Jong-I Begi, or paper cutting, is one of the main testing (and competition) disciplines of Haidong Gumdo (Korean Sword Art).
It may seem simple, but it takes skill, mental discipline and practise to achieve a clean, even and precise cut across the full width of the paper at each attempt.
Paper cutting is used to measure the accuracy, speed and technique of Hweng-Dan Begi, the horizontal cut.
A thin bamboo sword, Juk Gum, is used in training for this discipline.
When you practise a horizontal cut, the sound of the bamboo sword will tell you whether the sword was angled correctly and whether you moved it (and thus your body) swiftly enough.
Noticing at which point the sound appears (ie at the very beginning of the cutting motion or mid-way/later) will tell you whether the sword has been brought into it’s correct position at the right point (as early as possible) or too late (ie. a ‘cut’ vs a ‘hit’)
Recently (as you can see in the picture) Mr.E and I have invested in a Juk Gum, one for the both of us, to ‘hear’ our technique more accurately when practising our Hweng Dan Begis.
We’ve dubbed it ‘Paper Cut’ 🙂
PS: In the second part of this video you can see Master Chul-Kyung Lee, Technical Director of EUHDGDA, demonstrating the art of Jong-I Begi.
Enjoy!
My friend and I wanted to know if the Juk Gum used are strictly bamboo, like a boken, or is there a metal cutting edge?
There is no metal edge. All wood/bamboo
These paper cutting practice swords are indeed strictly wood/bamboo, very light. Only meant for practicing cutting paper though, as their edge is too fragile to cut other materials. For bamboo cutting we have (sharpened) metal swords (jinggeum). Hope this helps!
Where can I purchase such a sword?
Thank you very much!
Frank
Hi Frank! We’ve purchased our practice swords directly through our teacher, Master Chae (www.sportschule-chae.com)
I think you’ll be able to purchase them at any Haidon Gumdo school though, but probably nowadays they may also be available online in (Korean?) martial arts stores.
Hope this helps!