What is Tang Soo Do you ask?

First off, Tang Soo Do is the traditional martial arts that we teach at Tampa Bay Martial Arts Academy. With that said...

The literal meaning of Tang Soo Do is  the Way of the Tang Hand and is the Korean equivalent of the Japanese word Karate, which means "Tang Hand Way" in Japanese (Empty hand in Korean is "Kong Soo, not "Tang Soo").  The Tang Chinese character is just the older symbol for Kara-te (Okanawan), whereas the newer one Kara=empty is Japanese) Fighting without a weapon.

This is the one of the Korean systems of unarmed combat with ancient origins now enjoying widespread popularity in North America and it's roots date back to ancient times.  Between 1910 and 1945, the Japanese occupied Korea and banned the use or teaching of martial arts and weapons.  Many practitioners went to other countries at this time to study and were influenced by what they learned while away.  In 1945 Hwang Kee returned to Korea from China.  He established the first school in Korean martial arts in the Seoul Railroad Station on September 9, 1945.  He brought together several of the Kwans to form Moo Duk Kwan which means "Martial Arts Virtue Institute".  In Korea, his karate is called Soo Bahk Do, in other countries it is called Tang Soo Do or "the way of the Open China (Tang) hand."   In the 1950's during the Korean War, American servicemen studied this system while serving in Korea. After   completing their tour of duty and returning to this country, many decided to teach Tang Soo Do. Because of this, in the 1950's and 1960's there arose a great interest in the martial arts in this country. In the late 1960's and 1970's, Korean instructors saw this growing interest as an opportunity and immigrated to this country to help satisfy this interest.  Later in the mid 1960's the Kwans organized and called the new association the Korean Tae Soo Do Association, later changing the name to the Korea Tae Kwon Do Association, and eventually in the 1970's the World Tae Kwon Do Federation.  The Moo Duk Kwan split in half, those staying with Hwang Kee and continuing to call there art Tang Soo Do or Soo Bahk Do, and the other half started using the Term Tae Kwon Do and joined with the other Kwans.

The ancient origins of Tang Soo Do can be traced to before the time of Christ, when native fighting forms were already developing in the Korean peninsula. There were Korean Warrior-knights called Haw Rang Warriors. They were trained in armed as well as unarmed combat. These knights fought in the wars of national unity that have marked the Korean history through many centuries.

There have been times in history when the governments would not allow the people to have weapons. They had to practice their art in secret. This was the birth of the "Hyungs" or forms.  The practitioner could practice to perfect the necessary moves in a small space. The various weapon arts  are derived from this era. People were not allowed formal weapons so they made weapons of common field tools. Most of the different weapons arts have as their origin a field tool.

Many of the flowing changing streams of the martial arts have influenced Tang Soo Do. During the 6th Century, the Indian Monk Bodhidarma (Daruma in Japanese and the founder of Zen Buddhism) helped to develop a fighting system in northern China by combining Zen discipline and philosophy with rigorous exercise.  Monks Shaolin in China and So Rim in Korea lived in remote regions and had to travel often.   Developing this art was a response to their lifestyle. This "Chinese boxing", through trade, wars and colonization eventually came to influence the martial arts in Korea and throughout the Far East.  Over the centuries, oriental masters of these diverse martial arts, combined the basic system with elements from their own countries. Because of this, today, Tang Soo Do, Kung Fu, Thi Boxing, Japanese and Okinawan Karate, etc. could be said to be of one root, differing only in certain aspects.