Tang Soo Do

Tang Soo Do (taŋsudo) is a Korean martial art promoted byHwang Kee that has roots in various martial arts including Shotokan karate, taekkyeon,Subak, and Chinese kung fu.

Tang Soo Do is the Korean pronunciation of the (Tang Shou Dao). Tang Soo Do literally means “China Hand Way” (the “Tang” refers to the Tang Dynasty). Similar characters are pronounced karate-dō in Japanese. The first character, 唐 (which initially referred to China), was later changed to 空 by Gichin Funakoshi to mean “empty” rather than “China” (空手道, or Kong Shou Dao. The Korean pronunciation of these characters is Kong Soo Do). Outside of the far east, the term “Tang Soo Do” has primarily become synonymous with the Korean martial art promoted by Hwang Kee.

Most schools of Tang Soo Do use the transcription “Tang Soo Do”. However, scientific texts apply the official transcription “tangsudo”, written as one word. Some authors write “Tang Soo Do” and give “tangsudo” or “dangsudo” in the parenthesis. Under the Korean government’s Revised Romanization System (officially adopted in July 2007) the martial art’s name would be rendered “Dang Su Do”.