I got my baduk equipment today.  It took most of the day, getting it out of Customs. The stones came from South Korea while the board was shipped from Japan. Clicking on the previous two links will lead one to the sites where I purchased them.

I went to a weekend baduk camp only once before, and it was really a fun experience. Unfortunately, that was the last time I got into contact with them; another one of my regrets. But now that I have the gear to practice with at home, I'll be able to study and hopefully within the year I'll be able to come back to them.

Baduk is a fun game, though it does need a lot of time to really get the hang of. I got to wanting to play it because of the manga "Hikaru no Go." The thing with the game is that it's so abstract, that it can represent anything - a war for territory between two armies, a duel between two individuals, a debate between two commentators, in fact anything with an interplay between two opposites. There is a connection between Baduk and martial arts, particularly in the Japanese tradition.

I hope the world learns more about this wonderful game. It's virtually unknown in my country, but in South Korea there are TV programs devoted to it.