IIMA-Tang Soo Do

TANG SOO DO

Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art promoted by Hwang Kee that has roots in various styles of martial arts. However, the term Tang Soo Do has evolved in the western world to currently describe a form of Karate that is distinctly Korean, but is different than both Taekwondo and Soo Bahk Do.

"The way of the Chinese hand" is relatively modern and a composite style, being 60 percent Soo Bahk Do, 30 percent northern Chinese, and 10 percent southern Chinese. Tang Soo Do is both a hard and soft style, deriving its hardness in part from Soo Bahk and its soft flowing movements from the northern Chinese systems.

Prior to the unification of the initial schools (or kwans) of Tang Soo Do in Korea under the Korea Taekwondo Association, the arts were known as Tang Soo Do, Kong Soo Do, or Kwon Bup. Despite the effort, the kwans continued to teach their individual styles and stopped using the various names when they unified under the name Taekwondo (and temporarily Tae Soo Do).

The Moo Duk Kwan, being loyal to Kee, pulled out of the unification and remained independent, continuing to use the name 'Tang Soo Do'. Some Moo Duk Kwan members followed Hwang's senior student, Chong Soo Hong, to become members of a unified Taekwondo.

The late Hwang Kee officially changed the name of the art of the Moo Duk Kwan style to Soo Bahk Do as early as 1957, shortly after his discovery of Korea's indigenous open hand fighting style of Subak. This change was officially registered, and the Moo Duk Kwan refiled with the Korean Ministry of Education on June 30, 1960. The organization was officially reincorporated as the "Korean Soo Bahk Do Association, Moo Duk Kwan."

Tang Soo Do incorporates many fluid "soft" movements reminiscent of certain traditional Chinese martial arts and kicking techniques rooted in Korean taekkyeon. Other modern Tang Soo Do systems teach what is essentially Korean Karate in an early organized form. The World Tang Soo Do Association and the International Tang Soo Do federation, for instance, 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 related to Okinawan Karate.

Tang Soo Do continues to expand and flourish under numerous federations and organizations. It can be argued that Tang Soo Do is one of the most widely practiced martial arts in the United States. Yet due to political in-fighting and splintering, Tang Soo Do is not as unified as Tae Kwon Do.

Tang Soo Do's most famous practitioner is Chuck Norris who preferred it during his fighting career. Norris helped to pioneer this art and in the process became one of the world's most famous martial artists.