Sunmudo: Meditation in Martial Arts

As a part of our temple stay in Bulgulsa temple in Gyeongju we had the opportunity to experience a traditional Korean martial art called Sunmudo. Sunmudo is a training method that Buddhist monks used throughout Korean history as early as the Shilla dynasty in 57 BCE-935 CE (http://www.sunmudo.com/). This martial art combines yoga style postures and and dynamic and powerful movements of the body. Sunmudo literally means “the way of doing meditative martial arts” (http://www.sunmudo.com/). Let me gloss this Korean word. The word ‘sun’ has its origins in Sanskrit and derives from the word “dhyana” (meditation). The term ‘mu’ means martial art. The word ‘do’ means the way.
Hundreds of years ago, monks used to practise Sunmudo when they were soldiers. This ancient Martial Art was revived in 20th century. In the late 1980s Grandmaster Jeog Un Sunim introduced Sunmudo to the public. In the 1990s he established Bulgulsa as the headquarters for Sunmudo. Now people who visit the temple have an opportunity to take part in the Sunmudo practice.
I enjoyed the Sunmudo practice very much because it combined dynamic exercises with postures and movements that help us build up strength as well as flexibility. Some of the exercises reminded me of Ashtanga yoga. At the end of the practice, however, we all gathered into a circle and performed controlled, slow meditative movements that were completely new to me. After we returned to England, I tried to find a Sunmudo community in Bath so that I could incorporate Sunmudo into my personal life. Unfortunately I could not find any Sunmudo communities in UK. According to the website “Sunmudo.com” there are Sunmudo centers outside Korea in France, Austria and United States. I hope one day Sunmudo would become more widely known so that it benefits others as much as it benefitted me.

Commentary by Maija Rautemaa
Link of the Photograph: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Gyeongju-Golgulsa-Sunmudo-06.jpg