History UsefulNotes / Taekwondo

* '''ITF''': Also known as '''Changheon-yu (Chang Heon-style)'''. It was created by General Choi Hong Hi who originally founded the KTA in order to unify the various kwans into a single style. Due to fierce resistance from the kwans, along with political disagreements about teaching taekwondo in North Korea and unifying the whole Korean Peninsula, Choi broke with the KTA in 1966 and established the ITF in [[CanadaEh Canada]] of all places. It initially had some support from the South Korean government due to Choi and the at the time country's President being personal friends, but that support was gone once Choi and the government later split on the issue of whether to accept North Korean influence on the martial art and in 1972 the government decided to back the Kukkiwon as the official organization representing taekwondo which led to the creation of the WT a few months afterwards. Despite this, the ITF continued to function as an independent federation (with financial support from the North Korean regime) and Choi continued to develop the ITF-style until his death in 2002. Before Choi's death though, the ITF faced multiple splits, first in 1990, then in 2001 and finally in 2002 after his death, with ''three'' separate [=ITFs=] formed in the aftermath of the last one due to a dispute on who was supposed to be the next president of the ITF after Choi, each of which continues to operate today under the same name. In spite of the splits, they all still use the same curriculum (with variations here and there) and competition rules, which are curiously both softer and more open than WT. Punches to the face are allowed and body armor is not worn, but striking with excessive force is discouraged and you get actually disqualified if you knock out the opponent and matches either reset every time points are scored or is continuous sparring depending on which ITF organisation hosts it, which make it a sort of body fencing instead of all around fighting. The style is also known for the Sine Wave motion, named after the mathematical concept sine wave, an oscillating up-and-down motion. The intent in taekwondo is to create maximum power in one's technique by raising and lowering the body during the technique. This gives the Sine Wave style of taekwondo a very "bouncy" look and feel, though not all ITF schools have adopted the Sine Wave motion, with non-Sine Wave schools being referred to as "Traditional Taekwondo" or more accurately "Traditional ITF Taekwondo".

* '''Traditional''': Also known as '''Classic'''. Not a style by itself, but it refers to the styles that were practiced during the 1940s and 50s by the nine kwans; which consists of the original five kwans, the first five martial arts schools to open in Korea following the end of Japanese occupation at the end of World War II and the four major schools, also known as the annex kwans, that that opened after the conclusion of the Korean War before the KTA was created and the styles of the masters who did not join the KTA (there were about 40 "kwans" before the KTA reduced them to the nine kwans). In terms of techniques and teaching methods, the traditional styles are often seen as very similar to Shotokan karate as they shared the same principles of mixing kicks with punches (which is why it was also known as "Korean Karate"), but slightly favored kicking over punching while they also include techniques like clinching with elbow and knee strikes as well as limited grappling in the form of throws, sweeps, and trips. While they do have sparring rules which are considered harder compared to the federations, they do not have competitions as the styles were only made for the self defense aspect of fighting. Before the name Taekwondo was established, these styles went by names like '''Tang Soo Do''', '''Kong Soo Do''', '''Soo Bak''', '''Kwon Bup''', and '''Tae Soo Do'''.
** '''Song Moo Kwan''': The first of the five original kwans, founded by Ro Byung Jick before the end of WWII with the name of his style being "Kong Soo Do" before it switched to "Tang Soo Do". Due to its founder being a black belt under Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi, the school was originally known as '''Song Do Kwan''' which is the Korean way of saying Shotokan and taught the style at the kwan before changes were made to seperate his style from it, like focusing more on kicking, though despite the changes it kept very close to its Shotokan roots.

** '''Chung Do Kwan''': The second of the five original kwans, founded by Lee Won Kyuk and arguably coined the term "Tang Soo Do" as the name of his style. Its founder was another Shotokan black belt who trained alongside Byung Jick Ro when they were schooling in Japan and also studied several styles of kung fu when visiting Okinawa and cities in China, and was also inspired by the art of Taekkyeon from listening to old stories about it in his youth. It was once known as "The National Police Headquarters Dojang" as Lee had a good relationship with them and trained them to help deal with Seoul gangsters after South Korea's independence day. It is arguably the most influencial of the original kwans.

** '''Chung Ryong Kwan''': The last and unofficial "twelveth" annex kwan that joined the KTA (the "official" tenth kwan was the Kwan Ri Kwan and the eleventh was the Chong Bon Kwan, which was created to "eliminate all of the negative aspects of Taekwondo" to ease the unification efforts that would create the Kukkiwon and WT), founded by Ko Jae Chun, a graduate of the Chung Do Kwan and a founding member of the Oh Do Kwan. It basically was more of an extension of the Oh Do Kwan rather than an offshoot as its teachings were pretty much the same, but unlike the Jung Do Kwan it wasn't as popular and was eventually reabsorbed by the Oh Do Kwan, which is why there are only nine "original" kwans listed under the KTA.
** '''Kuk Mu Kwan''': An annex kwan that did not join the KTA, but later represented the ITF, founded by Kang Suh Chong. Also known as the '''Kang System''' or the '''KRS System''', Kang was a senoir student of the Chung Do Kwan and also studied judo. He later fought in the Korean War and became an instructor to the Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment (HID) agents and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) operatives in the South Korean military and founded his kwan based on his war experience. In the 1970s, the KTA pressured Kang to adopt Kukkiwon style, but Kang was a friend of Choi Hong Hi and instead adopted ITF-style. Due to pressure by the KTA for his ITF support, which got him recognized as a Communist by the South Korean government, Kang relocated his school to the United States but left his top student Kim Ho Sung in charge of the kwan in Korea where is faded to obscurity. After a bit of time establishing the ATA (see below) and after Choi's death in 2002 (though he had separated from the ITF beforehand), Kang replaced the ITF forms with his own patterns and truly established his own style of taekwondo. It was for many years deliberately not well documented as Kang believed its techniques should be kept secret from non-practitioners. He also founded the '''American Taekwondo Federation (ATF)''' which later became the '''All American Tae Kwon Do Federation (AATF)''' when he was approached by other masters in Puerto Rico, which continues to promote the kwan's style today. The style is total defense system utilizing every part of the body for defense, including head strikes, hand and elbow strikes, sweeps, locks, knee strikes, kicks, trapping, grappling, throws, pressure points, joint attacks and locks.

* '''Hupkwondo''': A weird style that was developed in Malaysia by Lee Seng Hock, a Malaysian ITF practioner from Penang, Malaysia. With a subtitle of "Self Defense Martial Art" to differentiate it from the other one above, it also features techniques from Iaido, UsefulNotes/{{Kendo}}, Wado Shinpo (an obscure school of UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}) and UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and other methods of self defense. It also has a form of competition that has three 2 minute rounds, each with its own different rules though rounds can end when one side scores three points. The first consists of kick-fighting where only kicks and blocks by the feet and legs are allowed with points awarded for kicks on the body above the waist and to the face, the second consists of stick fighting using a fiber stick covered in foam, the third consists of punching and kicking point sparring.

** '''Jung Do Kwan''': The last of the annex kwans formed that joined the KTA, founded by Lee Yong-Woo, a Chung Do Kwan graduate. It functioned more as extension of the Chung Do Kwan rather than an offshoot of it and even deliberately chose a similar name to acknowledge its connection due to a suggestion from Hae Man Park. It was known for Lee's unique training program that attracted many students from other schools. It exists today as a fraternal social friendship club that endorses the Kukkiwon and supports the WT.
** '''Chung Ryong Kwan''': The unofficial "twelveth" annex kwan that joined the KTA (the "official" tenth kwan was the Kwan Ri Kwan and the eleventh was the Chong Bon Kwan, which was created to "eliminate all of the negative aspects of Taekwondo" to ease the unification efforts that would create the Kukkiwon and WT), founded by Ko Jae Chun, a graduate of the Chung Do Kwan and a founding member of the Oh Do Kwan. It basically was more of an extension of the Oh Do Kwan rather than an offshoot as its teachings were pretty much the same, but unlike the Jung Do Kwan it wasn't as popular and was eventually reabsorbed by the Oh Do Kwan, which is why there are only nine "original" kwans listed under the KTA.
** '''Kuk Mu Kwan''': An annex kwan that did not join the KTA, but later represented the ITF, founded by Kang Suh Chong. Also known as the '''Kang System''' or the '''KRS System''', Kang was a senoir student of the Chung Do Kwan and also studied judo. He later fought in the Korean War and became an instructor to the Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment (HID) agents and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) operatives in the South Korean military and founded his kwan based on his war experience. In the 1970s, the KTA pressured Kang to adopt Kukkiwon style, but Kang was a friend of Choi Hong Hi and instead adopted ITF-style. Due to pressure by the KTA for his ITF support, which got him recognized as a Communist by the South Korean government, Kang relocated his school to the United States but left his top student Kim Ho Sung in charge of the kwan in Korea. After a bit of time establishing the ATA (see below) and after Choi's death in 2002 (though he had separated from the ITF beforehand), Kang replaced the ITF forms with his own patterns and truly established his own style of taekwondo. It was for many years deliberately not well documented as Kang believed its techniques should be kept secret from non-practitioners. He also founded the '''American Taekwondo Federation (ATF)''' which later became the '''All American Tae Kwon Do Federation (AATF)''' when he was approached by other masters in Puerto Rico, which continues to promote the kwan's style today. The style is total defense system utilizing every part of the body for defense, including head strikes, hand and elbow strikes, sweeps, locks, knee strikes, kicks, trapping, grappling, throws, pressure points, joint attacks and locks.

'''Taekwondo''' or '''Tae Kwon Do''' (translated as "the way of the hand and the foot") is a Korean martial art and combat sport. It is a striking art which utilizes hands and specially legs, featuring a large acumen of kicks of all sorts.

** '''Moo Duk Kwan''': The last of the original kwans, founded by Hwang Kee and is the style that is most associated with the name "Tang Soo Do". Originally known as '''Kyo Tong Bu Woo Association''', Kee was inspired to create this style after he witnessed a man using what he believed to be Taekkyon to defend himself against a large group, though Kee says that the man refused to teach him, so he created his own system based on what he had seen and later trained in kung fu under Yang Kuk Jin to combine them into a form he initially called '''Hwa Soo Do''' but changed it to Tang Soo So due to the former's lack of popularity. The original dojang was nearby the Yong San Railroad station, so it was also known as the "Railroad Dojang". While Kee did initially let his kwan join with the KTA, he withdrew from the unification efforts and established the Korea Tang Soo Do Association, however some of his students Hong Chong Soo, Lee Kang Ik, and Oh Se Joon continued supporting the KTA while still using the name of the kwan. To further confuse things, Kee decided to evolve his style into the style seen below while other students who disagreed with this continued under the Tang Soo Do name, though both would still use the kwan's name as part of the organization they represent. Due to the name disputes the KTA had to create the "Kwan Ri Kwan" as a way to designate Moo Duk Kwan members who were involved in taekwondo unification but were not part of the "original" Moo Duk Kwan.

** '''Kang Duk Won''': One of the annex kwans that joined the KTA, founded by former students of the YMCA Kwon Bop Bu and also trained at the Chang Moo Kwan; Hong Jong Pyo and Park Chul Hee. It was formed due to the founders having personal conflicts with Lee Nam Suk and Kim Soon Bae when they were still at the Chang Moo Kwan. Stylistically, it didn't really change much of what was already at the Chang Moo Kwan and for that reason was arguably the smallest kwan among the nine kwans. Today, it exists in Korea as a social friendship club that endorses the Kukkiwon and supports the WT.

** '''Han Moo Kwan''': One of the annex kwans that joined the KTA, founded by Lee Kyo Yoon, a student of Chun Sang Sup of the Yun Mu Kwan and a founding member of what would become the Ji Do Kwan. He had conflicts with Lee Chong Woo and left to start his own kwan while declaring that his kwan was the true successor of the Yun Mu Kwan. Today it exists as a fraternal social friendship club that endorses the Kukkiwon and supports WT.
** '''Oh Do Kwan''': One of the annex kwans that joined the KTA, founded by Choi Hong Hi with support from Chung Do Kwan students Nam Tae Hi, Kim Bok Man, Woo Jong Lim, Ko Jae Chun, Kim Suk Kyu, Baek Joon Ki, Kwak Keun Sik, Kim Bong Sik, Han Cha Kyo, and Chung Jang Keun, and it is where the name "taekwondo" originates. It was originally founded as a school for military training as part of the Republic of Korea Army's Physical Training Program, but it eventually created a civilian version after the Korean War, with its official name being the '''Dae Han Taekwon-Do Oh Do Kwan Jung Ang Bon Kwan'''. It provided the foundation of what would become the ITF-style and when General Choi left the KTA in 1966, in order to form the ITF, about half of the Oh Do Kwan masters joined him while the rest stayed within the KTA, and eventually participated in the creation of Kukkiwon style and the WT. Today it exists as a social club and sub-style of the Kukkiwon, however, it also continues to promote pre-sinewave Ch'ang Hun curriculum.
** '''Jung Do Kwan''':
** '''Chung Ryong Kwan''': The unofficial "tenth" annex kwan that joined the KTA, founded by Ko Jae Chun, a graduate of the Chung Do Kwan and a founding member of the Oh Do Kwan. It basically was more of an extension of the Oh Do Kwan rather than an offshoot as its teachings were pretty much the same and was eventually reabsorbed by the Oh Do Kwan, which is why there are only nine kwans listed under the KTA.

** '''Moon Moo Kwan''': An annex kwan that did not join the KTA, but later represented the ITF, founded by Shin Yoon-heon, with its official name being '''Keuk Jae Moon Moo Kwan Yun Meng'''. It originally was active as a representative kwan of the ITF in the South Korean military as the kwan's masters were best known for training navy and air force soldiers and created a specialised style for the South Korean Special Forces called "[=MoonMooTaKyekDo=] ([=K-MT1=])" before it was replaced by Teukgong Moosool. Due to the ITF founder's North Korean connections, all of the masters involved in the ITF were recognized as Communists and oppressed, with many of the kwan's masters scattered to the wind, which caused the kwan to close down, though some masters have continued the style outside Korea and set up organizations like the International Moon Moon Kwan Federation though it also cut its ties with the ITF. It is also responsible for the creation of '''Professional Taekwondo''', a full contact style of taekwondo that is more akin to kickboxing than other schools of taekwondo. See the UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} page for more.

** '''Oh Do Kwan''':

** '''Song Moo Kwan''': The first of the five original kwans, founded by Ro Byung Jick before the end of WWII with the name of his style being "Kong Soo Do" before it switched to "Tang Soo Do". Due to its founder being a black belt under Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi, the school was originally known as '''Song Do Kwan''' as the style kept very close to it Shotokan roots.

** '''Han Moo Kwan''':

** '''Chung Ryong Kwan''': The unofficial "tenth" annex kwan that joined the KTA, founded by Ko Jae Chun, a graduate of the Chung Do Kwan and a founding member of the Oh Do Kwan. It basically was more of an extension of the Oh Do Kwan rather than an offshoot and taught their style and was eventually reabsorbed by the Oh Do Kwan, which is why there are only nine kwans listed.

** '''Song Moo Kwan''': The first of the five original kwans, founded by Byung Jick Ro before the end of WWII with the name of his style being "Kong Soo Do" before it switched to "Tang Soo Do". Due to its founder being a black belt under Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi, the school was originally known as '''Song Do Kwan''' as the style kept very close to it Shotokan roots.
** '''Chung Do Kwan''': The second of the five original kwans, founded by Won Kyuk Lee and arguably coined the term "Tang Soo Do" as the name of his style. Its founder was another Shotokan black belt who trained alongside Byung Jick Ro when they were schooling in Japan and also studied several styles of kung fu when visiting Okinawa and cities in China, and was also inspired by the art of Taekkyeon from listening to old stories about it in his youth. It was once known as "The National Police Headquarters Dojang" as Lee had a good relationship with them and trained them to help deal with Seoul gangsters after South Korea's independence day. It is arguably the most influencial of the original kwans.
** '''Yun Mu Kwan''': The third of the original kwans, founded by Sang-Sup Chun and is one of the kwans under the style name of "Kwon Bup". Originally known as '''Choson Yon Moo Kwan Judo Do Jang''', due to it originally being a judo school started by Kyung Suk Lee and one of the few martial arts schools the Japanese occupying forces allowed to remain open during the period of their military occupation of that country until Chun took over. Chun was a college student in Japan where he studied both karate (it is generally believed that he was another student of shotokan's founder, though other sources suggest that he may have studied under Shudokan founder Kanken Toyama) and judo and taught both at the kwan. Chun taught at the Yun Mu Kwan for only a few years before he disappeared during the Korean War and the kwan closed down with his disappearance. As such it was never formally consolidated into modern taekwondo, although some people today still make use of the name to describe their own style.
*** '''Ji Do Kwan''': A successor school of the Yun Mu Kwan that many consider its official successor and founded by San Sup Chun's students Kyo Yoon Lee, Kwae-Byung Yun, and Chong-Woo Lee. Originally called the '''Dae Han Che Yook Kwan''', it continued the teachings of Chun before the rise of the KTA, except it cut out all judo training in order to distance itself from the grappling art. Kwae-Byung Yun was notably the first head of the influential Kanbukan Dojo in Japan, that would pioneer bogutsuki karate which would later inspire the creation of full contact karate and also came up with the concept of hogu daeryon that many styles of taekwondo use today, he also served as the kwan's first president. Despite joining the KTA, Yun became critical about the direction the younger generation of martial artist and teachers were going with Taekwondo and tried to sway Jidokwan out of the KTA, but younger members of Jidokwan led by Chong-Woo Lee voted Yun out, with Lee chosen as the new president and turning Ji Do Kwan into a modern Taekwondo school. It still exists in Korea today as a fraternal order which endorses the Kukkiwon and supports the WT.
** '''YMCA Kwon Bop Bu'''... [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes really]]: The fourth of the original kwans, founded by Byung-In Yoon and the other kwan under the style name of "Kwon Bup". It was established at the YMCA in the Jong No district of Seoul, which is where it got its name and is sometimes known as the '''Seoul Kwon Bop Bu'''. Yoon studied kung fu when he was still living in Manchuria, where he was born and later trained in karate under Kanken Tōyama. He also had a strong friendship with Yun Mu Kwan founder Sang-Sup Chun and even taught at his kwan right before founding his own kwan. Yoon later created his own style and called it '''Kwon Bop Kong Soo Do''' as his style incorporated a lot from his kung fu training unlike the other kwans. Similarly to Chun, Yun disappeared during the Korean War, as such his style was never formally consolidated into modern taekwondo, however unlike his friend it was discovered that he was captured by North Korean forces as a prisoner of war and later taught his style to the Korean special forces of the Moranbong which contributed to the creation of Gyeoksul, then later got sent to work at a concrete factory in Chongjin until his death from lung cancer.
*** '''Chang Moo Kwan''': A successor school of the YMCA Kwon Bop Bu that many consider its official successor and founded by Byung-In Yoon's students Nam Suk Lee and Soon Bae Kim (who later became the lead editor for the Kukkiwon's Taekwondo Textbook), with its official name being '''Chang Moo Kwan Jongro Keumcheon Dojang'''. Originally known as '''Chae Shin Bu''', it changed its name to honor Byung-In Yoon due to him once suggesting that his style be called Chang Moo Kwan. Today, it exists in Korea as a fraternal friendship club with its office in a youth athletic club in Seoul which support the Kukkiwon and the WT, though one school in Korea known as "Yonmujae" preserves the old style of the kwan, though it is an independent school apart from the official Chang Moo Kwan, Kukkiwon, and WT. The original style also lives on in the US as Nam Suk Lee spent his last years in Southern California in the seaside community of San Pedro teaching the style to a handful of American students, who continue teaching it today.

** '''Kang Duk Won''': One of the annex kwans that joined the KTA, founded by former students of the YMCA Kwon Bop Bu and also trained at the Chang Moo Kwan; Jong Pyo Hong and Chul Hee Park. It was formed due to the founders having personal conflicts with Suk Nam Lee and Kim Soon Bae when they were still at the Chang Moo Kwan. Stylistically, it didn't really change much of what was already at the Chang Moo Kwan and for that reason was arguably the smallest kwan among the nine kwans. Today, it exists in Korea as a social friendship club that endorses the Kukkiwon and supports the WT.

** '''Chung Ryong Kwan''': An annex kwan that did not join the KTA
** '''Kuk Mu Kwan''': An annex kwan that did not join the KTA, but later represented the ITF, founded by Suh Chong Kang. Also known as the '''Kang System''' or the '''KRS System''', Kang was a senoir student of the Chung Do Kwan and also studied judo. He later fought in the Korean War and became an instructor to the Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment (HID) agents and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) operatives in the South Korean military and founded his kwan based on his war experience. In the 1970s, the KTA pressured Kang to adopt Kukkiwon style, but Kang was a friend of Choi Hong Hi and instead adopted ITF-style. Due to pressure by the KTA for his ITF support, which got him recognized as a Communist by the South Korean government, Kang relocated his school to the United States but left his top student Kim Ho Sung in charge of the kwan in Korea. After a bit of time establishing the ATA (see below) and after Choi's death in 2002 (though he had separated from the ITF beforehand), Kang replaced the ITF forms with his own patterns and truly established his own style of taekwondo. It was for many years deliberately not well documented as Kang believed its techniques should be kept secret from non-practitioners. He also founded the '''American Taekwondo Federation (ATF)''' which later became the '''All American Tae Kwon Do Federation (AATF)''' when he was approached by other masters in Puerto Rico, which continues to promote the kwan's style today. The style is total defense system utilizing every part of the body for defense, including head strikes, hand and elbow strikes, sweeps, locks, knee strikes, kicks, trapping, grappling, throws, pressure points, joint attacks and locks.

* '''ATA''': Short for the '''American Taekwondo Association (currently ATA Marital Arts)'''. Also known as '''Songahm style''', the organization was co-founded in 1969 in Omaha, Nebraska by Suh Chong Kang and his student Haeng Ung Lee (who served as its first president and vice-president respectively) before moving its headquarters to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1977. Whereas other taekwondo organizations (such as ITF and WT) tend to be loose federations of independent schools, ATA-affiliated schools are independently-owned and operated, but licensed by the parent company, ATA International (in other words, individual schools are franchises licensed by the ATA). For this reason, there tends to be more uniformity of curriculum from one ATA-school to the next, as compared to ITF and WT-associated schools. ATA-affiliated schools also host self-defense seminars and tend to incorporate weapons-training into their programs. Under Suh Chong Kang's presidency, it was originally a fusion of an early version of Kang's own style of taekwondo, the ITF style (they used slightly modified ITF forms) as Kang was a personal friend and student of the founder and the traditional style of the Chung Do Kwan, of which both Kang and Lee originally trained under, with a grandmaster of the style; Myong Kil Kim serving as an advisor to the ATA until his death in 1977. After Myong Kil Kim's passing, the political structure of the ATA changed with Suh Chong Kang resigning because he was not paid well and his expenses piled up after eleven years at president and Haeng Ung Lee taking over as president and making major changes to the curriculum, creating the Songahm style in the process and erasing mentions of Suh Chong Kang's contributions to the organization out of spite. Their competitions are a form of point-stop fighting or semi-free sparring that bans hand strikes to the head (they can do more than closed fist punching except striking with finger tips) and any strikes below the waist.

* '''Jhoon Rhee-style''': This style was created and named after its founder Jhoon Goo Rhee, a traditional stylist from Chung Do Kwan that came to the US in 1957, and is credited as the country's first taekwondo instructor. He later connected with Choi Hong Hi and taught his style and also was a school under the ITF for a time afterwards, but later departed due to the political controversies surrounding Choi and the ITF. He went on to develop his own style which incorporating elements of both traditional and ITF-style as well as original elements like Martial Ballet, where he synchronized some of his taekwondo forms to music. Competition rules are a form of point-stop fighting or semi-free sparring like ATA, though it allows strikes to hand strikes to the face unlike ATA .
* '''Chun Kuhn style''': Also called '''Chun Kuhn Do''', it was developed by Bok Man Kim, a taekwondo pioneer who helped Choi Hong Hi create some of the original ITF forms. It combines the foot and fist fighting of taekwondo with additional grappling techniques and weapons training, making it more of a UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts form than a true taekwondo style.

* '''Iin Tae Kwon''': Another obscure style created by traditional Chung Do Kwan stylist Joon Jae Lee in 2000 from his school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is described as an evolutionary hybrid of traditional taekwondo with additional techniques including weapon disarms, joint-locks, and take-downs.

* '''Han Moo Do''': A style that later turned into its own art, it was created in Finland of all places by Soon Yoon Hwang, better known as Young Suk and the brother of Dae-Jin Hwang (who [[UrExample originally brought WT style to Finland]]). Aside from taekwondo, Young Suk also trained in Hoi Jeon Moo Sool (an offshoot of Hankido (the founders of Hankido and Hoi Jeon Moo Sool are twin brothers), which is an offshoot of Hapkido) and introduced it to Finland and due to this Suk's style includes strikes, kicks, blocks, self defense, grappling and weapons training. Not to be confused with Han Mu Do, a martial art developed in the US whose founder had a more Judo and Hapkido background that later incorporated some taekwondo techniques into his art, nor with the Han Moo Kwan.

** '''Chung Do Kwan''': The second of the five original kwans, founded by Won Kyuk Lee and arguably coined the term "Tang Soo Do" as the name of his style. Its founder was another Shotokan black belt who trained alongside Byung Jick Ro when they were schooling in Japan and also studied several styles of kung fu when visiting Okinawa and cities in China, and was also inspired by the art of Taekkyeon from listening to old stories about it in his youth. Is arguably the most influencial of the original kwans.

** '''Moo Duk Kwan''': The last of the original kwans, founded by Hwang Kee and is the style that is most associated with the name "Tang Soo Do". Originally known as '''Kyo Tong Bu Woo Association''', Kee was inspired to create this style after he witnessed a man using what he believed to be Taekkyon to defend himself against a large group, though Kee says that the man refused to teach him, so he created his own system based on what he had seen and later trained in kung fu under Yang Kuk Jin to combine them into a form he initially called '''Hwa Soo Do''' but changed it to Tang Soo So due to the former's lack of popularity. While Kee did initially let his kwan join with the KTA, he withdrew from the unification efforts and established the Korea Tang Soo Do Association, however some of his students Hong Chong Soo, Lee Kang Ik, and Oh Se Joon continued supporting the KTA while still using the name of the kwan. To further confuse things, Kee decided to evolve his style into the style seen below while other students who disagreed with this continued under the Tang Soo Do name, though both would still use the kwan's name as part of the organization they represent. Due to the name disputes the KTA had to create the "Kwan Ri Kwan" as a way to designate Moo Duk Kwan members who were involved in taekwondo unification but were not part of the "original" Moo Duk Kwan.

** '''Chung Ryong Kwan''':

* '''American Tang Soo Do''': A style created by Creator/ChuckNorris, which combined his training in Moo Duk Kwan style Tang Soo Do with judo, American Kenpo, hapkido, Shito-ryu and Shotokan Karate, and Al Thomas' Budojujutsu system. It served as a predecessor to his later style Chun Kuk Do and is governed under the National Tang Soo Do Congress, which was originally dissolved when Norris founded Chun Kuk Do, but was brought back by Pat E. Johnson, who was originally its vice president in its initial run, after a "difference of opinion" led him to cut ties with Norris and served as its president until his death in 2023.
** '''Chun Kuk Do''': Also known as '''Chuck Norris System''', it is Chuck Norris' evolution of his American Tang Soo Do style, with further influences from Goju-ryu, Enshin kaikan, Kyokushin, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Arnis, Krav Maga, etc. It is governed under the United Fighting Arts Federation, of which Norris serves as president.

** '''Moo Duk Kwan''': The last of the original kwans, founded by Hwang Kee and is the style that is most associated with the name "Tang Soo Do". Originally known as '''Kyo Tong Bu Woo Association'''), Kee was inspired to create this style after he witnessed a man using what he believed to be Taekkyon to defend himself against a large group, though Kee says that the man refused to teach him, so he created his own system based on what he had seen and later trained in kung fu under Yang Kuk Jin to combine them into a form he initially called '''Hwa Soo Do''' but changed it to Tang Soo So due to the former's lack of popularity. While Kee did initially let his kwan join with the KTA, he withdrew from the unification efforts and established the Korea Tang Soo Do Association, however some of his students Hong Chong Soo, Lee Kang Ik, and Oh Se Joon continued supporting the KTA while still using the name of the kwan. To further confuse things, Kee decided to evolve his style into the style seen below while other students who disagreed with this continued under the Tang Soo Do name, though both would still use the kwan's name as part of the organization they represent. Due to the name disputes the KTA had to create the "Kwan Ri Kwan" as a way to designate Moo Duk Kwan members who were involved in taekwondo unification but were not part of the "original" Moo Duk Kwan.

** '''Moo Duk Kwan''' (originally '''Kyo Tong Bu Woo Association'''): The last of the original kwans, founded by Hwang Kee and is the style that is most associated with the name "Tang Soo Do". Kee was inspired to create this style after he witnessed a man using what he believed to be Taekkyon to defend himself against a large group, though Kee says that the man refused to teach him, so he created his own system based on what he had seen and later trained in kung fu under Yang Kuk Jin to combine them into a form he initially called '''Hwa Soo Do''' but changed it to Tang Soo So due to the former's lack of popularity. While Kee did initially let his kwan join with the KTA, he withdrew from the unification efforts and established the Korea Tang Soo Do Association, however some of his students Hong Chong Soo, Lee Kang Ik, and Oh Se Joon continued supporting the KTA while still using the name of the kwan. To further confuse things, Kee decided to evolve his style into the style seen below while other students who disagreed with this continued under the Tang Soo Do name, though both would still use the kwan's name as part of the organization they represent. Due to the name disputes the KTA had to create the "Kwan Ri Kwan" as a way to designate Moo Duk Kwan members who were involved in taekwondo unification but were not part of the "original" Moo Duk Kwan.

** '''Kang Duk Won''': An annex kwan that joined the KTA, founded by former students of the YMCA Kwon Bop Bu and also trained at the Chang Moo Kwan; Jong Pyo Hong and Chul Hee Park. It was formed due to the founders having personal conflicts with Suk Nam Lee and Kim Soon Bae when they were still at the Chang Moo Kwan. Stylistically, it didn't really change much of what was already at the Chang Moo Kwan and for that reason was arguably the smallest kwan among the nine kwans. Today, it exists in Korea as a social friendship club that endorses the Kukkiwon and supports the WT.