Tang Soo Do competition and federation management

Tang Soo Do (Korean: 당수도; Hanja: 唐手道; pronounced [taŋ.su.do]) is a Korean martial art based on influences of Okinawan Karate, Taijiquan, and Shaolin Long Fist. From its beginnings in 1944 to today, Tang Soo Do is used by some Kwans to identify the traditional Korean fusion of fighting styles. In the mid 1950s, it became the basis for the martial art taekwondo when the Korean Nine Kwans united.

In contemporary context, many Korean martial arts entities continued to use Tang Soo Do to preserve the elements of Korean martial arts that evolved from the original nine kwans' karate roots and were lost in transition to taekwondo. The techniques of what is commonly known as Tang Soo Do combine elements of Okinawan Karate, Taijiquan, and Shaolin Long Fist.

Tang Soo Do is half Chinese karate, having straight punches, and half kung fu, having circular blocks. "Tang Soo Do" (당수도) is the Korean pronunciation of the Hanja 唐手道 (pronounced Táng shǒu dào in Mandarin), and translates literally to "The Way of the Tang Hand." A distinct Taiwanese hybrid martial art, also called Tang Shou Dao, uses the same Chinese characters as Tang Soo Do but is slightly different from each other despite having some similarities due to incorporations from karate and southern Chinese kung fu.

The same characters can be pronounced "karate-dō" in Japanese. In the early 1930s, approximately 55 years after Japan's annexation of Okinawa, Gichin Funakoshi in coordination with others changed the first character, 唐, which referred to the Chinese Tang dynasty, to 空, signifying "empty"; both characters can be pronounced "kara" in Japanese, though 唐 is more commonly rendered in its on'yomi as "Tou". Funakoshi ostensibly wanted to avoid confusion with Chinese Kenpō, and emphasize the Japanese rather than Chinese identity of his martial art. Funakoshi claimed Okinawan karate could "now be considered a Japanese martial art" and found the China reference "inappropriate" and "in a sense degrading". The Mandarin pronunciation of 空手道 is kōng-shǒu-dào, and the Korean is pronounced [koŋsʰudo](공수도).

Outside of the Far East, the term "Tang Soo Do" has primarily become synonymous with the Korean martial art promoted by grandmaster Hwang Kee.

Between 1944 and Korea's liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, the original schools or kwans of Tang Soo Do were founded in Korea by practitioners who studied Okinawan karate and had exposure to kung-fu. At the time, there were five kwans (schools) of Taekwondo, of which only Chung Do Kwan of Won-kuk Lee and Moo Duk Kwan of Hwang Kee identified their martial arts as Tang Soo Do. Shortly after the Korean War and in 1953, four more offshoot schools formed. Of these second-generation kwans, Choi Hong-hi and Nam Tae-hi's Oh Do Kwan and Lee Young-woo's Jung Do Kwan splintered from Chung Do Kwan style of Tang Soo Do.

In 1960s, despite the Korean nationalist effort to combine kwans, some schools chose not to change their style and name to taekwondo during the effort led by Syngman Rhee to create a single organization.

These kwans still flourish and other branches have since been developed.

Chung Do Kwan has survived in Korea as a fraternal friendship social club of Kukkiwon Taekwondo. Its organization follows the Kukkiwon curriculum and is no longer an individual Tang Soo Do style. Some of the older Chung Do Kwan schools practice the original Pyongahn forms which Lee Won-Kuk incorporated from Shotokan karate. Schools tracing their lineage to Duk Sung Son when he founded the World Tae Kwon Do Association in the U.S. after leaving Korea also practice Kuk Mu forms.

Other older Chung do Kwan schools practice the Palgwae forms, a predecessor of the Taegeuk forms. After black belt, practitioners of the Kukkiwon system practice the Yudanja and Kodanja series of black belt poomsae of Kukkiwon (Koryo, Kumgang, Taebaek, Pyongwon, Sipjin, Jitae, Cheonkwon, Hansoo, Ilyo). Many Chung Do Kwan schools also practice the Chang Hun tul, even if they are not affiliated with the International Taekwon-Do Federation.

The Chung Do Kwan style of Tang Soo Do was introduced to the U.S. by Jhoon Rhee. In the late 1950s and early 60s, Rhee was teaching what he called Korean karate (or Tang Soo Do) in Texas. After receiving the ROK Army field manual (which contained a martial arts curriculum under the new name of Taekwondo) from Gen. Choi, Rhee began using the name "Taekwondo".

Because of its political influence, the KTA, led by its second president, General Choi Hong-hi, tried to assimilate the Moo Duk Kwan. Kwanjangnim's organization was the largest martial arts system in Korea at the time. Grandmaster Hwang Kee agreed to discuss unification but, when it became clear that he would not be in charge of the new organization, he ultimately refused. The result was a weakening of the Moo Duk Kwan as the Tae Kwon Do movement grew in strength, absorbing many Moo Duk Kwan members in the process.

Due to political in-fighting and splintering, Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do has had several members break off. Regardless, the Moo Duk Kwan as founded by Hwang Kee persists. Hwang Kee and a large constituent of the Moo Duk Kwan continued to develop a version of Tang Soo Do that eventually became what is now known as "Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan". This modified version of Tang Soo Do incorporates more fluid "soft" movements reminiscent of certain traditional Chinese martial arts.

After death of Hwang Kee, the Moo Duk Kwan continues to represent Soo Bahk Do worldwide, and is headed by Hwang Kee's son, Hwang Hyun-chul.

There are still a multitude of contemporary Taekwondo schools in the United States that teach what is known as "Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo". This nomenclature reflects this government-ordered kwan merger.

The World Tang Soo Do Association and the International Tang Soo Do Federation teach systems of Tang Soo Do that existed before the Taekwondo "merger" and before the development of modern Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan. These versions of Tang Soo