Tang Soo Doo

[shuriken_girl]

Tang Soo Doo is Korea's own fighting art. It's not ripped off of karate like tae kwan do.

 

I was wondering, why hasn't anyone on these boards talked about it, or why haven't I heard of it much?

 

There's a Tang soo doo dojo in my area, and the teacher is excellent. I was wondering if I should try crosstraining in tang soo doo along with my white crane karate.

 

Has anyone heard of this art? Does anyone know about it or have experience with it?

 

Thanks.

[LeaF]

OK firstly why do you hate tae kwon do so much...this is not the first time you have put it down....

Useless for real fighting: taichi, american boxing, tae kwan do, aerobic kickboxing (these are for fun, sports and fitness, mostly)

 

now secondly because you obviously are unaware that TKD is the most praticed martial art in the world at this time perhaps that will explain why so many people chat about it. Now you may also not know that there are hundreds of "martial arts" out there and you can't possible expect them all to be represented in the forums and if you want something to be represented you message just becomes spoiled when you down play someone elses martial art. And if you had any knowledge of the systems you say are so much alike (karate and TKD) You would realize that they are completely different in modern terms and have completely different roots......there I got all the anger out

 

now to your post...sorry but I honestly know nothing about the style you mentioned, perhaps someone will be able to help you, sorry if I came off a little hard I just don't like hearing someones art of style being critized without explaination. Good Luck with your search

[rabid hamster]

Why must you call different arts useless when you have never taken it? It simply shows how much you really know. Stop assuming.

 

Anyway, click here for some info on TSD.

 

http://www.tang-soo-do.org.uk/history.html

[KickChick]

In answer to your question http://www.karateforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1272&start=0

 

You need to brush up on your Korean Martial Art History!

 

Rip off?? hmmm......

 

The exact origins of Tang Soo Do, as well as all other martial arts, is obscure, although there are a number of historical theories. The most traditional view is that martial arts did not originate in any one country, but evolved in all parts of the globe as a method of self-defense that was needed by primitive people.

 

In 36 years of Japanese occupancy, the Japanese introduced their Karate to Korea, however their restriction of Korean people to teaching their karate or training did not influence at all the Korean martial arts. But some people may still think Korean karate was introduced by Japan.

 

The Korean people were forbidden to practice any martial art. In this time, known as Tack Kyun, martial arts secretly survived among a remnant of a handful of students. Meanwhile, many Koreans oppressed at home, emigrated from their country to study and work in other parts of the world, including China and Japan. No restrictions on unarmed martial arts training existed in these countries, and for the first time in over a thousand years, Tack Kyun was exposed to other forms of unarmed self defence. This indeed proved to be an exciting development. Tack Kyun, not only survived, but ultimately prevailed over its rivals. Grand Master Hwang Kee, who founded Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do techniques as well as the organisation, was one of the exiles under the pressure of the Japanese government. He went to China in 1936. Previously he trained under an unknown Soo Bahk Ki master, starting his training at an early age, and at the time of his exile he was well known as a Soo Bahk Ki master, so naturally the Japanese government put him under their surveillance.

 

Grand Master Hwang Kee, expert of traditional Soo Bahk Ki had accomplished his technical maturity while in China from 1936 to 1945. He encountered the Chinese variation of this art form which was called the Tang method, by combining some of the Chinese Tang methods with those he was already well versed in ... Soo Bahk Ki. (Tang method - While Grand Master Hwang Kee stayed in China, his Soo Bahk Ki was influenced by Chinese style which was called Tang dynasty fighting techniques in China at that time). Grand Master Hwang Kee devised a system of fighting which he brought back to his homeland at the end of Word War II and he named it Tang Soo Do, in honour of the Chinese art. This is the first time the word Tang Soo Do was used officially. Tang Soo Do was sometimes misinterpreted as a part of Japanese karate by some theorists. The above background will prove that this concept is in error. Someone may say Korean Tang Soo Do or Tae Kwon Do came from Japan because the same type of hyungs or katas are trained in these arts. So some masters try to make new hyungs such as Chun Ju, Tan Kunts. As we all know the traditional forms - Hyung are universal, Japan, Korea, China ... all these countries have the same hyungs. The mood of movements, rhythms, principals, emphasis, etc may vary in each style, but it is never owned by one style or country. Pyung Ahn Cho Dan, Bassai, Naihanchi Cho Dan, Jindo, Unsyoo, Kongsang Koon, for example, all were taught by Japanese, Chinese and Korean respectively.

[karatekid1975]

shuriken_girl:

 

I wouldn't say a rip-off, but TSD is almost the same as Shotokan/Shurin-ryu (sp?). Prolly the same as others as well, like kickchick stated. But from what I researched, Kickchick, Hwang Kee also studied Shotokan/Shurin-ryu, and "borrowed" the forms from there. Plus used Soo Bahk ki and one other (can't remember the name off the top of my head) to influence TSD. TKD was said to come from TSD. There was an arguement over orgs and such. So Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan went one way, and Tae Kwan Do Moo Duk Kwan was created and went the other way. Next thing you know, TKD explodes world wide.

 

I am/was a TSD practitioner, but I moved from my "home" dojang, and picked up TKD

Edited August 6, 2002 by karatekid1975

[RF_Brown]

Actually Tang Soo Do means the same thing in Korean as what Karate-Do originally meant in Japanese, that is the "Way of the Chinese Hand," Tang referring of course to the Tang dynasty in China. Most all the early Kwans or schools in Korea at around the time of WWII called their art this name. When the Japanese masters due to nationalistic interest before WWII changed the way "Kara" was written to mean "empty" some of the Kwans in Korea began using the name Kong Soo Do to reflect this change. During the Japanese occupation of Korea before WWII, Korean martial arts were forbidden to the Korean populace, but not Japanese arts. At this time Japanese Karate was still basically Shuri-Te from Okinawa, as it had yet evolved into what is now known as Shotokan.

 

When the KTA was formed in Korea, merging all the kwans together into one organization, Grandmaster Hwang Kee refused participation, and did not adopt the name Tae Kwon Do for his school, the Moo Duk Kwan, and continued to use the name Tang Soo Do, and therefore also did not adopt the new pattern set developed by Gen. Choi, the Chang Hon Pattern Set, but rather Koreanized the Shuri-Te forms. For instance in Tang Soo Do, the Pyung Ahn hyungs are the same as the Pinan in Shuri-Te, etc... Many magazine articles in Black Belt and Tae Kwon Do Times have been written on this subject and it cannot be disputed.

 

Many of the Moo Duk Kwan instructors did go with the KTA however so that we had both Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do and Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do. What is even more confusing is that many of the Tang Soo Do masters in the last couple of decades have broken with Grandmaster Hwang Kee, forming their own organizations using the name Tang Soo Do, such as the World Tang Soo Do Federation, the International Tang Soo Do Federation, etc...

 

As a result the Moo Duk Kwan has now adopted the name Soo Bahk Do to describe the art they practice, claiming that it is the name of an ancient Korean martial art that Hwang Kee supposedly learned at some point and mixed it with Northern style Kung Fu. However despite that claim, Tang Soo Do is nothing more than Koreanized Shuri-Te. Northern Kung Fu may well have influenced Hwang Kee however as that may have been the basis for some of the high kicks that found their way into the Korean martial arts. Northern Kung Fu features many jumps and high kicks. In additon Tang Soo Do as practiced by the Moo Duk Kwan is a little more fluid than many of its Tae Kwon Do cousins, and that may indicate some Kung Fu influence as well. It is interesting to note though that Hwang Kee was a student for a short while at the Chung Do Kwan before starting his own Moo Duk Kwan. Chuck Norris studied at the Moo Duk Kwan (Tang Soo Do) in Korea when he was in the service, earning his first black belt there.

 

Actually I kind of like Tang Soo Do, and if I was 20 years younger and a good Tang Soo Do school was in my area, I might well choose it as the martial art of choice, but I do not for one minute buy the propaganda that it is a native Korean martial art. Just look at the forms, they are quite clearly Okinawan Shuri-Te forms.

[karatekid1975]

Thank you RF. You explained it better. I'm tired and started rambling LOL.

[three60roundhouse]

[color=indigo]I am not about to let myself be angered by a person who disses an art they cannot even spell: "tae kwan do".....get it right or make yourself look bad![/color]

[RF_Brown]

Interesting article:

 

http://www.budget.net/~dnolan/hancock2.htm

[Kensai]

As we are all correcting Shuriken Girl, there is no such thing as a Tang Soo Doo dojo it is called a dojang.