Kwanjangnim Original Haidong Gumdo is a unique book as it discussed a martial art that does not receive much coverage, Haidong Gumdo. However, this book is not the definitive guide to the martial art and is indeed a very basic book that could have been a magazine article. The actual English part of the book is about 60 pages in big type. I read the book in about half an hour, not because I could not put it down but because there was not much content.
Disclaimer: I am not trolling for comments with this post, as I can see from the comments on Youtube that this is an emotional subject for some reason. I am not sure why although at least some commenters did refer to sources if readers wanted more information.
I was originally looking at a copy of the National Geographic special on The Medieval Fight Book (note, this is part 3 of 4), written by Hans Talhoffer. A fascinating special in itself and it also had Bettany Hughes as one of the commentators; beauty and a planet sized brain, the ultimate...sorry, minor digression. While looking at the videos I noticed that there were other postings about katanas versus longswords and knights versus samurai. They piqued my interest.
I did Western Martial Arts for a number of months and we focused on the style suggested by George Silver. We used his backsword or broadsword with a basket hilt. For those not familiar with him he wrote a treatise that was published in 1599 called Paradoxes of Defence. It is a diatribe against the rapier but it is also where he sets out his views on swords. I liked his view on swordsmanship as he does not see it as some esoteric exercise but as an activity where you have to win because your life is at stake. However, I started to wonder about where his views may have come from, in particular his views about the use of the backsword on the battlefield.
About a year ago I posted a review of the book by Richard Cohen titled By the Sword. I did not give it a rave review. While looking through a web database I came across this review article (Download The feel of steel) on the book in the Australian Army Journal. The reviewer liked the book. My reason in posting the article is because if you love swords then this review may sum up our fascination with them. The article was a a very enjoyable read.
