Tang Soo Do
당수도Korean striking and kicking art from the kwans Chung Do Kwan (1944) and Moo Duk Kwan (1945), derived from Shotokan, with forms, gups and a midnight blue belt.
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South KoreaCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
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About Tang Soo Do
Tang soo do is a Korean martial art of strikes and kicks, whose name 唐手道 means “the way of the Tang dynasty hand” and shares characters with the original writing of karate. It has no one founder: the name was used by two postwar kwans, Chung Do Kwan of Lee Won-guk (Seoul, 1944) and Moo Duk Kwan of Hwang Kee (9 November 1945, originally under the name Hwa Soo Do). Hwang Kee studied Okinawan karate from books, and a large part of the forms and techniques of Moo Duk Kwan came from Shotokan. His claims about a Chinese teacher, Yang Kuk-jin, were questioned by his contemporaries.
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In the mid-fifties tang soo do became the basis of taekwondo. Hwang Kee refused unification because he would not command the new organization, and some schools kept the style and the name. He later renamed his art Soo Bahk Do, and the dates of the change differ in the sources. The technique rests on deep stances, hip work and many kinds of kicks. The pyong-an forms are linear, similar to the kata of Shotokan. Students progress through gups from 10th to 1st, and in Moo Duk Kwan wear a midnight blue belt for the master grades dan instead of black. The rules of the World Tang Soo Do Association of 2016 run sparring to 3 points or 2 minutes, with the target on the trunk, without contact to the body and with a ban on contact to the head, and referees judge forms on a scale of 5 to 10. Other organizations permit light contact, including to the head. Today several independent organizations teach the art, among them the World Tang Soo Do Association (Jae Chul Shin, 1982) and the lines of Moo Duk Kwan, and we have not found a source on mutual recognition of their grades. Chuck Norris began tang soo do as a member of the US Air Force (from 1958) at Osan Air Base in South Korea.
History
The name tang soo do is written with the characters 唐手道, literally “the way of the Tang dynasty hand”. Karate was originally written with the same characters, and in the early nineteen thirties Funakoshi Gichin changed the first character to 空 (“empty”), giving karate-do. The art has no one founder. The name was used by two of the five original kwans: Chung Do Kwan, which Lee Won-guk (1907–2003) opened in Seoul in 1944, and Moo Duk Kwan of Hwang Kee (1914–2002), founded on 9 November 1945. Hwang Kee first called his system Hwa Soo Do and renamed it after the failure of his first gym. He had previously studied Okinawan karate from books in the library of the railway administration. He claimed to have studied under the Chinese master Yang Kuk-jin, which his contemporaries questioned. A large part of the forms, techniques and philosophy of Moo Duk Kwan came from Shotokan. In the mid-fifties tang soo do became the basis of taekwondo as the kwans were being unified. Hwang Kee refused unification with the Korean Tae Kwon Do Association because he would not command the new organization. Sources give the year Moo Duk Kwan left the negotiations as 1958 or the mid-sixties.
Technique
The technique rests on deep stances similar to karate, on active work of the hips from which power is generated, and on many kinds of kicks. The pyong-an forms are predominantly direct and linear like the kata of Shotokan, but the individual techniques are more circular, which is attributed to Korean and northern Chinese influences. The nine traditional forms required for the midnight blue belt are three Kee Cho forms, five Pyung Ahn forms and Bassai, and some schools also teach Naihanchi. Hwang Kee created the form Yuk Ro in 1947 and Chil Sung in 1952, and both are practiced in part of the schools. Higher levels of instruction in Moo Duk Kwan include the form Tae Guk Kwon Hyung, associated with Yang-style taijiquan, other taijiquan forms and Shaolin long fist forms. The World Tang Soo Do Association teaches the self-defense Ho Sin Sul, which includes 30 defenses against grabs.
Training
Training combines basic techniques, forms, self-defense and sparring. The authors of a systematic review in the International Journal of Morphology (2024) describe tang soo do as a versatile art with an emphasis on hip work, some of whose forms have a soft style similar to kung-fu and taijiquan. In sparring, techniques are to be performed decisively, from a stable stance and with power. Practitioners regard contact as essential for technique and mental readiness, but call serious injuries counterproductive. The Ho Sin Sul defenses are practiced against a cooperating partner, and competition sparring under the WTSDA rules prohibits grabs, holding, throws and sweeps. We have not found training against full resistance in the clinch or on the ground in the sources.
Ranks and progression
The student grades are called gup and run from 10th to 1st gup. In Soo Bahk Do the order of belts is white (10th–9th gup), orange (8th–7th), green (6th–4th) and red (3rd–1st), and some schools add a yellow belt before orange, mainly for younger students. The master grades dan run from 1st to 9th. Moo Duk Kwan uses a midnight blue belt for them, and according to Hwang Kee’s reasoning nothing can be added to black, whereas blue means that the wearer is still learning. From 4th dan the belt carries a red stripe. After earning 1st dan (Cho Dan), the practitioner receives the identification number Dan Bon. The title kyosa (instructor) in Soo Bahk Do requires at least 2nd dan, an age over 18, a year of study and a written test, and the title sabom at least 4th dan, age 21 and two years of study. The WTSDA rules of 2016 lead the grades from 10th gup through Cho Dan Bo to the dan grades and assign compulsory forms to each grade.
Who it suits
Chuck Norris joined the US Air Force in 1958, served at Osan Air Base in South Korea and began tang soo do there. In 1966 he created American Tang Soo Do, a combination of Moo Duk Kwan tang soo do, judo and karate, and in 1990 he formally founded his own style, Chun Kuk Do. For children, the WTSDA 2016 competition rules work with the divisions Tiny Tiger and Little Dragon for the youngest, where in forms full points are given, in sparring no one is eliminated and everyone receives a participation medal. Competitors up to age 18 have spinning and jumping techniques prohibited in breaking, and weapon forms are permitted from age 16. The Spotsylvania County program in Virginia lists a Soo Bahk Do class for children aged 4 to 6, and the Army MWR program at West Point a course for ages 5 to 18. We have not found a study of children practicing tang soo do. For adults, the study by Douris et al. (British Journal of Sports Medicine) compared 9 soo bahk do practitioners aged 40–60 with 9 sedentary people: body fat 18.9% versus 30.8%, aerobic capacity 41.0 versus 31.1 ml/kg/min, grip strength did not differ. The sample is small, and the review by Berríos-Fary et al. (2024) rated the evidence on the physical abilities of practitioners as insufficient.
Competition
Competition is in forms (hyung) and in sparring (dae ryun). The rules of the World Tang Soo Do Association of 2016 set sparring at 2 minutes for gups and dans, the first competitor with 3 points wins or the one with more points when time runs out, and every valid technique scores 1 point. The legal target is the front and side of the body between the waist and the neck. Of the hand techniques, only the rear-hand straight punch, the side strike and the lunge punch with the front hand score, and a kick may hit any legal target. The bout is without contact to the body, a light controlled touch of the uniform can score, and contact to the head and neck is prohibited. Forms are judged by referees on a scale of 5 to 10 for understanding, execution, rhythm, speed, balance, power and concentration. A competitor may perform only a form of their own or the next grade. Other organizations and tournaments permit light controlled contact, including to the head, in dan divisions, so contact is governed by the organizer. The American Amateur Athletic Union recognizes tang soo do grades and holds point tournaments in both forms and sparring.
Gear
Practice is in the dobok with a belt according to grade, and the WTSDA rules of 2016 require at a competition a solid-colored belt corresponding to the grade. We have not found a description of the cut or the colored trim of the tang soo do dobok. For competition sparring the WTSDA rules prescribe a helmet with a face shield (or a helmet with a mouth protector), hand, foot and mouth protectors, and a groin protector for men. Other equipment is optional with the approval of a referee. Competitors from age 16 may perform the weapon forms Ki Cho Jang Gum Hyung and Jung Koop Jang Gum Hyung.
Philosophy
Moo Duk Kwan means “school of martial virtue”. In 1955 Hwang Kee created the Moo Duk Kwan fist logo, which in the United States is a registered trademark of the U.S. Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation. Hwang Kee did not want his art to become a sport or a military tool, and he focused on personal growth. The same idea is carried by the midnight blue belt of the master grades: black is final, blue means that learning continues.
Today
Today tang soo do has no one umbrella organization and individual lines issue grades independently. Hwang Kee renamed his art Soo Bahk Do, and sources give around 1957, 30 June 1960, or for the official name Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan the year 1995. After his death on 14 July 2002, Moo Duk Kwan was led by his son Hwang Hyun-chul, and Soo Bahk Do is taught by instructors certified by the member organizations of the World Moo Duk Kwan. Hwang Kee’s student Jae Chul Shin founded the United States Tang Soo Do Association in the United States in 1968 and the World Tang Soo Do Association, based in Burlington, North Carolina, in 1982. Separate lines are formed by the International Tang Soo Do Federation (Chun Sik Kim), Mi Guk Kwan (Charles J. Ferraro) and Moo Yea Tang Soo Do (David Sgro). A number of Korean organizations continue to use the name tang soo do in order to preserve elements of the Korean arts lost in the transition to taekwondo.
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