Whats the difference between Taekwondo, Tae Kwon Do, Taekwon-do, Tang Soo Do, Tae Soo Do, Kong Soo Do, Soo Bahk Do, Su Do, and Korean Karate?
A. Essentially politics, what set of forms are done, and what rules of sparring are followed. Really all these arts come from the same background, the Koreans that studied Japanese/Okinawin Karate and opened schools (Kwans) after World War II that (mostly) cooperated with each other to achieve more success. Kong Soo Do = Korean pronounciation for karate-do. Tang Soo Do = Korean pronounciation for way of the Tang hand. Karate Do = Okinawin way of the Kara (Tang dynasty Chinese) hand. Of the arts pronounced ‘tie kwahn doe’, if they’re spelled: Taekwondo – probably WTF, with the kind of sparring you’ll see in the Olympics, the largest organization Taekwon-do – probably ITF, following Hong Hi Choi Tae Kwon Do – probably with one of the small federations, an independent, probably calling themselves ‘traditional’ with little changes in the last 50 years All of these are kicking/punching arts that have placed more stress on the kicking aspects than did their forebears. How much stress is plac
