Kwan

관

Korean martial arts school, literally “hall”. Taekwondo emerged from the first kwans after 1945. The head of a school is called a kwanjang.

Quick Facts

Term typeClassification of techniques, arts and schools

LanguageKorean

Formnoun

Pronunciation[kwahn]

Alternative Namesschool

Readings and romanizations

Revised Romanizationgwan

McCune–Reischauerkwan

Word breakdown

館 (관)gwanhall, building

Definition

Kwan (관, 館) means hall or building, and in martial arts a school or style. It corresponds to the Japanese kan, for example in Kodokan. The head of a kwan or dojang is called a kwanjang (관장, 館長), written with the same characters as the Japanese kancho. After the liberation of Korea in 1945, several schools emerged that drew mainly on Japanese karate, for example Chung Do Kwan, Song Moo Kwan or Moo Duk Kwan. In the 1950s and 1960s they were unified, and taekwondo arose from their merger. Some schools retained their independence, for example Moo Duk Kwan developed into Soo Bahk Do.

Relations to other terms

Equivalent in another art

Ryu流

Japanese for “stream”, in the sense of school or style. A suffix of the names of styles and old schools: Goju-ryu, Wado-ryu, Katori Shinto-ryu.

Associated Martial Arts