The first character of the Hanja form is 唐, referring to the Tang dynasty of China (618-907).

In the early 1930s, roughly 55 years after the Imperial Japanese occupation of Okinawa,[4] Gichin Funakoshi in collaboration with others[who?]

In 1968, Master Jae Chul Shin traveled to the United States as a representative of the Korean Tang Soo Do Association, where he then established the United States Tang Soo Do Association.

[6][7][8] In 1982, dissatisfied with the direction that the organization was headed, Shin resigned from the board of directors and with Ki Yun Yi and William D. Clingan, founded the World Tang Soo Do Association.

[9][7][10][11] This coincided with his instructor, Kwang Chang Nim (grandmaster) Hwang Kee's release of new hyungs (forms) which also occurred the same year.