Korea today, with Taekwondo being the most popular and Yudo and Hapkido tied for a distant third.