# Tang Soo!



## dancingalone (Nov 18, 2010)

Could someone explain the significance of yelling 'Tang Soo' while doing that hand under the opposite elbow salute?  Thanks.


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## DMcHenry (Nov 18, 2010)

Similar to yelling "Tae Kwon" or "Pil Sung", but I don't understand your comment about the hand and elbow thing.  When I led my class ending with "Tang Soo!" we just raised our right fist up.  Not everyone does it, and it sounds like you have a unique way to do it too.

Tang Soo!
Mac


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## dancingalone (Nov 18, 2010)

DMcHenry said:


> Similar to yelling "Tae Kwon" or "Pil Sung", but I don't understand your comment about the hand and elbow thing. When I led my class ending with "Tang Soo!" we just raised our right fist up. Not everyone does it, and it sounds like you have a unique way to do it too.
> 
> Tang Soo!
> Mac


 

The left hand is cupping the right elbow as it is raised up when one makes a right upward fight.  I almost thought it was an obscene gesture at first before I realized the hand was under the elbow, rather than being on top of the bicep  

So, is it just a expression of pride in the style?  

Thank you, sir.


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## DMcHenry (Nov 18, 2010)

Sorry sir, that's the first I've heard of doing that.


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## OldKarateGuy (Nov 18, 2010)

I've seen the same thing - left hand under the right elbow - now that you mention it, although I didn't really think about it. There's a similar thing happening sometimes when shaking hands. Left horizontal knife hand under the right elbow as you extend the right and shake. 

I'll ask some of the old guys and see if anyone has an explanation. I suppose it may be one of those "everybody else is doing it. I'd better too."


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## cdunn (Nov 19, 2010)

I believe that the OP is a warped form of the handshake etiquitte. According to the yellowed old papers we have posted on the wall, whenever a junior hands an object to a senior or shakes his hand, both hands are to be used equally. Simliarly, to recieve, the senior is to involve both hands, however, as a note of the senior-junior gulf, the left hand may be brought up to the elbow, and the object / handshake recieved with the right hand alone. 

The salute and bow is similar- the junior is to salute the senior by bowing deeply, bringing both hands to the chest, uncrossed, and saying, firmly, the greeting. The senior is to use only the right hand, with the left remaining at the side, and his bow is slightly shallower. If either party is carrying something, it is generally overlooked if the junior holds the object in his left hand at his side. Volume of the voice is to be appropriate to the situation, but always confident and firm.

It would not surprise me in the least if some schools blended the two situations.


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## SahBumNimRush (Nov 19, 2010)

I see both hands go up around chest level from the Tang Soo Doer's near me.. . But yeah, it is a "pride" thing, as I understand it.   "CHINA HAND!"  

Our association uses our motto instead, Cheung Sung &#52649;&#49457; 

But that's a topic for another thread.. .


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## miguksaram (Nov 19, 2010)

OldKarateGuy said:


> There's a similar thing happening sometimes when shaking hands. Left horizontal knife hand under the right elbow as you extend the right and shake.


 
That is traditional way of shaking hands in Korea.


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## OldKarateGuy (Nov 19, 2010)

_That is traditional way of shaking hands in Korea._

Learn something new every day. Thanks.


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## Montecarlodrag (Nov 22, 2010)

dancingalone said:


> Could someone explain the significance of yelling 'Tang Soo' while doing that hand under the opposite elbow salute? Thanks.


 
I'm in Mexico. We do both things, but not at the same time.

We yell "Tang Soo" (and raise right fist) at every class's dismiss, when we take a group picture, when they call your name at a tournament, things like that.

We salute with left hand under elbow regardless of degree. I was told many years ago it is tradition, but never thought about it. Everybody does that.




Tang Soo!


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## DMcHenry (Nov 25, 2010)

I have never put my oppisite hand under my elbow when shaking hands, and always find it interesting when I see others do it.


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## JoelD (Nov 29, 2010)

As i understand it (this is from my instructor, a 6th dan in the USSBDMDK) this was started by then Sa Bom Nim Chun Sik Kim while he was still a member of that organization. It used to be called Tang Soo Do back in those days as opposed to Soo Bahk Do (as many of you already know). This would be Pre-1985 (probably long before) or so which is when Master Kim broke away to form the ITF.


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## miguksaram (Nov 30, 2010)

DMcHenry said:


> I have never put my oppisite hand under my elbow when shaking hands, and always find it interesting when I see others do it.


Most "westerners" that do it usually learned it from their Korean instructors. As I said, if you go over to Korea you will see occasionally see it while they are shaking hands. It is not as widely done today as it used to be. I also notice that foreigners tend to keep their left arm stiff when they do it, but Koreans tend to be a bit more relaxed in the left arm.


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## SahBumNimRush (Dec 1, 2010)

JoelD said:


> As i understand it (this is from my instructor, a 6th dan in the USSBDMDK) this was started by then Sa Bom Nim Chun Sik Kim while he was still a member of that organization. It used to be called Tang Soo Do back in those days as opposed to Soo Bahk Do (as many of you already know). This would be Pre-1985 (probably long before) or so which is when Master Kim broke away to form the ITF.




I agree, C.S. Kim definitely promotes the "Tang Soo!" exclamation.  I didn't know that he started the exclamation though, very interesting.  To clarify, the ITF that Joel speaks of, is the International Tang Soo Do Federation, not the International TKD Federation.


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## Tez3 (Dec 1, 2010)

Erm, isn't it a bit cheesy shouting out like that? Certainly not dignified.

Before you start on me remember I live in England a country not known for spontaneous outbursts which are looked upon with suspicion as' not quite the thing to do old chap'.


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## tsdmdk (Sep 13, 2011)

The Tang Soo shout, as I was told, was meant to promote spiritual unity.


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