HISTORY OF TANG SOO DO

Silla formed an alliance with T’ang China, and attacked and conquered Paekche and Koguryo, uniting the Korean peninsula for the first time in 668 A.D. under the Silla Dynasty (668-935 A.D.).  The Hwa Rang warriors of the Silla Dynasty absorbed many of the fighting techniques of the T’ang armies, and combined these with the indigenous fighting systems of ancient Korea.  These were sometimes referred to as Tang Soo Ki (Tang Hand Techniques).  During this time, a monk named Won Kwa created a set of ethical precepts based upon Confucian principles, which were used for instruction by the Hwa Rang Dan.  These principles were codified and passed down through the generations as a kind of “warrior’s code”, and are represented today in the Tang Soo Do Sae Sok Oh Kyae (Five Codes of Tang Soo Do).

Silla surrendered to the Koryo nation, forming the Koryo Dynasty (935-1392 A.D.).  During this time period in China, the T’ang fell to the Sung rule in 906 A.D.  The Sung Dynasty had a tremendous influence over the cultural and martial development in Koryo.  The Koreans began to refer to their indigenous fighting systems as Soo Bahk Ki (Hand Striking Techniques), while the Chinese arts were referred to as Kwon Bup (Fist Method).

Koryo stood until 1392 when it was overthrown by General Yi Song Key, and the last dynasty of Korea, known as the Chosun or Yi Dynasty (1392-1910) was formed. It was during the Chosun Dynasty that Lee Duk Moo compiled the first known comprehensive text of Korean martial arts techniques, known as the Moo Ye Dobo Tong Ji (Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts). This is one of the only surviving texts documenting ancient Korean martial arts. During the later part of the Yi Dynasty, a fighting style known as Tae Kyon was developed, which emphasized many of the kicking techniques common in modern Korean martial arts.

In 1910, Japan invaded the Korean peninsula as part of its imperial expansion into Asia.  From 1910-1945, Korea was occupied by the Japanese, which exerted a tremendous amount of control over virtually all aspects of Korean culture. During the occupation, the practice of indigenous Korean martial arts was banned.  The only martial arts that the Koreans were allowed to practice were Japanese martial arts.  Many Koreans traveled to Japan were they studied Japanese Karate, and brought it back to Korea.  Karate, meaning “Empty Hand”, is a generic term used to describe the many systems of empty hand fighting that developed in Okinawa based upon fighting techniques of the T’ang Dynasty in China.  Karate was later brought to Japan by Funakoshi Gichen, founder of Shotokan.  These fighting arts were originally known to the Okinawans as “To-te” (China Hand), or simply “Te”. 

It was into this environment of strict Japanese control that the founder of the Moo Duk Kwan, Hwang Kee was born, on November 9, 1914.  He was born Hwang Tae Nam, son of Yi Dynasty scholar Hwang Yong Hwan.  Hwang’s first exposure to martial arts occurred at the age of seven, when he witnessed a tavern keeper defending himself against several young hoodlums.  He overheard several bystanders describing the techniques that the man used as being Tae Kyon.  Hwang Kee was so impressed by his performance, that he sought him out and asked him to become his teacher.  Hwang was turned away however, because he was too young.  Hwang was not easily discouraged though, and he found a vantage point upon a hilltop from where he could peer into the man’s inner courtyard and observe his practice.  There, Hwang imitated the man’s various hand and foot movements.  It is unclear how long Hwang actually maintained this practice regimen, or how much he may have learned.  This would be Hwang’s only martial arts training until he was in his early 20’s. Hwang Kee had a strong desire to have a formal teacher, and to study traditional martial arts.  However, this was very difficult due to the restrictions put in place during the Japanese occupation.

In 1935, after graduating from high school, Hwang found employment with the railroad, and traveled to Manchuria.  In May of 1936, while working at the Chao Yang Ch’uan Railway Station in Manchuria, Hwang had a chance encounter with a Chinese martial arts master whom  he referred to as Yang Kuk Jin.  It is thought that this may have been Yang Zhen-Gou (Yang Jeng-Kou), of the famous Yang family of Tai Chi Ch’uan.  Under Yang’s guidance, Hwang Kee studied DhamDoi Sip E Ro (12 Step Springing Legs), and Tae Geuk Kwon (Grand Supreme Fist).  Hwang remained in Manchuria until 1937, when he returned to Seoul, Korea.  Hwang Kee returned to China only once, in 1940, to again train with Master Yang for a period of about three months.  He never saw or spoke with Master Yang again after that.

Hwang Kee had his first exposure to the Japanese style Karate Do (Tang Soo Do) forms in 1939, when he discovered Japanese texts on Okinawan Karate while studying in the library of the Cho Sun Railway Bureau.  Hwang Kee eventually incorporated the forms that he had studied from these textbooks into his particular version of Tang Soo Do, and refined them through his later encounters with other Koreans who had studied Karate in Japan.

In 1946, Hwang Kee had a chance meeting with two Koreans who had both earned dan (black belt) ranking while studying in Japan, and who were both operating schools teaching versions of Japanese Karate.  These were Chun Sang Sup of the Yeon Moo Kwan, and Lee Won Kuk of the Chung Do Kwan.  Impressed by the success of these two gentlemen, Hwang Kee began to rethink his approach.

In 1947, Hwang Kee made a final attempt to open the Moo Duk Kwan, this time teaching a blend of Chinese and Japanese styles, and using the more familiar Japanese/Okinawan style forms.  In addition, Hwang now began to refer to his art as Tang Soo Do (China Hand Way), a term coined by Lee Won Kuk.  This name was more familiar to the Korean people, as it was simply a Korean pronunciation of the characters for the term “To-te”.  With these changes, the Moo Duk Kwan began to experience tremendous success.

When Korea was liberated from the Japanese at the end of World War II in 1945, several Korean martial arts schools, known as “kwans” began to emerge.  Initially, there were five kwans.  These were: (1) Chung Do Kwan, founded by Lee Won Kuk, (2) Moo Duk Kwan, founded by Hwang Kee, (3) Yeon Moo Kwan (later changed to Ji Do Kwan), founded by Chun Sang Sup, (4) Chang Moo Kwan, founded by Yun Byong In, and (5) Song Moo Kwan, founded by No Byong Jik.  Bitter rivalries and political infighting eventually developed among several of the various kwans in the years of internal instability following the Korean War (1950-1953).  On April 11, 1955, a conference of several of the kwan leaders was held in an effort to bring all of the kwans together under one umbrella organization.  The kwans eventually decided to refer to their arts generically and collectively as Tae Kwon Do (Foot Fist Way), a name suggested by General Choi Hong Hi, a very influential political and military leader at the time.

In 1957, Hwang Kee discovered the Moo Ye Dobo Tong Ji (Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts) at the National Library in Seoul, Korea.  Based upon references within the text, Hwang began to use the descriptor Soo Bahk Do (Hand Fighting Way) along with Tang Soo Do to refer to his art.  The two names were used interchangeably until 1995, when Hwang officially dropped the Tang Soo Do label.

On September 14, 1961, the member kwans were officially consolidated with backing from the Korean government, as the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA), and they established their headquarters at the Kuki Won (National Technique Organization) in Seoul, Korea. Hwang Kee did not agree with the decision to consolidate and, having withdrawn from the negotiations early on, remained autonomous, continuing to call his art Tang Soo Do.  Some time later, the Ji Do Kwan also withdrew from the Tae Kwon Do movement, and joined with Hwang Kee’s Moo Duk Kwan under the banner of the Dae Han Soo Bahk Do Hoi (Greater Korean Hand Strike Way Association).  A small faction of the Moo Duk Kwan, headed by Hong Chong Su, broke away from Hwang Kee’s school, to form a branch of the Moo Duk Kwan within the KTA.  This branch, which would come to be known as Tae Kwon Do Moo Duk Kwan, was never recognized or approved by the organizing school or its founder. Because the term Tae Kwon Do was being used by all of the other kwans, the only school that continued to use the Tang Soo Do name was the original Moo Duk Kwan and a few Ji Do Kwan schools.  Thus, the term Tang Soo Do became almost synonymous with the particular lineage and style of the Moo Duk Kwan school. 

Rivalries developed between Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwon Do.  Factions within the Tae Kwon Do movement, supported by the Government, attempted to block the Soo Bahk Do Hoi from operating.  In 1975, this dispute went before the Korean Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Hwang Kee and his Moo Duk Kwan.

The Moo Duk Kwan continued to grow and expand, and eventually began to establish schools within the United States, through U.S. Servicemen who had trained at one of the several Moo Duk Kwan dojangs in Korea.  Shin Jae Chul was sent to Springfield, N.J. to officially establish a branch of the Moo Duk Kwan in the United States, known as the U.S. Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation.  Later, in 1978, Hwang Kee sent his son, Hwang Hyun Chul to the U.S. to take over as the head of the Federation.  Shortly thereafter, in the early 1980’s, Shin broke away from the Moo Duk Kwan and formed his own organization, which is now known as the World Tang Soo Do Association.  Following Shin’s departure, numerous other Korean and American run schools began to leave the parent organization, sometimes in groups, sometimes individually.  Many other organizations were established, and Tang Soo Do was no longer under a single banner.

In 1995, the Moo Duk Kwan began to refer to the art it teaches as Soo Bahk Do, instead of Tang Soo Do, and officially changed its name to the U.S. SooBahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation.  In addition, to the change in name came a change in technique, as new forms more indicative of the Chinese influence began to be practiced.  These forms are the Chil Sung (Seven Star), and Yuk Ro (Six Path) series, and Hwa Sun Hyung (Pure Flower Form).  These changes only increased the trend of senior yudanja (dan members) to break their ties with the Moo Duk Kwan and go their own way. 

Failing in health, the Founder of the Moo Duk Kwan, Doju Nim Hwang Kee finally succumbed peacefully on July 14, 2002  at Joong Ahn Gil Byong Won Hospital in InCheon, South Korea, leaving his son Hwang Hyun Chul as heir to the Moo Duk Kwan.  His impact on the martial arts world will not soon be forgotten, and his legacy continues to live on through the thousands of Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do practitioners worldwide.