Tang Soo Do
Tang Soo Do
!Black Belt Tang Soo Do [Dobok](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/BlackBeltTangSooDoDobok.jpg/250px-BlackBeltTangSooDoDobok.jpg)
Tang Soo Do
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 Shōtōkan, Subak, Taekkyon, and Kung Fu.
Etymology
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 as "Tou". Funakoshi ostensibly wanted to avoid confusion with Chinese Kenpō. 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.
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