From: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: the_dojang-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: The_Dojang-Digest V7 #33 Reply-To: the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: The_Dojang-Digest Tues, 18 Jan 2000 Vol 07 : Num 033 In this issue: the_dojang: Bad romanization the_dojang: Insa-dong swords the_dojang: re: The Dojang-Digest V7 #32 the_dojang: Korean studies opening the_dojang: swords, swords, swords and swords the_dojang: pronounciation differences [none] ========================================================================= The_Dojang, serving the Internet since June 1994. ~735 members strong! Copyright 1994-2000: Ray Terry, CA Taekwondo, and Martial Arts Resource Replying to this message will NOT unsubscribe you. To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe the_dojang-digest" (no quotes) in the body (top line, left justified) of a plain text e-mail addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. To send e-mail to this list use the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com See the Korean Martial Arts (KMA) FAQ and online search the last four years worth of digest issues at http://www.MartialArtsResource.com Pil Seung! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Aaron Harmon" Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 15:41:36 -0600 Subject: the_dojang: Bad romanization > I think you'll find most of languages other than English use the "Ah for A" > sound. Korean, Japanese, and Spanish are three that come immediately to > mind. > > As for the "eye for I" sound, to my knowledge it only exists in English. > Most other languages will have an "eee for I" sound. The weird way that many English speakers pronounce vowels is due to what is called 'the great vowel shift', for some reason many English speakers (to one degree or another, American's are possibly the ones with the greatest change) are changing the way that they pronounce the vowels. Makes it real easy to pick an American out of a crowd :), that and Americans (for one) have a lazy diction. English did not used to be pronounced this way. the word 'Tiny' used to be pronounced 'Teeny', and it may explain why we have all those 'silent' letters and really wacky spellings like 'through' and 'bough'. But it makes it a good rule-of-thumb to pronounce almost any non-English word with the softer 'I sounds like EE, A sounds like AH, O sounds like OH, U sounds like OO, E sounds like EH' pronunciation. Especially words related to Korean Martial Arts (I knew I would find a way to keep it near the topic:) ). Aaron ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 18:14:40 PST Subject: the_dojang: Insa-dong swords > << I would like to make it known that I am very glad to no longer be the > only student of Hai Dong Gumdo on the Digest. Welcome! I would also like to > make it known that I am doubly glad this gumdo-in is a fellow Canadian. >> > > I would like to ask either gentleman a question. I have a tape on Hai Dong > Gumdo and I love the swords that they use. Where would one purchase such a > good sword? > > The swords I have seen in the martial arts supply places are expensive but > really cheap ... if you know what I mean. Where would one find a sword of > quality like those on the tape were using? FWIW, this is taken from my account of my first visit to Seoul in 1997: "I finally found the sword shop in Insa-dong. Tae Guek Swords specializes in making Korea design swords (along with Chinese and Japanese design swords). Given the controls on weapons in Korea, they apparently sell many/most of their swords to Americans and others outside of Korea. Of the Korean design line they carried three models, the prices were $880 (US$), $1640, and $2000++. The $1640 model was nice, very nice, but it was $1640... I was tempted, but not that tempted. However, while skimming through their past orders I noticed a recent purchase of a $1640 model by Dr. KIMM He-Young. Each order had a photocopy of the first page of your passport so he was easy to spot." A few months after this I asked Dr. Kimm if he recommended this maker. He indicated "at this point I cannot". Ray Terry raymail@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com ------------------------------ From: Arthur Lee <7akl3@qlink.queensu.ca> Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 21:19:43 -0500 Subject: the_dojang: re: The Dojang-Digest V7 #32 " << I would like to make it known that I am very glad to no longer be the only student of Hai Dong Gumdo on the Digest. Welcome! I would also like to make it known that I am doubly glad this gumdo-in is a fellow Canadian. >> I would like to ask either gentleman a question. I have a tape on Hai Dong Gumdo and I love the swords that they use. Where would one purchase such a good sword? The swords I have seen in the martial arts supply places are expensive but really cheap ... if you know what I mean. Where would one find a sword of quality like those on the tape were using? Thank you. Illona " This may not help you out that much... but my Sah-bum (teacher) got his from Korea... i am unsure as to where you would get a high quality sword anywhere else... i haven't tried all the options on this page... but give it a shot... www.swordforum.com they've got some cool stuff on sword of all types... oh... and this may set old flames anew.... it's Tae Kwon Do, and it's Hae Dong Gumdo... with an -ae... and NOT an -ai... this will hopefully help in the confusion that english people have with typing and pronunciation.... 8)... and if you don't want to spell it the right way (IMHO), then use the acronyms... TKD and HDG... l8r Arthur Lee 2nd Gup HDG 2nd Dan TKD (pronounced dahn approximately) ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 20:45:19 PST Subject: the_dojang: Korean studies opening Forwarding. Ray ====================================================================== ANNOUNCEMENT The University of Vienna is looking for a professor of Korean Studies. Please let your friends know of it: Date of appointment: September 1st, 2000. Qualification: The candidate must have obtained qualifications to be professor (Dozentur) at any Austrian university or equivalent qualifications in Korean Studies. He or she must have teaching and didactic ability, ability to run an university institution and to have experiences in the international academic activities. The candidate is expected to be a specialist in research and teaching of modern Korean and in the field of Social or Cultural Sciences. He or she should have except Korean language enough knowledge of Classical Chinese and (or) Japanese. Additional qualification is desired: experience in the field of gender research. The candidates are asked to apply for the post by March 15th, 2000 and to send an application with a Curriculum vitae, a list of publications and lectures to An das Dekanat der Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Wien, Dr.Karl Lueger-Ring 1, A-1010 Wien, Austria Prof. Dr.Sang-Kyong LEE sang.kyong.lee@univie.ac.at ------------------------------ From: "A. Boyd" Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 04:22:24 -0800 (PST) Subject: the_dojang: swords, swords, swords and swords Where do we get our swords? Well, my answers may not be of much use because I live and train in Korea. ;} In Hai Dong Gumdo we use four types of sword over the course of training. The one we use most often is of course the mog-gum or wooden sword. (long o, short u, hard g, almost a k sound). These weapons are often good only by the luck of the draw here or by the virtue of patient searches through bins in sporting goods stores. I know my friend will deny vehemently that there are any good mog-gum in Korea but I don't have to agree. ;} I doubt that there would be any difference in quality between what they sell here and what they sell in America on a mass market level. Like anywhere, getting somethng custom made will make you most happy. (more on that later) The next most commonly used sword is the ka-gum or false sword. It is an unsharpened and rather plain metal practice sword which is properly balanced (unlike wood) and much closer to the real thing in weight. This is not a real sword although it is a real weapon. No matter how fancy a ka-gum you acquire it still won't match the feel of the real deal. For this reason alone I recommend getting a cheap one anywhere as long as the balance point is right and remember not to spar with it. That's what the previous and next weapons are for. The next most common weapon used in HDG is the jook-to. This is what kendo practitioners use in their matches. It is traditionally made of bamboo although all kinds of fancy variations are available using other materials now. Again, these serve a purpose and quality is determined by the purpose to which you will put it. The quality outside of Korea will be the same or better than here. The final step is the ching-gum or real sword. Sometimes it can feel like everything else boils down to the experience of weilding a good sword. These weapons can quickly become intensely personal and I think that's a good thing. For this reason I do not recommend ordering from mass producers or martial arts supply houses or whatnot. I firmly believe that if you want a sword that will satisfy you have to have it made. It is not the cheapest route but it has two distinct advantages. The first is that the sword fits your body. The second is that it will be made to do what you want it to do. For example: I cut bamboo most often with mine. Your average MA store Japanese katana is not made to withstand the rigors of this type of cut, instead being forged with tatami mats in mind. The dynamics of the cuts are very different and the blade shape can be made more efficient for whichever of the two you prefer. Perhaps you are a small person, blades can be made lighter, etc... One resource for locating a good smith to make weapons for you is the Sword Forum online magazine. the url is www.swordforum.com In the Turtlepress video the assembled instructors are using ching-gum. There is a current amoung them of seeking to obtain unique looking weapons. It helps them stand out. {Personally I find I stand out enough.) I was chided for going for a basic black gloss finish, mother of pearl inlay and plain silver fittings. I think it looks classy. In the end the weapon has to satisfy you. I suppose I really didn't answer your questions did I? One last complication. It is not lawful for a foreigner to own or transport a sword in Korea. It is lawful to practice with one under the supervision of the instructor. How ordering would work through a Korean company is difficult to say and with shipping costs I do not feel it would be worth the hassle. A decent blade here runs about 700 US dollars and even though blade is great the fittings are often crap. When you start adding it all up it's the same as getting one custom made nearer to your home from the start. Anyway... ===== Anthony BT Boyd: Swordsman and English Teacher For illumination on this curious occupation please follow this link: http://victorian.fortunecity.com/operatic/739 ICQ#: 45348443 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Kim Jones Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 05:20:49 -0800 (PST) Subject: the_dojang: pronounciation differences I always wondered why the "Tae" was pronounced as "tie." Because I've grown up hearing my mother (and getting harped on whenever I didn't pronounce something correct in Han-gul) for my short lifespan thus far, the inflections stuck better with me than my older brother. At any rate, whomever the person was that said the "Tae" was pronounced more like "Teh" is...well...there's two variations on how the "ae" sound is written. You have the "ah" + "ee" combination and the "eo" + "ee" combination. I haven't paid enough attention because it's an everyday thing with me talking to my mother in a smattering of Korean and English...it's so commonplace I can't notice the differences unless she corrects me. But there is a H-U-G-E difference between "Taekwondo" and "Tie Bo." It irks me, and I guess it's because the Korean side is ranting and raving mad... Korean-English dictionaries are wonderful! The minis are prolly the best, however. The particular one I have alphabetizes the Korean-English section not by the Han-gul consonant order...but by English, as it has the romanization of the pronounciation preceding the Han-gul depiction. Just another obaek won from me. ===== ~~Kim Jones *ladytimberland@yahoo.com* ICQ: 52828008 AOL: Lady Timberland __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 06:44:50 -0800 (PST) Subject: [none] ------------------------------ End of The_Dojang-Digest V7 #33 ******************************* It's a great day for Taekwondo! Support the USTU by joining today. US Taekwondo Union, 1 Olympic Plaza, Ste 405, Colorado Spgs, CO 80909 719-578-4632 FAX 719-578-4642 ustutkd1@aol.com http://www.ustu.com To unsubscribe from the_dojang-digest send the command: unsubscribe the_dojang-digest -or- unsubscribe the_dojang-digest your.old@address in the BODY of an email (top line, left justified) addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com. Copyright 1994-2000: Ray Terry, CA Taekwondo, and Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply.