World Tang Soo Do Association

The World Tang Soo Do Association (WTSDA) is an international organization devoted to the teaching, preservation, and promotion of Tang Soo Do, a Korean martial art associated internationally with the lineage of grandmaster Hwang Kee. The association is headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina, and operates through a network of affiliated schools, instructors, and practitioners rather than as a conventional consumer-goods company. The organization traces its immediate origins to Jae Chul Shin's work in the United States. Shin traveled to the United States in 1968 as a representative of the Korean Tang Soo Do Association and subsequently established the United States Tang Soo Do Association. In 1982, he resigned from that organization's board of directors after becoming dissatisfied with its direction. Shin then joined Ki Yun Yi and William D. Clingan in founding the World Tang Soo Do Association. The creation of the WTSDA coincided with the introduction of new hyungs, or formal patterns, by Shin's instructor, Hwang Kee. The association's activities are centered on martial-arts instruction and organizational affiliation. Its practical offering includes access to member schools, structured Tang Soo Do training, instructor-led education, rank progression, forms practice, and the transmission of a shared technical and ethical curriculum. The association's identity is therefore based less on a packaged product than on a recognized training system, instructor network, and institutional lineage. Tang Soo Do is commonly translated as “the way of the Tang hand.” The name uses Korean readings of Chinese characters and reflects the historical and cultural vocabulary surrounding East Asian martial arts. In international usage, Tang Soo Do has particularly been associated with the Korean martial-art tradition promoted by Hwang Kee, who developed his martial-arts knowledge in Manchuria and became a central figure in the style's modern history. A membership figure cited for 1996 stated that the organization claimed more than 160,000 members. This figure is historical and represents an organizational claim reported at that time; it should not be treated as a current membership count. Publicly available reference material provides limited detail about the association's current governance, financial structure, leadership roster, or geographic distribution. Its continuing public role is nevertheless represented by its official website and international association identity.

The World Tang Soo Do Association emerged from the development of Tang Soo Do in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art whose name is derived from Korean readings of Chinese characters meaning, broadly, “the way of the Tang hand.” In international martial-arts usage, the term became closely connected with the tradition taught and promoted by Hwang Kee. Jae Chul Shin was an important figure in the association's institutional origin. In 1968, he traveled to the United States as a representative of the Korean Tang Soo Do Association. After arriving in the country, Shin established the United States Tang Soo Do Association, creating an organizational base for Tang Soo Do instruction and affiliation in the United States. By 1982, Shin had become dissatisfied with the direction of the United States organization. He resigned from its board of directors and, together with Ki Yun Yi and William D. Clingan, founded the World Tang Soo Do Association. The new association was formed during a period in which Hwang Kee released additional hyungs, or formalized patterns. This development linked the WTSDA's institutional foundation with the continuing evolution and transmission of the curriculum associated with its martial-arts lineage. The WTSDA developed as an association rather than a product manufacturer. Its core structure is based on affiliated schools, instructors, and students who participate in a common Tang Soo Do system. The organization supports the teaching of techniques, forms, discipline, and progression through martial-arts training. The available reference material does not provide a detailed chronology of later administrative changes, major events, international expansions, or current leadership, so those aspects cannot be stated reliably here. The association is headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. A 1996 reference reported that the organization claimed more than 160,000 members, indicating substantial scale at that point in its history. That figure is a historical claim and does not establish the association's present membership. The organization's official website remains its principal public-facing source for current information about its activities and affiliated structure.

• 1996

  Historical membership claim reported

  [1]World Tang Soo Do Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was reported to claim more than 160,000 members. The figure is historical and is not presented as a current membership total.

• 1982

  World Tang Soo Do Association founded

  [1]World Tang Soo Do Associationen.wikipedia.org

  After resigning from the board of the United States Tang Soo Do Association, Jae Chul Shin founded the World Tang Soo Do Association with Ki Yun Yi and William D. Clingan.

• 1982

  New hyungs introduced in the Hwang Kee lineage

  [1]World Tang Soo Do Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The association's creation coincided with Hwang Kee's release of new hyungs, or formal martial-arts patterns, providing contemporaneous curriculum context for the organization's formation.

• 1968

  Jae Chul Shin comes to the United States

  [1]World Tang Soo Do Associationen.wikipedia.org

  Jae Chul Shin traveled to the United States as a representative of the Korean Tang Soo Do Association and subsequently established the United States Tang Soo Do Association.

A lineage-oriented international association for the organized teaching and preservation of Tang Soo Do, emphasizing affiliated schools, standardized practice, instructor development, and continuity with the martial-art tradition associated with Hwang Kee.

• Martial-arts education

  Tang Soo Do instruction

  Instruction in Tang Soo Do through affiliated schools and instructors. The training represents the association's central service and may encompass technical practice, forms, discipline, physical conditioning, and advancement within the association's martial-arts framework.

• Martial-arts forms · 1982

  Hyung curriculum

  A body of formal patterns used in Tang Soo Do training. Hyungs are part of the technical transmission of the art, and the association's formation coincided with the release of additional forms by Hwang Kee.

• Association services · 1982

  School affiliation and membership

  An organizational network connecting Tang Soo Do schools, instructors, and students under the World Tang Soo Do Association name and lineage. Public reference material does not specify the complete current membership structure or benefits.

1. 1World Tang Soo Do Associationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2World Tang Soo Do Association official websiteworldtangsoodo.com