Unity of spirit, sword and body

Gigeomche ilchi (기검체일치, 氣劍體一致) is usually translated as «unity of spirit, sword and body». It is a core principle of kumdo that describes the moment of the strike, when the three elements act together.

• Gi (기, 氣): spirit, drive and vigor. It is also the striker's will and its vocal expression, the gihap (기합).
• Geom (검, 劍): the sword, meaning its proper use. In practice this is the bamboo sword, the jukdo (죽도).
• Che (체, 體): the body in motion. It covers muscular strength, the grip on the jukdo, the strike and the movement of the body.

Korean kumdo glossaries state that this unity at the moment of the strike is a condition of a valid strike (yuhyo gyeokja, 유효격자). A Korean exam-prep note says only a strike in which intent, handling of the jukdo and body movement fully coincide meets the criterion for a hanpan (한판). A Korean dictionary adds that a strike without a shout, or without an upright body, lacks this quality.

One English-language page on kumdo says the criterion for scoring a point is known as gigeomche. It sets this against the Japanese ki-ken-tai icchi (気剣体一致), which it treats as the corresponding term.

A Korean news column gives an example: the shout «meori» (머리), the jukdo and the body reach the target together. To an observer this looks like one movement, but all three must happen at once for it to count as a point.