Tang Soo Do (Hangul: 당수도, Hanja: 唐手道 ) refers to a Korean martial art based on Karate and may include fighting principles from taekkyeon, subak, as well as northern Chinese martial arts. Before the Nine Kwans united and formed the martial art Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do was used by select Kwans to identify their Karate-derived martial arts style. In contemporary context, after Taekwondo was founded, many Korean martial arts entities continued to use Tang Soo Do as a means to preserve the elements of Korean martial arts that evolved from the original nine kwans' Karate roots and were lost in transition to Taekwondo. The techniques of what is commonly known as Tang Soo Do combine elements of Shōtōkan, Subak, Taekkyon, and Kung Fu. Etymology "Tang Soo Do" (당수도) is the Korean pronunciation of the Hanja 唐手道 (pronounced Táng shǒu dào in Chinese), and translates literally to "The Way of the Tang Hand." The same characters can be pronounced "karate-dō" in Japanese. In the early 1930s, approximately 55 years after Japan's annexation of Okinawa, Gichin Funakoshi in coordination with others changed the first character, 唐, which referred to the Chinese Tang dynasty, to 空, signifying "empty"; both characters can be pronounced "kara" in Japanese, though 唐 is more commonly rendered as "Tou". Funakoshi ostensibly wanted to avoid confusion with Chinese Kenpō. Funakoshi claimed Okinawan Karate could "now be considered a Japanese martial art" and found the China reference "inappropriate" and "in a sense degrading". The Chinese pronunciation of 空手道 is kōng-shǒu-dào, and the Korean is (공수도). Outside of the Far East, the term "Tang Soo Do" has primarily become synonymous with the Korean martial art promoted by grandmaster Hwang Kee. History Between 1944 and the Liberation of Korea in 1945, the original schools or kwans of "traditional Taekwondo" were founded in Korea by practitioners who had studied karate and had some exposure to kung-fu. At the time, there were five kwans, of which only Chung Do Kwan of Won-kuk Lee and Moo Duk Kwan of Hwang Kee identified their martial arts as Tang Soo Do. Shortly after the Korean War and in 1953, four more offshoot schools formed. Of these second-generation kwans, Choi Hong-hi and Nam Tae-hi's Oh Do Kwan and Lee Young-woo's Jung Do Kwan splintered from Chung Do Kwan style of Tang Soo Do. In 1950s, to restore national identity after the protracted occupation of Korea by Japanese forces,