American Tang Soo Do evolved from Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan and it combines elements from several different fighting styles including Judo and Boxing. Between 1958 and 1962 Chuck Norris was stationed in Korea at the Osan Air Base, South Korea, as a member of the Air Policeman in the United States Air Force. During this time he trained in various martial arts styles under some of the most respected instructors in the world. These instructors included Tang Soo Do founder Hwang Kee and his chief instructor Shin Jae Chul, and Judo instructor Mr. Ahn. Upon his return to the United States as a Tang Soo Do black belt Norris continued his martial arts training with Shotokan Karate masters Tsutomu Ohshima and Hidetaka Nishiyama, Shitō-ryū Karate instructor Fumio Demura, American Kenpo Karate founder Ed Parker, and Judo expert Gene LeBell. Norris later began training in Rio with the Gracie family in Gracie Jiu-jitsu under Helio Gracie and his sons Royce Gracie and Rickson Gracie, and he was instrumental in bringing the Gracie family to America. He later trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the Machado family, namely Carlos Machado who promoted Norris to black belt. After his military service ended in 1962 Norris began to open karate schools across Southern California where he taught traditional Korean Tang Soo Do to American students. During this time he was also becoming a well known World Champion karate fighter. Being proficient in Judo as well as in Boxing, Norris incorporated the techniques of these fighting arts into his Tang Soo Do instruction which became at one point known as the Chuck Norris System. In doing so he created a new American martial art of his own design, American Tang Soo Do, which helped to fuel the American Karate craze of the 1970's and 80's.

 

 

Meaning

"Tang Soo Do" loosely translates "empty hand fighting"; thus American Tang Soo Do is meant to describe the American variation of an empty hand fighting system that originated in Korea. Tang Soo Do is a Korean term that translates to "The Way of the Empty Hand/or China Hand." It is the Korean term for the more well known Japanese term of "Karate-Do", both having the same American translation. "Tang Soo Do" has also been used in Korea as a general term for martial arts/or fighting for hundreds of years; similarly to the term Kung Fu in China, and Karate in Japan. It was the specific Tang Soo Do school of Moo Duk Kwan (The School of Martial Virtues) founded by Hwang Kee that Grand Master Norris first studied under while in South Korea. In order for the American population to better understand what type of martial art system he was teaching them Norris began to use the already popularized term Karate instead of Tang Soo, thus "American Karate" was born.

 

National Tang Soo Do Congress

American Tang Soo Do was originally organized by Norris under the governing body of the National Tang Soo Do Congress (NTC) which he founded with Pat E. Johnson and named Johnson as vice-president and Chief of Instruction. In 1979, Norris disbanded the NTC and formed his current organization the United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF) and named Johnson as executive vice president. In 1986, Norris promoted Johnson to ninth-degree black belt. At that time due to a philosophical difference of opinion with Norris, Johnson would leave the UFAF and reform the NTC as the governing body for American Tang Soo Do while Norris kept UFAF as the parent organization for his new martial arts system of Chun Kuk Do. The National Tang Soo Do Congress is now a defunct organization, but the art of American Tang Soo Do has been kept alive through the continued instruction of former Norris and Johnson students now Masters and Grand Masters themselves.

 

American Tang Soo Do Grand Masters

 

Chuck Norris 10th degree black beltGrand MasterATSD Founder, Retired as the Undefeated Professional Full-Contact Middleweight Champion in 1974

 

Pat E. Johnson 9th degree black beltGrand MasterCo-founder, Creator of Karate Point Scoring System, Fight Coordinator, National & International ChampionRobert Wall9th degree black beltGrand MasterKarate Champion, Co-star of Enter the Dragon, Way of the Dragon, and Game of Death

 

Dennis Ichikawa 9th degree black belt Grand Master. Founder of the American Tang soo Do Alliance which forms the biggest Organization related to the Chuck Norris Family. Based out of Thousand Oaks, CA

 

Tom Bloom 9th degree black beltGrand Master5X World Champion & 3X International Champion.

 

Aaron Norris 9th degree black belt Grand Master Brother of Chuck.

 

Ron Pohnel 9th degree black beltGrand Master5X International Champion, Stuntman, Actor teaches in Hawaii

 

Joe Corley 9th degree black beltGrand MasterThrough the PKA helped bring Pro Kickboxing to the U.S.

 

Dick Douglas 9th degree black beltGrand MasterTaught in Las Vegas, NV from 1966-2006. Was the NTC Vice President

 

Joey Escobar 8th degree black beltGrand Master8X International Champion.

 

Forms

 

American Tang Soo Do includes the practice of forms, (Korean hyung and Japanese kata). The system's forms are taken from the original Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan before the Moo Duk Kwan style became Soo Bahk Do and the Moo Duk Kwan founder Hwang Kee added new Korean forms he created based on the ancient Korean martial arts book Muyedobotongji. The original Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan forms now used in American Tang Soo do were actually borrowed from Japanese Karate (Shotokan), and Chinese Kung Fu. This was due to the fact that during the Japanese occupation of Korea during WWII all Korean culture and martial arts were outlawed. Due to this reason many Koreans at that time began to study martial arts in either Japan or China, and on a rare occasion would find an old Korean master who would teach them Taekkyeon which is the traditional Korean kicking martial art with has a dance-like appearance, and where Tang Soo Do gets it's acrobatic kicking techniques from; or Subak an ancient Korean form of Jujutsu.