High guard

Sangdan-se (상단세, “high guard”) is a guard (겨눔세, gyeonunse) of kumdo in which the jukdo (죽도) is raised high above the head. It is divided into jwasangdanse (좌상단세, left high guard) and usangdanse (우상단세, right high guard).

Place among the guards. Among the five guards (오행의 겨눔세) it is tied to fire and heaven (천). Jungdan-se (중단세, middle guard) corresponds to water, hadan-se (하단세, low guard) to earth and defence, palsang (팔상) to wood, and the side guard (옆구리겨눔, heorikal) to metal.

• Jwasangdanse: from jungdan-se the left foot steps forward and the left fist goes about one fist above the forehead. The jukdo and the body form an angle of about 45°, with the tip angled slightly to the left.
• Usangdanse: taken by raising the jukdo straight up from jungdan-se.
• Eokkaekal (어깨칼): a guard that can be seen as a variation of jwasangdanse. The right fist is lowered to about the right shoulder, and the practitioner waits to see the opponent's move before attacking.

Strengths and weaknesses. When attacking, it is more favourable in time and distance than other guards. It is somewhat unfavourable at close range and, if the attack fails, it is hard to recover the movement quickly. One Korean source says that thrusting (찌름) and attacking the waist are very difficult from it.

Typical attacks. Strikes launched from this guard are called “sangdan techniques”. Typical examples are the head strike (머리치기, meori chigi) and the wrist strike (손목치기, sonmok chigi). The most characteristic strike from jwasangdanse is the one-handed left head strike (좌편수 머리치기, jwapyeonsu meori chigi). Anyone who takes this guard must therefore build the strength to strike with the left hand alone.

Spirit. Sangdan-se is called the guard of fire: the practitioner should be full of fighting spirit and overawe the opponent. One Korean source holds that without this spirit it is not a true sangdan-se.

A Japanese page states that in official matches this guard is permitted only from high-school age.