Tang Soo Do is a much older form of martial arts, having its roots deep in Korea as the traditional martial art form for the country. Therefore, it’s lineage and creation is not as easily traceable as one of the more well known and recent forms of martial arts. Some say that the “founder” of the martial art form Tang Soo Do is a man by the name of Won Kuk Lee (also known as the founder of Chung Do Kwan, a similar martial art form), however, others argue that Won Kuk Lee only coined the name Tang Soo Do and did not create the martial art form himself.

Tangsoodo or Tang Soo Do is a traditional Korean martial art. The name itself literally translates to "Way of the T'ang hand" or "Way of the Chinese hand" specifically referring to the Tang Dynasty and the empty handed fighting styles practiced at the time in China. However, there may be other more subtle meanings behind that reference that include such traits as "Worthiness", "Skillful", and "Strong". Since the name does not translate well today, many people are content with the definition "Way of the empty hand".

Early history

The ancestral art of Korean Soo Bahk Do can be traced back to the period when Korea was divided into three kingdoms:

Goguryeo was founded in 37 BC in northern Korea. The Silla Dynasty was founded in 57 BC in the southeast peninsula. The third kingdom, Paekche was founded in 18 BC.

Tang Soo Do is the Korean pronunciation of the Hanja characters 唐手道 (in Japanese these characters mean Karate-do but it in contemporary Japanese Karate-do is written as 空手道. The Japanese pronunciation of both sets of characters is the same, but the newer version means "Way of the Empty Hand" rather than "Way of the T'ang Hand")