“The price of greatness is responsibility” said Winston Churchill. In Haidong Gumdo, responsibility comes with Black Belt. Provided you can start your Gumdo journey, complete seven gradings from White Belt to Red/Black Belt and be in a position to train for your Black Belt. Complete that and your all sorted… all you need to do is a lot more training and attempted the Ordeal….
Ah yes… The Ordeal. Every new student in New Zealand finds out pretty quickly that if they are going to go far into their Haidong Gumdo career, at some point they will need to accomplish The Ordeal in order to get their Black Belt.
The Ordeal starts with 1 hour of Dan Jeon Ho. This is an active meditation stance with arms overhead and legs in a horse riding stance. After a short break, you the complete 1000 cuts within 20 minutes. Set a metronome for 50 BPM, and then simply keep cutting.
Early on in Haidong Gumdo New Zealand, The Ordeal was something that was dreaded. Something that you understood was going the be one of the most painful things in your life, but that you’ll train hard enough to find a way through. Over the years through our by incorporating more focus on training the mind through meditation, hypnosis and other techniques, The Ordeal has become something else completely
And that’s exactly what club members Alex Harland, Angus Macrae, Urs Junker and Finn Fairlie did. Tuesday evening the 7 of March at Ohope Beach was the time and place to be. The Duo completed there Ordeal as the beautiful full moon rose.
The four Red/Black Belts will now be attempting there Black Belt grading on the 30th of April at the Ohope Beach Community Hall.
It looks like Whakatane Haidong Gumdo’s next-gen of Black Belts are on the horizon….
Whakatane Haidong Gumdo Inc. 
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