“Player's Corner”

David V. is 14 years old, an eighth grader in middle school. He started kumdo five years ago in April. His mom was a Tae Kwon Do instructor for several years, and both his mom and dad had black belts. So they encouraged him to try a martial art for discipline and exercise.

But kicking and punching didn’t seem exciting enough to David, so he went looking for a different art. David liked video games, and when David’s dad showed him a YouTube video of kumdo, he thought that the idea of sword fighting in real life looked a lot more exciting than pretending to fight with swords in a video game.

David has learned a lot through kumdo, and his parents love that he’s ended up in such a friendly and supportive school, particularly one with close ties to Korea. David says he especially likes sparring and has learned a lot about the benefits of focus and hard work. He also remembers breaking one leg very badly when he was in kindergarten, and feeling like his stride was always off after that—until he started kumdo. “It’s not been a problem anymore for me, because of kumdo,” David says. His goal is to become the best kumdo practitioner he can be, one class at a time.

David