From the book Martial Arts Tradition, History, People

By: John Corcoran and Emil Farkas

              Tang Soo Do which means the art of the knife hand, is relatively modern. Its basis, however, the Korean art od Soo Bahk Do, dates back to many centeries. Tang Soo Do is a composite style, being 60% Chinese. Kicking techniques are based on Soo Bahk. Soo Bahk was first developed during the Silla Dynasty (A.D. 618-935), but enjoyed its flowering during the Koryo Dynasty (A.D. 935-1392).

            Tang Soo Do is both a hard and soft style, deriving its hardness part from Soo Bahk and its soft flowing movements from the northern Chinese systems.

            The man who developed Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan, Grandmaster Hwang Kee, is a martial arts prodigy, having mastered Tae Kyun (another Korean style not related to Tae Kwon Do) and Soo Bahk Do in 1936 at the age of 22. At that time, he traveled to northern China. There he encountered a Chinese variation of martial artistry called the T’ang method and developed what was to be known as Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan.

            Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan (a brotherhood and school of stopping inner and outer conflict and developing virtue according to the way of the worthy hand) is not a sport. Though it is not essentially competitive, it has great combat applications. It is a classical martial art, and its purpose is to develop every aspect of the self, in order to create a person who is free fro inner conflict and who can deal with the outside world in a mature, intelligent, forthright and virtuous manner.

            Over the past twenty years thousands of Americans have studied Tang Soo Do in Korea. Korean instructors have been sent around the world, and there are now major Tang Soo Do organizations in many countries of the world. In the U.S. the most famous Tang Soo Do practitioner is Chuck Norris.

 Articles of Mental Training     Attributes of Tang Soo Do

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