Seonmudo Denmark

선무도 · Seonmudo Denmark

Stillness
in motion

Seonmudo is the Korean Zen martial art — a living temple tradition in which meditation, breath and martial art become one and the same practice. Calm in mind. Fully present in body.

Try a class What is Seonmudo?

Training in Humlebæk · Head temple Golgulsa, Korea

이름 · The name

Three characters, one way

The name holds the whole practice. Three Korean characters — and none of them stands alone.

禪

선 Seon

Zen. Meditation and a clear, awake mind — the stillness everything else grows from.

武

무 Mu

Martial art. The body trained for strength, suppleness and precision — with control and respect.

道

도 Do

The way. Not a goal you reach, but a practice you return to every day.

Its traditional name is 불교금강영관 (佛敎金剛靈觀) — Bulgyo Geumgang Yeonggwan, the Buddhist way of diamond insight.

禪武不二

seon mu bul i

Zen and martial art are not two.

In Seonmudo, meditation is not a break from movement, and movement is not a break from meditation. The practice rests on the classic Buddhist pair jigwan (止觀): samatha, the mind settling into calm, and vipassana, insight that sees clearly. Its root is the ancient teaching on mindfulness of breathing, Anapanasati.

표지 · Our emblem

Two strokes, one mind

The Seonmudo Denmark emblem is painted with two brushstrokes. It draws on the thought of the monk Wonhyo, a major influence on Grandmaster Jeogun Sunim’s teaching and philosophy — and on the heart of Seonmudo itself: body, breath and mind as one practice.

  1. 一心

    One mind

    Together the arcs form a single circle. This is Wonhyo’s ilsim: everything arises from the same mind, and practice is a return to its source.

  2. 和諍

    Two that meet

    Each arc is only half. Wonhyo’s hwajaeng reconciles what seems opposed — just as 禪武不二 says that meditation and martial art are not two.

  3. 動中靜

    Stillness in motion

    The circle is neither closed nor still. Its halves are offset, like a step or a turn, because in Seonmudo calm is found in the middle of movement.

  4. 呼吸

    In and out

    Each stroke starts heavy and lifts away, like a breath. The green begins at the top, the dark at the bottom — inhalation and exhalation carrying each other.

  5. 印

    The seal

    The red seal simply reads 선무도 — Seon Mu Do — in Hangul. In Korea a seal has traditionally been used to sign and attest a letter, a document or a piece of calligraphy. We use it symbolically, as the emblem’s signature.

원효 · 元曉

Wonhyo (617–686)

Wonhyo was a monk of the Silla kingdom, from the same region where Golgulsa stands today, and is counted among Korea’s greatest thinkers.

On his way to study in China he sheltered for the night and, in the dark, drank water that tasted fresh and sweet. In the morning he saw it was rainwater in a skull. The water was the same — only his mind had changed. Everything is made by the mind (一切唯心造). He turned back: the way was not to be found far away, but here.

Later he set aside his robes and wandered the villages, dancing and singing with a gourd — the free muae dance — to bring the teaching to ordinary people.

That is the spirit Seonmudo carries on: practice belongs not only in the temple but in the body, the breath and everyday life — and it is open to everyone.

수련 · Practice

A class breathes in and out

A Seonmudo class is built like a single breath: from stillness, up through power and pace — and back to stillness. That rhythm is what makes the art both calm and dynamic.

  1. 01

    호흡 명상

    Breath meditation

    We sit, straighten the spine and let the breath sink into the belly. The mind gathers.

  2. 02

    선 요가

    Seon yoga and stretching

    Slow stretches and postures open joints, back and hips, gently waking the body.

  3. 03

    장공

    Janggong — martial art

    Stances, strikes, kicks and forms. Explosive techniques performed with full attention.

  4. 04

    선 기공

    Seon qigong

    Flowing movement at one with the breath. Energy gathers and the pulse settles.

  5. 05

    수인 명상

    Mudra and stillness

    Hands in mudra, eyes half closed. We sit with whatever the training has woken.

The sequence follows the tradition of Golgulsa and Seoul. Individual classes may vary.

누구나 · Who it's for

You don't need to be flexible to begin

If you practise yoga

Where yoga finds calm in the posture, Seonmudo teaches you to find it in the middle of movement. More dynamism, more strength — the same deep breath.

If you train martial arts

You know discipline, focus and technique. Seonmudo adds the inner dimension: the breath as engine, meditation as the core.

If you are looking for calm

For anyone who wants out of their head and into their body. Gentle to start, adapted to you — whatever your age or fitness.

역사 · Origins

From temple monks to today

Seonmudo has been handed down through generations of Korean monks. Much of its early history survives as tradition rather than in archives — but the line to the present day is clear.

  1. Silla

    Hwarang and temple arts

    Martial art and meditation are trained side by side in Buddhist temples — in the same spirit as Silla's young hwarang warriors.

  2. 1592

    The monk soldiers

    During the Imjin War, monks rise to defend the country. The martial art lives on in the temples, then fades into the background.

  3. 1960s–70s

    Yangik Sunim

    The monk Yangik (양익) gathers and systematises the inherited practice at Beomeosa temple in Busan.

  4. 1984

    The name Seonmudo

    His student, Grandmaster Jeogun Sunim (적운), names the art 선무도 and opens it to lay people.

  5. 1990

    Golgulsa becomes the home

    Jeogun Sunim becomes abbot of Golgulsa and makes the temple the home of Seonmudo. Templestay with Seonmudo begins in 1992.

  6. Today

    A worldwide way

    Seonmudo is practised in Korea, Europe and North America — and since 2017 by Danish practitioners rooted in Golgulsa.

골굴사 · The head temple

Golgulsa

In the mountains east of Gyeongju, on Hamwolsan — “the mountain that holds the moon” — lies Golgulsa, Korea's oldest grotto temple and the headquarters of Seonmudo.

According to tradition, the temple was founded some 1,500 years ago by the monk Gwangyu and his companions, who came from India. Its grottoes are cut into the soft rock, and high on the cliff face sits a Buddha carved in the 9th century, gazing towards the East Sea and the underwater tomb of King Munmu.

This is where Seonmudo lives today. The monks train in the temple's own rhythm, the temple's demonstration team shows the art to visitors, and thousands of guests from around the world come for templestay each year. Golgulsa was the first temple in Korea to open its gates this way.

Golgulsa is where Jimmy receives his instruction. Every journey there is a return to the source — training inside the temple's own setting, at the temple's own pace.

Visit Golgulsa (opens in a new window) Templestay at Golgulsa (opens in a new window)

세계 · The world

One line, many places

Every school traces its practice back to Golgulsa. In Korea, people train at the temple and in city centres — and in Europe, small, dedicated schools have grown up.

Korea

  1. Golgulsa

    Gyeongju

    The head temple, and seat of the World Seonmudo Federation and the Seonmudo university.

    Visit golgulsa.com (opens in a new window)

  2. Seonmudo Seoul Bonwon 선무도 서울본원

    Jongno-gu, Seoul

    The main centre in Seoul, close to Changdeokgung Palace. Teaching in the heart of the city since 1985, today led by Beopsa Borim.

    Visit seonmudoseoul.com (opens in a new window)

  3. Seoul Gangnam Jiwon 서울강남지원

    Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu · Gangnam

    The Seonmudo centre south of the Han River in the Gangnam area — one of the capital's official branches of the World Seonmudo Federation.

    Visit sunmudoland.com (opens in a new window)

Europe

  1. Deutschland

    Deutsche Seonmudo-Schule Felsentor

    Garmisch-Partenkirchen

    The German school at the foot of the Alps. Zen meditation, yoga, qigong and martial art — “mit Meditation und Kampfkunst zu Dir selbst”.

    Visit seonmudo-deutschland.de (opens in a new window)

  2. France

    Seonmudo France

    Paris · Clermont-Ferrand · Toulouse · Montauban

    The French organisation and “le portail du Seonmudo européen”. France has one of Europe's most active Seonmudo communities, with schools, national gatherings and the annual European seminar in Toulouse.

    Visit seonmudo.fr (opens in a new window)

  3. Norway

    Seonmudo Norway

    Haugesund

    Led by instructor Katja Dienemann (3rd dan), who — like Jimmy — began in 2017 after a templestay at Golgulsa. Our closest sister school, and one we work closely with.

    Visit seonmudo.no (opens in a new window)

  4. Denmark

    Seonbae Dojang

    Humlebæk

    Where Seonmudo is trained in Denmark today — in the early morning hours, guided by Sabom-nim Jimmy Tønners.

    Visit seonbae.dk (opens in a new window)

수련장 · Train in Denmark

Training at dawn

Seonmudo in Denmark is trained at Seonbae Dojang in Humlebæk — a small, volunteer-run association for Korean martial arts. We meet early, while the day is still quiet.

Seonbae Dojang

Humlebæk Idrætscenter
Langebjergvej 567, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark

  • Monday06:00–07:00
  • Friday06:00–07:00
  • Saturday06:30–07:30
  • Sunday06:00–07:00

Always check the current weekly schedule at Seonbae Dojang.

See the schedule (opens in a new window) Open in maps (opens in a new window)
First month
free
Membership
DKK 500 a year
Age
16 and up

For your first class

  • Comfortable clothes you can move freely in
  • Arrive about 10 minutes early
  • We train barefoot
  • No experience needed — just the wish to begin

사범님 · Sabom-nim

Jimmy Tønners

Sabom-nim · Seonmudo instructor

Jimmy began training Seonmudo in 2017 and was captured by what makes the style unique: that martial art and meditation are not two things, but one.

He receives his instruction at Golgulsa, the head temple of Seonmudo in Korea, and brings it home to training in Denmark — with the same respect for the tradition with which it is handed on at the temple.

As Sabom-nim he leads Seonmudo training at Seonbae Dojang in Humlebæk and is the contact person for Seonmudo in Denmark.

질문 · Questions

Good to know

Is Seonmudo religious?

Seonmudo is rooted in Korean Buddhism, and we train with respect for that tradition. But you don't need to believe anything in particular — Golgulsa has opened the practice to everyone, whatever their background.

Do I need to be fit?

No. Training is adapted to you. Flexibility, strength and balance are what the practice gives — not what it demands.

Are there competitions?

No. Seonmudo is about practice and self-understanding, not about winning against others.

Why so early in the morning?

The morning is quiet and the mind is clear. It is also how training is done at the temple. Many find the whole day changes.

Can I train in Korea?

Yes. Golgulsa offers templestay with Seonmudo, including for foreign visitors. Talk to Jimmy if you dream of training at the source.

연락 · Contact

Come and train with us

Write or call, and we'll arrange your first class. The first month is free.

Jimmy Tønners, Sabom-nim