The goal of hankumdo is to teach people how to defend themselves and at the same time offer them exercises to stay healthy.

[1] Hankumdo was developed by Myung Jae Nam, who first taught his sword techniques as a separate art in 1986 and was first publicized in 1997 during the 3rd International H.K.D Games.

Though first presented as a subset of the larger Hankido curriculum under the name hankumdobub (hankumdo techniques), Myung Jae Nam later decided that it was an art that could stand on its own merits and is often taught as a separate discipline.

It is claimed that using the five basic striking techniques one can write the entire Korean alphabet as a series of fencing combinations.

This tenet surfaces routinely among a broad spectrum of Oriental fencing arts and over a wide time frame.

Myung Jae Nam however wanted to create a true Korean sword art without any foreign influences.

Because the Korean writing system is fairly easy to learn, foreigners can become facile in the sword basics within a short period of time.