Tang Soo Do (; ) is a Korean martial art based on influences of Okinawan Karate, Taijiquan, and Shaolin Long Fist. From its beginnings in 1944 to today, Tang Soo Do is used by some Kwans to identify the traditional Korean fusion of fighting styles. In the mid 1950s, it became the basis for the martial art taekwondo when the Korean Nine Kwans united.
In contemporary context, many Korean martial arts entities continued to use Tang Soo Do to preserve the elements of Korean martial arts that evolved from the original nine kwans' karate roots and were lost in transition to taekwondo. The techniques of what is commonly known as Tang Soo Do combine elements of Okinawan Karate, Taijiquan, and Shaolin Long Fist.
Etymology Tang Soo Do is half Chinese karate, having straight punches, and half kung fu, having circular blocks. "Tang Soo Do" () is the Korean pronunciation of the Hanja 唐手道 (pronounced Táng shǒu dào in Mandarin), and translates literally to "The Way of the Tang Hand." A distinct Taiwanese hybrid martial art, also called Tang Shou Dao, uses the same Chinese characters as Tang Soo Do but is slightly different from each other despite having some similarities due to incorporations from karate and southern Chinese kung fu.
The same characters can be pronounced "karate-dō" in Japanese. In the early 1930s, approximately 55 years after Japan's annexation of Okinawa, Gichin Funakoshi in coordination with others changed the first character, 唐, which referred to the Chinese Tang dynasty, to 空, signifying "empty"; both characters can be pronounced "kara" in Japanese, though 唐 is more commonly rendered in its on'yomi as "Tou".Funakoshi, Gichin, Karate-do Kyohan, p.3 footnote Funakoshi ostensibly wanted to avoid confusion with Chinese Kenpō, and emphasize the Japanese rather than Chinese identity of his martial art. Funakoshi claimed Okinawan karate could "now be considered a Japanese martial art" and found the China reference "inappropriate" and "in a sense degrading".Funakoshi, Gichin, Karate-do Kyohan, p.4 The Mandarin pronunciation of 空手道 is kōng-shǒu-dào, and the Korean is ().
Outside of the Far East, the term "Tang Soo Do" has primarily become synonymous with the Korean martial art promoted by grandmaster Hwang Kee.
History
Between 1944 and Korea's liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, the original schools or kwans of Tang Soo Do were founded in Korea by practitioners who studied Okinawan karate and had exposure to kung-fu. At the time, there were five kwans (schools) of Taekwondo, of which only Chung Do Kwan of Won-kuk Lee and Moo Duk Kwan of Hwang Kee identified their martial arts as Tang Soo Do. Shortly after the Korean War and in 1953, four more offshoot schools formed. Of these second-generation kwans, Choi Hong-hi and Nam Tae-hi's Oh Do Kwan and Lee Young-woo's Jung Do Kwan splintered from Chung Do Kwan style of Tang Soo Do.
In 1960s, despite the Korean nationalist effort to combine kwans, some schools chose not to change their style and name to taekwondo during the effort led by Syngman Rhee to create a single organization. These kwans still flourish and other branches have since been developed.
Chung Do Kwan
Chung Do Kwan has survived in Korea as a fraternal friendship social club of Kukkiwon Taekwondo. Its organization follows the Kukkiwon curriculum and is no longer an individual Tang Soo Do style. Some of the older Chung Do Kwan schools practice the original Pyongahn forms which Lee Won-Kuk incorporated from Shotokan karate. Schools tracing their lineage to Duk Sung Son when he founded the World Tae Kwon Do Association in the U.S. after leaving Korea also practice Kuk Mu forms.
Other older Chung do Kwan schools practice the Palgwae forms, a predecessor of the Taegeuk forms. After black belt, practitioners of the Kukkiwon system practice the Yudanja and Kodanja series of black belt poomsae of Kukkiwon (Koryo, Kumgang, Taebaek, Pyongwon, Sipjin, Jitae, Cheonkwon, Hansoo, Ilyo). Many Chung Do Kwan schools also practice the Chang Hun tul, even if they are not affiliated with the International Taekwon-Do Federation.
The Chung Do Kwan style of Tang Soo Do was introduced to the U.S. by Jhoon Rhee. In the late 1950s and early 60s, Rhee was teaching what he called Korean karate (or Tang Soo Do) in Texas. After receiving the ROK Army field manual (which contained a martial arts curriculum under the new name of Taekwondo) from Gen. Choi, Rhee began using the name "Taekwondo".
Moo Duk Kwan
Because of its political influence, the KTA, led by its second president, General Choi Hong-hi, tried to assimilate the Moo Duk Kwan. Kwanjangnim's organization was the largest martial arts system in Korea at the time. Grandmaster Hwang Kee agreed to discuss unification but, when it became clear that he would not be in charge of the new organization, he ultimately refused. The result was a weakening of the Moo Duk Kwan as the Tae Kwon Do movement grew in strength, absorbing many Moo Duk Kwan members in the process.
Due to political in-fighting and splintering, Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do has had several members break off. Regardless, the Moo Duk Kwan as founded by Hwang Kee persists. Hwang Kee and a large constituent of the Moo Duk Kwan continued to develop a version of Tang Soo Do that eventually became what is now known as "Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan". This modified version of Tang Soo Do incorporates more fluid "soft" movements reminiscent of certain traditional Chinese martial arts.
After death of Hwang Kee, the Moo Duk Kwan continues to represent Soo Bahk Do worldwide, and is headed by Hwang Kee's son, Hwang Hyun-chul.
There are still a multitude of contemporary Taekwondo schools in the United States that teach what is known as "Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo". This nomenclature reflects this government-ordered kwan merger.
Present The World Tang Soo Do Association and the International Tang Soo Do Federation teach systems of Tang Soo Do that existed before the Taekwondo "merger" and before the development of modern Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan. These versions of Tang Soo Do are heavily influenced by Korean culture and also appear to be related to Okinawan Karate as initially taught in Japan by Gichin Funakoshi.
The Amateur Athletic Union Taekwondo recognizes Tang Soo Do ranks, permits Tang Soo Do hyeong in competition and hosts non-Olympic-style point-sparring to accommodate the various traditional Korean stylists.
American Tang Soo Do
American Tang Soo Do was formed in 1966 by Chuck Norris. It is a combination of Moo Duk Kwan-style Tang Soo Do, Judo and Karate (Shito-Ryu and Shotokan). Over the years it has been further developed by former black belts of his and their students.
American Tang Soo Do's original governing body was the National Tang Soo Do Congress (NTC) founded in 1973 by Chuck Norris as its president and Pat E. Johnson as its vice-president and Chief of Instruction after breaking ties with the Moo Duk Kwan. In 1979, Norris dissolved the NTC and formed his current organization the United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF) and named Johnson as executive vice president. In 1986, Norris promoted Johnson to ninth-degree black belt.
At that time due to a philosophical difference of opinion with Norris, Johnson would leave the UFAF and reform the NTC as the governing body for American Tang Soo Do while Norris kept UFAF as the parent organization for his new martial arts system of Chun Kuk Do, in 1990.Beaver, William K. "The Man Behind the Ninja Turtles." Black Belt Magazine. July 1991. P. 18.
Despite Chuck Norris leaving the American Tang Soo Do, the entity still persists as 16 schools across the USA.
Mi Guk Kwan Mi Guk Kwan ("American Brotherhood of the Empty Hand Defense") is an organization of 35 schools, founded by Grandmaster Charles J. Ferraro. The Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan system is a classical martial art concerned with scientific and martial theory, form and aesthetics.
Moo Yea Tang Soo Do Moo Yea Tang Soo Do (MYTSD) is a national association of 35+ martial arts schools that aims to serve its members while helping each studio maintain its independent spirit. They do not exist to govern the practices of individual schools, but rather provide a Tang Soo Do community that allows for continued learning, business success, and rank advancement. Moo Yea was formed by grandmaster David Sgro to provide a national network to help Train, Test, and organize Tournaments.
Ranking systems
Tang Soo Do uses the colored belt system that was instituted by Judo's founder Jigoro Kano and popularized in Karate-do by Gichin Funakoshi. However, minor deviations according to organization and/or individual school are commonplace. One differentiating characteristic of the Moo Duk Kwan style is that the black belt, or dan rank, is frequently represented by a midnight blue belt (some Chung Do Kwan schools also have adopted this custom) for students who attain dan rank. The reason for the midnight blue belt is the belief in Korean culture that black symbolizes perfection. As no one is perfect, the belt for the dan rank is a midnight blue color. It was also a belief of the founder of Moo Duk Kwan, Hwang Kee, that black is a color to which nothing can be added, thus blue signifies that a dan holder is still learning. The white belt means a birth or beginning of a person's will to acquire the skills of karate, the white belt symbolizes winter. The yellow belt signifies the beaming sunlight of spring. The orange belt signifies the strength of the rising sun. (The yellow belt and the orange belt both symbolizes spring) The green belt depicts the penetration of stems and roots of the plant to get the sunlight, the green belt symbolizes summer. The red belt this stage represents the seed which is now a flowering plant, representing the students improvement, participation and advancement, It symbolizes Summer.
Many schools and organizations still opt to use the black belt. The Moo Duk Kwan, and some Chung Do Kwan schools of Tang Soo Do incorporate a red-striped midnight blue (or black) belt to denote individuals who have reached the rank of Sa Beom (master 사범님/師範님), or 4th dan. The original non-dan, or geup, belt colors established by Hwang Kee were white belt, green belt, and red belt. In the 1970s, an orange belt was added after the white belt, along with either one or two stripes on the orange, green and red belts, encompassing ten geup (student) levels, and is currently the system in use in the Moo Duk Kwan. Many variations of this ranking system are still used and typically employ other colors (such as yellow, brown, purple, and blue). However, this is primarily a western influence.
The black belts (or midnight blue belts) are called dans and each degree has its own specific name. The dan rank ranges from 1st through 9th degree. In the Moo Duk Kwan, dan level is known by its Korean numeration, such as cho dan (1st), ee dan (2nd) and sam dan (3rd), and onward. In many organizations, the titles of kyosa (instructor 교사/敎師) and sa bom (master 사범/師範) are separately awarded after successfully demonstrating ability, knowledge, understanding and character for that level in a dan simsa (심사/審査), or test. One may not test for kyosa (certified instructor) until 2nd dan, or sabom (master instructor) until 4th dan or above. Dan levels from 4th dan onward are known as kodanja (고단자/高段者), whether sabom or not. Also in the U.S., a simple timing structure was created for the dan ranking system. If in constant study, then it was easy to measure when testing for the next rank. The next dan number was equal to the minimum number of years that must be spent training to achieve that dan. For example, a first dan would have two years before they could be a candidate for second dan, and so on.
Techniques and patterns
Hyeong