Tang Soo Do, opinions please

**kitkatninja** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 12:07am

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

Originally Posted by judoka_uk

Kitkat, PM me your rough location and I'll find you a decent Judo club nearby.

Don't waste your time and money on Tang soo do, its universally dog shite.

Done mate :)

**doofaloofa** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 2:30am

Originally Posted by Lindz

To my untrained eye this looks like TKD

what is the difference?

***TaeBo_Master*** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 2:46am

By my undestanding, Tang Soo Do is supposed to be a more "complete" art. In reality, the only difference is probably the name. In Korean arts, even more than most others, there is a prevalence of people simply studying one, making up a new name and starting a whole new art. This happens all the time, but Korean arts seem to be particularly good at creating entire lineages and thus perpetuating it as a system, rather than just an individual school.

**vile_zoidberg** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 9:20am

I did TSD for a couple of years. As with all styles, there are some awesome schools and some shitty schools. In the case of TSD, most will be shitty. If you're interested in kicking/punching, I'd recommend any of the well-known and respected styles: Muay-Thai, ect.

TSD is basically TKD, just with a few more punches. I also seem to recall a karate friend of mine saying that a lot of the beginning katas are very similar. Aliveness with the style varies from school to school, but expect a lot of point sparring and no grappling.

**Rene "Zendokan" Gysenbergs** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 9:31am

I posted this in another thread before:

Shotokan Karate got Koreanized in two directions, namely Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do (yes, the original style of Chuck Norris).

Lineage 1: Shotokan ->Kong Soo Do -> Tae Soo Do -> Taekwondo (ITF) -> Taekwondo (WTF)
Lineage 2: Shotokan -> Kong Soo Do -> Hwa Soo Do -> Tang Soo Do -> Soo Bahk Do

and offcourse to make it complex: There exist schools of the two last forms of each lineage. (Taekwondo ITF & WTF, Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do) and there's also a "Shotokan Karate like style" as underprogram in Hwa Rang Do that's named Tae Soo Do, but that has got nothing to do with the original Tae Soo Do (in the Taekwondo lineage).

Basically Tang Soo Do is Shotokan Karate with TKD style kicks above the waistline.

**omoplatypus** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 11:50am

good information rene.

i also have an acquaintance that i saw at a lot of tournys who has his kids in a "tang soo karate" dojo. it looks just like karate/TKD but it has a different name and they swear by their lineage. it's nuckin futz.

**judoka_uk** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 11:58am

We had boiler trouble in my last uni flat, so called the plumber in.

Our flat had a load of Judo players in it so there were gi and belts hanging about everywhere drying or just hanging up.

So as he worked and I chatted to him we obviously got round to martial arts. He didn't do any but apparently his mate did Tang soo do and was very proud of it. This guy would apparently always wear his Tang soo do association/ club t-shirt on nights out.

Plumber asked if we ever did that. I said hell no, great way to make yourself a target for a loon and also you look like a prick, I always wear normal clothes.

He laughed and said that Tang soo do boy had been standing in line for a nightclub when a guy had come out of nowhere and clocked him one, right in the side of the head, dropping him.

The crazy punching guy then kicked him on the floor shouting 'Where's ya fookin kunt fu, now eh?'.

So not only is Tang soo do a waste of time and money, but it will get you beaten up by chavs.

**FickleFingerOfFate** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 12:28pm

The school I go to is a hybrid type of Karate, but, is based on traditional Tang Soo Do. It very closely resembles Shotokan, with the addition of a couple of higher kicks.

We dont have any flippy,twisty kicks in the curriculum, although, some of the students have learned them on their own time.

We do continuous sparring, because if you practice disengaging as soon as you score a hit, that is what you will do under pressure. We are taught to follow up, and take advantage of openings.

We also integrate BJJ techniques into our self defense work (we keep practical separate from forms and one-steps), as our Chief Instructor is a Brown belt in BJJ under Caique.

We also have the owner , and a guest instructor, who teach Arnis (Phillipino stick fighting).

So, just because a school teaches Tang Soo Do Karate, doesn't make it crap. Try looking at what each school offers on its own merit.

As White Shark has sigged; Individual > Training > Style

**Rene "Zendokan" Gysenbergs** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 12:30pm

All by all, TSD is just a sport with a nice competition ruleset, something that you can train with all the family, etc...
So long you keep that in mind, train it and have fun, but don't think that it's a Martial Art or Combat Sport that will help you in a self-defense situation.
Technically MT isn't also this, but it will give you more of an advantage through trainingmethods and conditioning than TSD.

In the end it will all depend from what you want to accomplish...but don't train TSD if you want to become a competative fighter or for self-defense.

**omoplatypus** · Posted On: 9/04/2011 1:17pm

so, i think this thread has come to the conclusion that, tang soo do can be a fun activity that might be enjoyed by a whole family, and does have some opportunity for TMA competition, however it is a poor choice to make you ring/cage ready and has dubious self defense application.

also, don't wear krotty **** in public or TapouTs/chavs will **** with you.