Korean martial arts the 1790s, as military arts had withered by that time. Despite the publication of this manual, it was never widely distributed, and there was no renaissance of martial arts in Korea. In 1895, Emperor Gojong invited 40 sword masters from Japan to begin teaching the art of the sword to his Korean Army cadets and police officers. This was decided upon due to the lack of native sword masters in Korea at the time . The teaching of the Art of the Sword continued well after the 1910 Annexation, until the art was formally named Kendo in Japan, and Kumdo
Korean sword martial arts practitioners tend to recognize this weapon as a "Genuine Korean Sword". The Hwandudaedo may have some connection to the Japanese straight swords (tsurugi) and the Chinese Jian. In deference to the Neo-Confucian state philosophy during the Joseon period, Korean swords tended to be somewhat shorter than their Japanese or Chinese templates, with a blunted tip and infrequently having a groove the length of the blade. In this way the sword was made to be represented as being as singularly "unaggressive" as possible. The Seven-Branched Sword is a peculiar specimen forged in Baekjae in the order of the king.