Author: Whakatane Haidong Gumdo Incorporated

You may be thinking, what is Haidong Gumdo anyway? It is a Korean Sword Martial art that translates to "The way of the enlightened sword." Haidong Gumdo is to Korea as the Samurai are to Japan. Our Whakatane Haidong Gumdo Club, which is affiliated with Haidong Gumdo New Zealand, has seven members who will be representing Haidong Gumdo Team New Zealand at World Mulimpia on July 11th-19th, 2019 in South Korea. Our Club Values are to provide whanau a safe place to have fun and be challenged physically, mentally and spiritually. These values are important to us, and when you donate you are supporting our whanau to get to Korea. Our Origins Whakatane Haidong Gumdo started in July, 2016 under the leadership of Sean Cromwell. Back then, we were known as “Tumatauenga Sword”. We had humble beginnings and started our training at the Whakatane Town Football Club. However, due to Sean’s passion and leadership we quickly outgrew this space. At the beginning of 2017, we moved our training to the Ohope Hall where we have been ever since. Our club has continued to grow and has an excellent mix of both junior and senior belt members. 2018 brought about big changes for our club; we grew to be the largest club in New Zealand and we were fortunate to host the Second Annual New Zealand Mulimpia. New Beginnings In 2018, we also had a change to our head instructor. Sean has left the Whakatane area to pursue new opportunities and left the club in the hands of 1st Dan Black Belt, Danyel Degenhardt. The club is currently fundraising and training for the Haidong Gumdo World Championships in July, which are held in Korea! This will be only the second time New Zealand will be representing a team in this international competition, and it will be a great opportunity for many members of Whakatane Haidong Gumdo Incorporated.