Forewarning: This post may contain various Korean words. Most should be able to be understood through context. Others can be explained
here, which is actually (surprisingly) extremely accurate. However, I have a qualm about the use of “Master” in the section on the belt system. We don’t use the term in our school, basically because we are
real big on pushing humility.
I often mention Tang Soo Do here–usually as an excuse for not being more interesting–but I’m not sure I’ve ever really given a good impression as to what, exactly, it is. Well, here’s a nice post all about it.
A little less than two years ago, I was growing lazy yet restless in my ever-continuing homeschooling exploits. I was returning from the State Fair with my friend, and I caught an interesting sign off to the left, which said, “Karate”. At this time I had actually been considering taking back up Martial Arts (taking back up, as I had been in Tae Kwon Do for a few years, but quit 4 or 5 years previously) for a few reasons. Primarily, I knew that I needed exercise, as I’d grown to be a tad pudgy, and I couldn’t stand any other type of exercise. Simply working out bores me, as I need some sort of mental stimulation at pretty much all times, and team sports require interacting with people–something at which I am (obviously) not that great.
I told my mom about the school, and she and I went there the next day to check it out. It was closed at the time, but we looked in and saw that it was called “Tang Soo Do”, got the times when it would be open, and went to eat at the nearby Japanese restaurant. We came back the next night or so (I remember it was a Tuesday) to watch a class, and ended up signing up. I took a couple intro classes, and soon joined the ranks as a white belt (ah, the good ol’ days).
I took my first test, and felt that I did pretty well–perhaps deserving of skipping one or two levels (mostly due to my former Tae Kwon Do training). Apparently, however, I did extremely well and got to skip four levels, putting me, then, at 5th gup (from 10th gup). In my school (kwan), that is a green belt with one red stripe. Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise. Yet I accepted it and realised that I needed to work a lot harder to actually learn everything that the majority of people at that rank have had 15 months to already get into their head. Classes started to be a whole lot more fun then.
I continued to practice the art and progress in rank, and got my red belt (3rd gup) almost a year ago. However, a problem came up in December: I got into college. College itself wasn’t the problem, but it was the fact that I decided to live in a dorm (the fact that the 8am only english class was the only one open by the time I registered told me that perhaps driving into Raleigh at that time might not be the best idea) that created an issue. I thought I would have to quit Tang Soo Do, because we weren’t going to get a parking space. This greatly upset me, as I had come to love it a whole lot, and it grew to be a large part of my life that I really, really cared about. This was right before my 2nd gup test, too. I went in there–with my mom for the much needed emotional support–and told my Sa Bom Nim that I thought I might have to quit. Thankfully, he wouldn’t let me. I stayed, and came to class every Friday. Soon, he started making me stay for the blue belt (see link at top) class after the normal Friday class, just to try to knock as much knowledge into me as possible (you see why I like these people so much?).
Currently, I am going to class three times a week for the summer, and will be testing for 1st gup come July. A great deal has changed; most prominently, we changed locations (to a place with hardwood floors!), and Sa Bom Nim is actually less involved with the school (I believe some family stuff, though I’m not entirely sure what it is. The Kyo Sa Nims have more or less taken over classes, and have actually been doing a wonderful job). Also, I have actually been slowly gaining friendships with the Kyo Sa Nims. Yeah, those things I don’t have.
But I digress. Actually, that whole thing has been digression. I’ve been talking about Tang Soo Do this whole time, and I still haven’t said a thing about it. Tang Soo Do is a Martial Art that originated in Korea from the older styles from both Korea and China (though there are some signs of Japanese and Okinawan influence, as well). The better-known Tae Kwon Do came from it, and thus they are very similar, but personally, I much prefer Tang Soo Do any day.
“Why?” you ask? Well, I’d be glad to answer! Basically, Tae Kwon Do is a sport. More than anything, it pleases crowds. A lot. The most accurate word that I can think of of which I can think is, “flashy.” Tang Soo Do is much more simple and basic. It teaches to do the moves that will hurt an opponent, where they will hurt him/her most, and how to do them as well as possible. When you test for the next level, you test for yourself. Tae Kwon Do, on the other hand, teaches how to do the basic moves fairly well, but also how to do the things that look downright awesome (lots and lots of flying kicks and the like), and ends up with more focus on those rather than the simple things, since they are more difficult. My sister recently tested for her 4th dan–master level–and it was indeed incredibly impressive. There was a large crowd, and a long table at the front of the testers, including (amongst others) their Master, his 6 brothers, the head of the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (I believe that was the particular organization. There are a bunch of them), and James “Bonecrusher” Smith. Yeah, that was pretty cool. The thing is, it wasn’t really a test. It was more of a demonstration to keep everyone entertained. They broke lots of boards, but I couldn’t help but notice that they were very thin, which would really make sense since they were breaking so many and really needed to get them all on the first try.
Alright, this sounds like I’m calling Tae Kwon Do fake. It’s not, as my thorough experience with sibling rivarly can attest. It’s simply not purely self-defense. It’s about looking really, really cool and making lots of money (big, big industry in that martial art nowadays. What my mom’s old (70-80’s) Karate teacher apparently called, “black belt factories”). I like Tang Soo Do because it’s what you’ll need to know in a fight, and not a whole lot else. Occasionally, we play around with the fun stuff. I’m actually well-known there for very high kicks, but we still practice basic techniques every class without fail.
Another thing I prefer is that Tang Soo Do is actually very traditional and serious. In my old Tae Kwon Do classes, the instructor would play music during class and other things like that to keep the energy and excitement up in the room. Yeah, Tang Soo Do doesn’t do that. We go there to concentrate only on perfecting our technique and occasionally learning new techniques.
Yet that’s not even all that’s taught. We focus a great deal on the philosophical roots of the martial art. Respect, inner strength, perseverance, dignity, manners, honor, etc. Actually, our “motto” of a sort is, “Strength, Dignity, Honor.” The primary two traits that are pushed, though, are humility and confidence. I already have one of these naturally, but it’s usually called an inferiority complex. The other can be harder to develop, but through things like teaching lower-belts forms or even just being able to yell loudly, it can grow pretty rapidly at times. Just my personal observation.
That’s actually about it, I believe, and dinner will be soon, so that’s it whether I have more to say or not. Basically, I love Tang Soo Do so much because it’s traditional, practical, and serious, and actually does teach me useful things for life, whether it be actual self-defense or inner moral lessons.
By the way, my favorite quote from one of Sa Bom Nim’s talks: “If I break someone’s knee, I will be able to simply walk away. This is because I know myself and know that if I were to break someone’s knee, they were doing something to deserve it.” Those are probably not the exact words (the first sentence definitely was. At least, the first half of the sentence), but it was definitely the message.
