What is Tang Soo to you?

[Basho]

Hey everybody! I was disappointed shortly after joining to find so little going on in the Tang Soo forum, so I thought I'd start this thread to stir up some interest.
Leave a post telling about your experience with Tang Soo Do. Tell how you became involved in it, how long you've been training, or who's had the most influence on you concerning Tang Soo.
Whatever you have to say, though, tell what Tang Soo Do means to you and how it affects your life. Is it a hobby? A path to better health? A way to meet new people? Is it a passion, or even an obsession? Let everybody know!

Tang Soo!

[TKD&JKD]

I studied Tang Soo Do as my first style when i was young. I was 9-11 years old. I liked it a lot. It had strong basics. This helped me when I studied Kempo, at later with TKD.

[MaliMisho]

I'm a little curious about Tang Soo Do since I know almost nothing about it. I've heard its similar to TKD. Does is also concentrate heavily on kicks rather then punches?

[Basho]

Originally Posted by MaliMisho

I'm a little curious about Tang Soo Do since I know almost nothing about it. I've heard its similar to TKD. Does is also concentrate heavily on kicks rather then punches?

Yes, it does. Tang Soo Do is heavily kick oriented, much like Tae Kwon Do. If you look at the Tang Soo forms, it's not hard to find punches, but the reason for that is that Tang Soo holds that all techniques should be used in unison, where they are effective. There is also a level of formality in Tang Soo. I know they're more than a few regulations in my dojang!
Tang Soo actually bears just a little similarity to Hwa Rang Do and Hapkido, too. All these martial arts reached what could be considered their modern forms during the era of the three kingdoms in Korea - Silla, Koguryo, and Paekche.
Tang Soo Do originated in the Silla kingdom, and it's earliest known teacher is Lee Won Kuk. It's closest relative is Soo Bahk Do. In fact, Grandmaster Jae Chul Shin was a student of Soo Bahk Do before he founded the WTSDA in 1968 in Burlington, New Jersey. I hope I answered your question. (And gave you a little extra!)

PS.: I totally forgot to mention the one thing that differentiates Tang Soo from Tae Kwon! Tae Kwon is very sports-competition oriented. It's also an olympic event. Tang Soo, however, actually takes pride in maintaining seperation from sports. It's about improvement of the self and perfection of "martial arts" as what their name suggests: not as a sport, but as a true art. (I'm not disrespecting Tae Kwon! It's a totally legitimate form of self defense. But it IS different in its goal.)

[MaliMisho]

Thanks, that was a good summary. I'm not a big fan of the sports oriented part of TKD, but it also comes down to how you train. I do like idea of competition though, this way you can test what you have learned against others.

[Dean]

Thanks for the thread. There is not alot of members who are interested in Tang Soo Do or Sah Bak Do. It is not one of the more popular MA. I must say, I never heard of it until i start my training. It is not fancy or pretty to look at like some kung fu styles. However it is a strong practical form of MA. You don't have to be young strong and fast. If the techniques are applied properly with good timing this MA is a very effective. This training has made me stronger, faster and sometimes i feel a lil younger . Our training has stablized my blood sugar and pressure. I learn something new ever class but I am also able to help others in my Dojang grow.

[MaliMisho]

To be honest... I never heard of it until I came to the forums.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by MaliMisho

To be honest... I never heard of it until I came to the forums.

lol...I had to look it up few times to see what i was getting into. But my friends who did MA said to start in something is better than not doing anything. Well they gave what to look for in a good school or teacher not neccessarily an art or style.

[WC_Lun]

Originally Posted by Dean

It is not fancy or pretty to look at like some kung fu styles.

I agree that some kung fu styles have forms that are "pretty." However, many of those same styles hide the true technique in the flowery pretty stuff. Then there are kung fu styles such as mantis and wing chun that are not pretty to look at unless you know what you are looking at.

Not to bust your chops Dean, but I get tired of people judging kung fu styles when they don't really know what they are seeing. I've heard comments from kung fu dancers to flowery sh**. Many of these same people changed thier tune after matches with kung fu practitioners.

I know you probably just meant some kung fu styles are pretty to watch and Tang Soo do isn't, but it struck a nerve

[Joemoplata]

I find the idea that the art is better for self defense than straight TKD and yet has no competitive training and is still heavily concentrated on kicks interesting.

Can you explain the self defense concept behind your training?

[tkdKaren]

Originally Posted by Basho

Yes, it does. Tang Soo Do is heavily kick oriented, much like Tae Kwon Do. If you look at the Tang Soo forms, it's not hard to find punches, but the reason for that is that Tang Soo holds that all techniques should be used in unison, where they are effective. There is also a level of formality in Tang Soo. I know they're more than a few regulations in my dojang!
Tang Soo actually bears just a little similarity to Hwa Rang Do and Hapkido, too. All these martial arts reached what could be considered their modern forms during the era of the three kingdoms in Korea - Silla, Koguryo, and Paekche.
Tang Soo Do originated in the Silla kingdom, and it's earliest known teacher is Lee Won Kuk. It's closest relative is Soo Bahk Do. In fact, Grandmaster Jae Chul Shin was a student of Soo Bahk Do before he founded the WTSDA in 1968 in Burlington, New Jersey. I hope I answered your question. (And gave you a little extra!)

PS.: I totally forgot to mention the one thing that differentiates Tang Soo from Tae Kwon! Tae Kwon is very sports-competition oriented. It's also an olympic event. Tang Soo, however, actually takes pride in maintaining seperation from sports. It's about improvement of the self and perfection of "martial arts" as what their name suggests: not as a sport, but as a true art. (I'm not disrespecting Tae Kwon! It's a totally legitimate form of self defense. But it IS different in its goal.)

I have to agree with you about the goals of Tae Kwon Do. However, the goal's differ for some people. I my self will never be able to compete (too old) in TKD, so it is definitely something I enjoy and do just for me. I practice it to help me physically and mentally...in retrospect, perhaps Tang soo do would have been better for me, but my daughter was already in TKD when I became involved. It was easier to hang out at the same dojang!

[N.B]

Hello Basho, great to see another TSD practitioner on the forums!

Originally Posted by Basho

Yes, it does. Tang Soo Do is heavily kick oriented, much like Tae Kwon Do.

I'm going to have to disgree with you there, since while Tang Soo Do practitioners pride themselves on their kicking techniques, in my opinion the art itself is equally hand and foot orientated. As shown by the fact you won't find a single kicking technique in the first four forms(hyungs).

Originally Posted by Basho

PS.: I totally forgot to mention the one thing that differentiates Tang Soo from Tae Kwon! Tae Kwon is very sports-competition oriented. It's also an olympic event. Tang Soo, however, actually takes pride in maintaining seperation from sports. It's about improvement of the self and perfection of "martial arts" as what their name suggests: not as a sport, but as a true art. (I'm not disrespecting Tae Kwon! It's a totally legitimate form of self defense. But it IS different in its goal.)

I think Tang Soo Do and Taekwondo are very different in a lot of ways. As I mentioned in a post a long while ago, Tang Soo Do has much more in common with karate than Taekwondo, especially when it come to forms. Karate and Tang Soo Do have many forms which are the same or very similar to each other, especially the first three forms which are identical.

Not knocking what you've said here, I just wanted to put in my two cents.


As for what TSD means to me, I love the fact that every lesson will have a completely different focus and flavour making it always new and exciting to turn up to lessons. Last lesson I had we were focusing on takedowns and grappling, next lesson we could be focusing on, kicks, sparring, forms, punching drills, weapons defence, meditation, terminology etc.

I think the people I train with make the class what it is, since we're all an incredibly close knit group, it's a shame that I'll probably have to give up the martial art when I leave university.

TANG SOO!

[tkdKaren]

Originally Posted by N.B

I think the people I train with make the class what it is, since we're all an incredibly close knit group, it's a shame that I'll probably have to give up the martial art when I leave university.

TANG SOO!

Damn it! I hope not! If you love it, look for another place to train...we get some of our students from the colleges around here. As you said, it would be a shame to give it up!

[TKD&JKD]

Many people forget that TKD has a lot of hand strikes. All blocks are strikes as well. When you block in TKD you are trying to damage whatever your assailant throws at you. My school trains us in punching as well We we use focus mitts to improve our hands. Competition Sparring doesn't focus on hard blocking and some of the more self defense oriented aspects of TKD. Competition is a good training tool but it is not realistic to normal fighting. My school trains both styles. We go to tournaments, but that is not our only focus. We do a lot of traditional old school training.

[Basho]

joemoplata:
I can't say I'm sure what you mean, specifically, but I'll try to clear things up. I did make the statement that TSD and TKD are different in purpose, but I didn't make the claim that TSD is better as a defense. Also, I didn't say that competition is nonexistent. There IS competition in TSD, but it's focus is on perfecting technique; testing it against the techniques of others is secondary. If I've failed to answer your question, please let me know veither by personal message or just by reposting!

N.B:
I apologise for failing to be specific! Sicerely. I suppose it's defensible that hand and foot techniques are equally employed. But I still mantain that there is a greater variety of kicking techniques than punching. I mean that there are a myriad of kicking techniques while a punch is usually only defined by it's target area. You'll probably bring up the point that there are other hand techniques like the soo do and knife hand, etc. You're right. They aren't punches, but I should have mentioned them! But as for the fact that there aren't any kicks in the first few forms, I don't know what you mean. Sae kye hyung il bu, e bu, and sam bu use 6 snap kicks, 6 side kicks, and 6 roundhouse kicks, respectively. Maybe your training is different, but these are the first three forms I learned. I may be confused as to your meaning. Please reply!