Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do
Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do
Tang Soo Do also known by tangsudo and dangsudo is a martial art of Korean origin. The art is now officially called Soo Bahk Do.
Hanja character ?Tang? in the name means Tang dynasty in China and referred to China in general. ?Soo? means ?hand? it also refers to ancient Korean martial art Soo Bahk Do. ?Do? means ?the way?. Therefore Tang Soo Do literally translates as ?the way of the tang hand? or ?the way of the Chinese hand?. Another interesting point about the name is that in Japanese the same characters mean Karatedo. However the present spelling of word Karatedo in Japan is different. Karate (?Empty hand?) was originally known as Tote or ?China hand?.
Training Tang Soo Do can be used to participate in Karatedo competitions but that is not the focus of Tang Soo Do. Instead it attempts enhance the practitioner?s personality, creatively, and ability to defend themselves. Curriculum of Tang Soo Do is divided in to 40% striking techniques, 30% grappling and throwing techniques, 20% weapons techniques, and 10% breathing, relaxation, energy, techniques.
Training is done through forms (called Hyung), hands techniques (Soo Gi), legs techniques ( Jok Gi), partner drills (Ill Soo Shik), grappling (Ho Sin Shul), free sparring (Deh Ryun) , breaking (Kyok Pah). Weapons used include knives, staffs, canes and sword.
Tang Soo Do has three colored (white, green, red) belt student (gup) ranks, before black belt (Cho Dan) rank. Color of black belt was later changed to midnight blue to signify that it is not the end.
History Ancient martial art Soo Bahk Do trace its origins like many other Korean martial arts to elite Hwarang warriors of Silla kingdom during the period when Korea was divided in to three kingdoms. However after the country was unified some of the martial arts known by various names became popular with the general public. A martial art book written in 1790 indicates that by then martial arts have developed into sophisticated systems and were referred to by the name Tang Soo Do. After Korea fell under Japanese occupation most traditional martial arts were suppressed. The martial art schools or Kwans formed then were heavily influenced by the Japanese Karate.
Before the attempt to unify the Korean martial art Kwans after the liberation of Korea, most of them referred to their art as Tang Soo Do. However the new name adapted for unified art was Tae Kwon Do. One of the Kwans, Moo Duk Kwan, resisted the unification and continued to use the name Tang Soo Do though most of its members joined the Tae Kwon Do. In 1995, Moo Duk Kwan changed the art?s name to Soo Bahk Do.
Moo Duk Kwan was founded by Hwang Kee. He was influenced by Chinese martial arts, Japanese Karate, Korean Subak and its component Taekkyon. Others including Korea Taekkyon Association dispute some of his claims. The World Tang Soo Do Association was founded by one his students.
Even though Moo Duk Kwan has changed the name to Soo Bahk Do, the name Tang Soo Do is still widely used especially by various organizations in United States which have separated themselves from Moo Duk Kwan.
Tae Kwon Do Moo Duk Kwan style formed by former members who supported the unification is very similar to Tang Soo Do/ Soo Bahk Do and in Korea various annual events are held together by practitioner of both arts .