Tang Soo Do
Scott from Texas requested the Chinese characters for “Tang Soo Do” (another martial art), which is the Korean way of pronouncing the following characters.
… where essentially the first character refers to the “Tang Dynasty,” the second character means “hand,” and the third character means a “way” or “method.” So loosely, it translates as “the way of the Tang hand”… bring. it. on.
… Funny that, I actually took 5 years of Tang Soo Do when I was a teenager. It’s the more traditional form of Korean karate. In other words, it’s less of a “sport” than, for example, Tae Kwon Do, and more of a “martial art” where yer pretty much always in a stance, and there are fewer restrictions when it comes to the “strike zone.” Right on.
Want to see these characters embroidered on a women’s or unisex t-shirt? Or on a women’s or unisex tank top? Click the appropriate preceding link. Got a translation request of your own? Contact me!
September 25th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Dear Mr. Yaung,
You are correct that Tang Soo Do is a more traditional form of Korean karate. Prior to the South Korean government’s move toward the use of the term Tae Kwon Do (starting in 1954), all forms of Korean karate were called either Tang Soo Do (Way of China Hand) or Kong Soo Do (Way of Empty Hand). In fact, the differences in the name were insignificant, except that in cases the choice had something to do with when the Korean master studied karate in Japan. Those studying prior to 1935 often choose the Tang character, and those studying after 1935 often choose the empty character. However, stylistically, there was no difference. In many cases, they studied with the exact same instructors (Funakoshi, Toyama or Mabuni). Most, in fact, studied with Gichin Funakoshi’s son, Gigo. During the years in which Gichin Funakoshi was in Japan (he was Okinawan), he chose (along with other members of the Dai Nippon Butokukai) to drop the character “Tang” in favor of “empty”, due to significant changes that had taken place in karate from its parent arts (various styles of Fukien Province chuan fa) and because of pressure to make karate a uniquely Japanese art, during Japan’s imperial years.
What was taught in Korea as Tang Soo Do and Kong Soo Do was in fact Okinawan-Japanese karate with slightly more emphasis on kicking and larger techniques. It has continued to evolve, both as Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwon Do (even more so).
For the past 30 years, most Tang Soo Do schools are part of the Moo Duk Kwan lineage (Hwang Kee). But, further back, most schools (Chung Do Kwan, Song Moo Kwan,
Ji Do Kwan) called themselves Tang Soo Do or Kong Soo Do, until they no longer were allowed to do so.
Eric Madis
September 25th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
Thanks for the elaboration and contribution Eric! *thumbs up*