What is Tang Soo Do? A Look into the history of the Korean martial art

Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art that originated during the 1930s and 40s but had origins dating back to thousands of years in the region. In general, it can be described as a mixture between Shotokan Karate and Kung Fu with its own style. The martial art was thrust into the limelight during the peak of Chuck Norris’s career due to Norris holding a black belt in the art. He went on to create the American Tang Soo Do foundation which helped spread the art throughout North America.

As mentioned, it uses methods also found in Karate and Kung Fu. With this said, Tang Soo Do is a striking art that primarily uses punches and kicks as well as blocks and dodges. Not only this but like Karate, it also uses takedowns and sweeps, although these aren’t featured as much as the striking. Sometimes, Tang Soo Do also uses weapons such as the bong which is a long staff-like object.

Like many martial arts, Tang Soo Do also focuses on the mental aspect of training which teaches discipline, honor, and respect as well as improving your physical prowess. Similarly, the idea of Tang Soo Do isn’t to brutalize your opponent. Unlike Krav Maga for instance, it is based on immobilizing the opponent without maiming them. Thus, the idea is to dodge and strike when necessary. Of course, you want to control the opponent and avoid harm, but you do not want to seriously harm the enemy unless it’s absolutely essential for your own survival.

Origins and Hwang Kee

The start of Tang Soo Do begins with a man named Hwang Kee. He created the art during the Japanese occupation of Korea during the 1930s. Here, the Japanese banned martial arts in Korea to subdue the native population into control. As Hwang Kee was something of a revolutionary, he escaped to China by scaling the Chinese Wall. Whilst here, he sought out a martial arts teacher and lived in China for the next 20 years. Upon returning to Korea, he used his newfound knowledge and expertise to teach various students his methods which later resulted in the creation of Tang Soo Do.

In literal terms, Tang Soo Do translates to ‘China hand way’ which is a homage to the Chinese hand fighting methods that were taught to Hwange Kee during his time there. It should be noted that Korea has a fairly modern relationship with martial arts which saw the birth of Hapkido and Taekwondo come from the country over the past hundred years as well. This was no coincidence either as often martial arts are created in times of war and hardship. With this said, it’s no surprise that Tang Soo Do was born under these circumstances with Hwang kee being the originator.

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Formalities and customs of Tang Soo Do

Similar to Karate and other martial arts, Tang Soo Do uses the gi and the obi. The outfit can be used to grip the opponent when sparring. Like Karate, it also features kata where students can drill movements to improve their muscle memory and overall technique. Elsewhere, you can find practitioners sparring. There are usually two styles of sparring, some of which is more choreographed and at a slower, more gentle pace. However, Tang Soo Do also has more hardened sparing similar to kumite in Karate. With this said, it caters to those who are interested in both training a slow art and those after more of an aggressive style too.

When training Tang Soo Do, you will find a typical belt ranking system that begins with white belt and ends at black. During the grading process, there are seven belts to achieve. Interestingly, Tang Soo Do black belts are sometimes substituted with dark blue belts instead. This is due to Korean culture celebrating the color which represents mastery. However, many gyms will also use a conventional black belt to represent becoming an expert in the field.

Although Tang Soo Do may be modern by general martial arts standards, it still has traditions that are found in most of the older arts. For instance, entering a Tang Soo Do dojo has more in common with the formalities of a Karate or Aikido dojo compared to an MMA gym. Because of this, you can expect to find formalities such as bowing as well as a general ranked hierarchy based on respect. Although new, Tang Soo Do takes the culture of honor very seriously.

So, is there a difference between Tang Soo Do and Karate?

As has been outlined above, there’s really not much difference between Tang Soo Do and Karate. As both are firmly rooted in Kung Fu and have many overlapping features, you could claim they are very similar apart from technicalities. However, there are a few very slight differences that are unique to Tang Soo Do.

Firstly, Tang Soo Do favors kicking over everything else. This can also be seen with Taekwondo which is unsurprisingly related to Tang Soo Do. Basically, Korean martial arts have an affinity for kicking which is their main strike. Of course, it still uses punches and sweeps, but kicks are favored.

Secondly, Tang Soo Do has slightly unique stances when compared to most forms of Karate. In brief, it often uses kicking which prioritizes hip movement. Because of this, a lot of movements and kicks begin with the hips. This differs from Karate which may have more of a balanced stance and isn’t as focused on the hips. Because of this, it could be argued that Tang Soo Do results in higher kicking, with a less overall focus on grappling or punches. Other than formalities such as belt colors, these are the main differences between the two arts.

With this in mind, there really isn’t much in it, especially when looking at Shotokan Karate in particular.
Lastly, away from the physical differences, Tang Soo Do rarely has many competitions when compared to Karate. As far as martial arts go, Karate has a big culture geared toward competition. However, as Tang Soo Do is significantly smaller with less organization it simply isn’t popular enough to have as many competitions when compared to Karate. Having said this, it wouldn’t be difficult to enter and win a Karate competition after training Tang Soo Do. As long as you were updated and aware of the Karate ruleset, you would be fine.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it could be argued that Tang Soo Do is stylistically very similar to Shotokan Karate with a mixture of Taekwondo kicking too. This means that if you couldn’t find a local Tang Soo Do gym, then a Shotokan Karate gym would probably be the next best choice due to their similarities.

Away from the Karate comparisons, Tang Soo Do is still taught today on a global scale after being born out of self-defense from its founder Hwang Kee. It should also be noted that Hwang kee had a massive influence on striking arts in Korea, such as Taekwondo and other various splinter groups of Tang Soo Do. In conclusion, if you’re looking for a martial art that focuses on kicking with strong relations with Karate, then it may be worth checking out the art of Tang Soo Do.