The History of Tang Su Do & It’s Offshoots in the World Today

Where did Tang Su Do come from?

Tang Su Do is an old art form which can be traced back to ancient Buddhist and Taoist monasteries not only in Korea, but Chin and Japan as well. Tang Su Do though, is particularly known as a Korean art form. It’s reappearance after WW2, due to the Japanese occupation and suppression of Tang Su Do, came out in multiple fortitudes of different schools all around Korea.  They all taught a little different version of Tang Su Do from their neighboring school, but the aspect and core values of the art form where still there.

One of the first schools after WW2 (1942) was by a man named Master Won Kuk Lee. His art form of Tang Su Do was called “Chung Do Kwan”. Most of the Tang Su Do schools are formerly know as “kwon” schools do to the familiar sense of Kwon in all of their styles. Another school which originated shortly after Chung Do Kwan was Mu Duk Kwan (which one of their main aspects is having low, deep stances in katas). Others that also emerged were; Song Mu Kwan, Ciang Mu Kwan, and Ci Du Kwon. These are just a few that were around but even more arrived after the Civil War between North and South Korea.

Change on the Horizon

Around the mid 50′s or so, all of the leaders and masters of the various Kwan schools came together and decided to start an umbrella corporation or name that they could all be called under. They didn’t like Tang Su because it meant “China Hand” and they didn’t want to be associated with China, and they didn’t like being called a Karate Style as well (Karate is Japanese).  So they came up with the name Tae Su Do. Some of the schools however did not want to cooperate and kept to their ancient grounds. Those schools included Mu Duk Kwan and Ci Du Kwon. Hwang Kee, Master of Mu Duk Kwon, thought it to be more beneficial if they did not change and go under the name of Tae Su Do, and instead kept their ground and remained Mu Duk Kwan.

Since the change of Tang Su Do to Tae Su Do, many manipulations of the art form began to arise.  For one Tae Su Do started to inhabit more jumps, punches, kicks, locks, chokes and throws as well. Out of these different combinations of changes aroused a new art form called “Hapkido”. Even though they created and made more changes to Tang Su Do, they started to lose the more spiritual sense of the art form. The breathing aspect of using your “Ki” energy almost disappeared along with the use of mental concentration.

Change Again Comes to Tang Su Do

Soon after in the 1960′s Tae Su Do changes their federation and their name once again. This time they all agree on the name of Tae Kwon Do. Now today it is called the “Korean Tae Kwon Do Association”. The name has not changed ever since and you can see Tae Kwon Schools all around the country today. Even after this change of name, modifications and changes in the art form still went on. It changed so much that it no longer became a martial art, but rather a national sport of South Korea. Along with that when Tae Kwon Do came to the Olympics they changed the association name to the “World Tae Kwon Do Federation” and became an Olympic sport.

Trouble for the Ancient Schools of Tang Su Do?

Fearing the loss of their ancient art form, they decided to disburse and move Tang Su Do out of Korea due to the accepted and very popular Tae Kwon Do style. Tae kwon Do became very popular in Korea, and in doing so, Tang Su Do lost its glory and was shoved below the carpet as an old non-working art form that no one would want to practice anymore.

So what did they do? They decided to delineate their art form all around the world. Some masters went to Africa, South Asia, Europe, and the United States to start a new and teach their style to new people who were eager to learn. You could almost say that in order for Tang Su Do to survive, they had to move out of Korea, or their art form would have been lost into the pages of history. They wanted to keep their traditions and their masters (Hwang Kee, Byong Yun Kwei, etc…) art form and legacy to live on for future generations.

Tang Su Do now a day has made reappearance in the world and is growing more and more everyday. More and more students are studying and learning this art form and have decided to learn the ways of the old, instead of the new and changed art of Tang Su do, Tae Kwon Do. Even though Tae Kwon Do is very popular in the United States and else were around the world, they still show allegiance to Tang Su Do, because that’s were their art form originated from.

For More Info On Tang Su Do Follow These Links:
Wikipedia Info On Tang Su Do
Tang Su Do Karate School FAQ’s
TangSuDo.com Website

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Tagged as: Hwang Kee, Tae Kwon Do, Tang Su Do