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oh **** it. it's like arguing with a brick wall.
anyway baojian, it's interesting you mentioned that about the name, you're more right than you know. tang soo do is actually older than tae kwon do, but neither can actually be traced back to ancient korea. they're really just japanese imports, as recent as the 20th century. "tang soo do" was just the translation of "karate", which originally meant "chinese hand", and later on became "empty hand" in japan, for political reasons (they could change the meaning by changing a single character the name and retaining the pronunciation of "karate"). when i took tang soo do, i was taught that the name meant "way of the empty fist", with the explanation being that it was for unarmed combat. but black belts learned sword techniques. go figure.
in fact, the first form of tang soo do is exactly the same as the first form of some styles of karate, being an "I" shaped punching and blocking progression, which has its roots in the "I-Shaped Subduing the Tiger Form" of hung gar, which supposedly originated in the shaolin temple.
so even korean martial arts can be traced back to shaolin. that's just interesting to me. anyway, i didn't stick with tang soo do or kenpo, because while their effectiveness was easy to see, it didn't hold my interest the way hung gar does.
- zach
anyway baojian, it's interesting you mentioned that about the name, you're more right than you know. tang soo do is actually older than tae kwon do, but neither can actually be traced back to ancient korea. they're really just japanese imports, as recent as the 20th century. "tang soo do" was just the translation of "karate", which originally meant "chinese hand", and later on became "empty hand" in japan, for political reasons (they could change the meaning by changing a single character the name and retaining the pronunciation of "karate"). when i took tang soo do, i was taught that the name meant "way of the empty fist", with the explanation being that it was for unarmed combat. but black belts learned sword techniques. go figure.
in fact, the first form of tang soo do is exactly the same as the first form of some styles of karate, being an "I" shaped punching and blocking progression, which has its roots in the "I-Shaped Subduing the Tiger Form" of hung gar, which supposedly originated in the shaolin temple.
so even korean martial arts can be traced back to shaolin. that's just interesting to me. anyway, i didn't stick with tang soo do or kenpo, because while their effectiveness was easy to see, it didn't hold my interest the way hung gar does.
- zach
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