Goongdo literally means "the way of the bow". It is sometimes called Korean traditional archery.

In Korea the bow was used mainly as a military weapon. Korean soldiers used the bow as their primary weapon until modern times.

What distinguishes Goongdo from other archery methods is that the drawing of the string is done with the thumb and index finger using a thumb ring. This is called the "Mongolian Draw". Other methods use the first three fingers.