Tang Soo Do vs. TKD?

KabutoKouji

Green Belt
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Messages
182
Reaction score
28
There is no such thing as WTF TKD. The WTF is a sports governing body that oversees the promotion of the sport of TKD as it is used in the Olympics. The WTF sets no training standards. It has no curriculum. It awards no rank. It has no schools. It is not a form of TKD.
While many people confuse Kukkiwon TKD (Or Kukki TKD) and the WTF, the two are in no way synonymous.

Thank you I did not know this - but the seperate Tul/Hyung they do are the 'Kukkiwon' patterns are they?
 

Dirty Dog

MT Senior Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
23,444
Reaction score
9,228
Location
Pueblo West, CO
Thank you I did not know this - but the seperate Tul/Hyung they do are the 'Kukkiwon' patterns are they?

Poomsae competition that is sponsored by the WTF or that is intended to prepare people for that sort of competition will use the Taegeuk forms (for colored belts) and the KKW yudanja forms for Dan ranks.
 

WaterGal

Master of Arts
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
1,795
Reaction score
627
Tang Soo Do focuses a lot more on power. Tae Kwon Do focuses mostly on speed.
Tae Kwon Do is mostly known as a sport while Tang Soo Do is not.
Tae Kwon Do uses more narrow and higher stances while Tang Soo Do uses the traditional lower and wider stances.
Tae Kwon Do uses alot of fast, high kicks, but Tang Soo Do uses kicks, punches and strikes equally.

Every school is different, of course, but in the TSD schools in my area, the focus is mostly on making money by teaching children how to kick sheets of paper and play dodgeball :D. But I've heard that TSD schools in other areas do more serious training, so YMMV.

KKW TKD does tend to have higher stances compared with other karate-derived styles, though, I think because of the heavier focus on kicking and striking sparring, which require more mobility. Many KKW TKD schools also do have a heavy focus on contact sparring, which I assume is what you mean by sport. From what I've been told by TSD practitioners in my area, they do little or no contact sparring, and if that's true generally, that's definitely a big difference.
 

Buka

Sr. Grandmaster
Staff member
MT Mentor
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
13,001
Reaction score
10,533
Location
Maui
I know all places are different, and there are a lot of variables.
I have Dan ranking in TKD from a while ago, and currently teach self defense classes in a TSD school. But, I don't know about differences or vs, I really don't, it's all Martial Arts. Seems so, anyway.
 

TKDFromDMV_Student

Yellow Belt
Joined
Feb 19, 2017
Messages
21
Reaction score
1
I'm glad this topic was made. I'm interested in doing Tang Soo Do, sometime along the line and this thread helps me understand the differences between that and Taekwondo.
 

Latest Discussions

Top