Tang Soo Do is the primary art taught at American Defensive Arts (ADA).  All other art forms are second to it at the current time.  Students must have at least a 1st dan Black Belt in TSD before being allowed to study for their Sho Moo Do (SMD) black belt.  All arts Sensei Riggs has studied and/or brought in through seminar instructors are for the purpose of adding to the essence of what we have already learned. Our school grows stronger by being open-minded and learning other ways, holding to that which is appropriate and discarding what does not fit us.
    Tang Soo Do (TSD) is not a pure style, but rather a composite art that dates back several thousand years.  TSD is the Korean pronunciation of Chinese characters that literally mean “China Hand Way”.  These same characters in Japanese are pronounced “karate do”, meaning “empty hand”.
    Before covering the development of TSD in greater detail, it will aid us to look at it in simple terms.  TSD has arrived at its current historical stage from three directions:  Tang Soo Do is a combination of ancient Korean fighting techniques such as Taekkyeon, blended with the flowing and graceful soft movements of Northern-style Chinese arts, and the strong linear movements of Japanese/Okinawan Karate.

    Korean martial arts developed 1500-2000 years ago and were very primitive.  The Hwa Rang Dan warriors were trained in an art they called Soo Bahk Ki and later changed to Soo Bahk Do.  It is believed by many that they wore uniforms that bore a similarity to some worn today in martial arts schools.
    Korea was occupied by the Japanese from 1901-1945.  The people were forbidden to practice their martial arts such as Tae Kyun & Soo Bahk Do.  In some parts of Korea the people were even forbidden to speak their own language in public.  Many Korean martial artists practiced out of the public eye or, in some cases, were taken to Japan.  While in Japan they of course were like slave labor, but the Japanese would sometimes teach promising martial artists the Japanese version of fighting styles.  At the conclusion of the war, many Korean martial artists returned to their homeland with black belts from Japanese master that they hated.  Then for many, many years, some tried to deny that their Korean teachings had been influenced by Japanese Karate!
    The origin of Tang Soo Do cannot be traced to any single person.  Grandmaster Lee Won Kuk is often shown to be a very early person to have used the style name following the war.   It has been recorded that he encouraged his friend Hwang Kee to use the name TSD rather than another style name that did not take with the people.  After creating the Moo Duk Kwan (“Institute of Martial Virtue”) and teaching Tang Soo Do, the Moo Duk Kwan (MDK) grew to be the largest of the 5 major Kwans in Korea.  Almost all who have taught TSD in the past or present can trace their school lineage to Grandmaster Hwang Kee and the founding of the MDK on November 9, 1945.    
     The development of Tang Soo Do went hand-in-hand for several years with the growth of the MDK.  Politics got involved, and with politics came money and greed.  The government determined that all the Kwans needed to unite under one banner which they would call Tae Kwon Do.  Their interest was in  national unity that would eventually lead to an entry as an Olympic sport.  Hwang Kee, the MDK and most traditional Tang Soo Do practitioners chose to stay with the traditional art rather than become just another sport.
    Within Tang Soo Do there was a later split, with a re-naming and creating of a new organization.  Rather than the old MDK, you now have the Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan.  This was created by Hwang Kee and turned over to his son at death.  Some of the founder’s original students and their students continue in this style today.

    My viewpoint and opinion as Sensei of ADA is as follows:  Two of my instructors went through the 1960s and 1970s very actively as both students and instructors.  They were very highly placed with people close to the top of these organizations, including the founder himself.  I entered the scene in 1973 and have my recollections as to the actions, attitudes and general feelings of things taking place in the 70s & 80s.
    In my opinion the Grandmaster did not understand that building and running a Kwan in South Korea was a literal “world apart” from running a business in America.  There was no way you were going to send an emissary to America and try to tell a bunch of U.S. businessmen how to run their karate schools.  Working together is one thing, but the Korean mindset of “Do what I say and don’t question me!” did not work in those years, and many people got hurt in the process.  Things have changed since those days, and I believe all sides have learned and improved their communication skills.  However, a highly respected American Grandmaster told me (as recently as two years ago) that he went through this attitude battle with his old Korean teacher, even though their original meeting had been in Korea in the 1960’s.
In my opinion, the majority of TSD schools in America are teaching essentially what they taught 30 years ago.  (This does not take count the new techniques, weapons, seminars, etc.)  My newest student in March 2010 is learning the same white belt form that I learned in August 1973.  It worked then, it works today, and I suspect it will work tomorrow!  However, I will keep an open mind!