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| General Information |
Sunmudo is a Korean Buddhist spiritual martial art for meditation practised by monks. Sun is the Korean equivalent of Chinese word “chan” and Japanese “zen”, meaning meditation or meditative state. Mu refers to fighting or martial arts, and do means discipline, the way or path. Thus, sunmudo combines both meditation and martial aspects. It turns dynamic characteristics of “martial arts into peaceful practices of meditation, yoga, and chi qong exercises” (Golgulsa Temple 2012). A year of training, the practitioners are qualified to be 1st Dan, followed by 2nd a year after. Becoming a sunmudo master requires more than 7 years of training. |
| History/Development |
Sunmudo is said to be a kind of vipasannā, an ancient method of meditation in Buddhism of India. It can be traced back to the Shilla Dynasty of Korea over a thousand ago. Historically, monks played an important role in fighting against the invasion of foreign powers and leading people spiritually in many occasions through the Josen dynasty in the 19th century (Gulgulsa Temple 2012).
During the late 20th century, Grandmaster Jeog Un Sunim, the disciple of the founder Yang Ik Sunim, contributed to the distribution of sunmudo and established Golgusa as the World Sunmudo Association Headquarters (Golgusa Temple 2012). |
Transmission
(Policies/institutions) |
More than 28,000 guests have visited Golgulsa Temple and had the chance to practise sunmudo during their stay at the temple. Sunmudo has been spread nationwide in Korea and internationally to the U.S., France, Norway, England, and others, having its training centres. |
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| References |
- Golgulsa Temple. (2012). Golgulsa Guide. | | |
