Bassai...or as it is pronounced in Korea...Bal Sae...is indeed part of the standard TSD curriculum of most classical schools. The form is typically taught as the Chodan qualifying hyung. The form means, "Remove Obsticle" (while often translated as penetrate a fortress...this is a Japanese cultural reading of the Hanja). Koreans also sometimes refer to the form as Pal Che which means 'best choice' (others translate it as 'chosse quickly' but there is disagreement about this). The form is indeed borrowed from the Shuri-ryu of Okinawa. The creator of the form is generally accepted to be Sokon Bushi Matsumura, the Ryu Kyu kingdom designated Royal bodyguard and instructor to the King and his Castle administrators. Matsumura basically was head of security for the governement during the 19th century. He was versed in many arts to include native staff (bojutsu), Saijutsu (the common weapon of the law enforcement officers of his day) as well as the use of the Katana (Japanese Sword). He also trained in China in Fukien based martial arts on more than one occasion. It is believed the Bassai (Patsai in the original Ryukyuan dialect) form was his compilation of Southern Shaolin techniques...most probably Southern Shaolin Crane Fist. Some believe the form to date back 300 to 900 years. We can safely assume it was being utilized in Okinawa by around 1850 a.d., making the form atleast 150 years old.
Around 1937 - 1939 a.d., Hwang Kee obtained the form from reading Japanese books on Okinawan Karate (because Karate is an Okinawan martial art originally). In 1947, Lee Won Kuk, founder of the Chung Do Kwan, suggested to Hwang Kee he utilize a Karate based curriculum for his Moo Duk Kwan school as Koreans were familiar with the Japanese based arts (up to that time, Hwang Kee had been teaching a predominantly Chinese based art he called Hwa Soo Do). Thus, the MDK became known for teaching Tang Soo Do (this being the Korean pronunciation of the Hanja for Karate Do).
Due to certain features of how the MDK taught and propogated the form Bal Sae, it is believed by several of us that Hwang Kee's source for the form may have been the original text on Karate Jutsu written by Ginchen Funakoshi. Thus...the similarity between TSD's version of the form and modern Shotokan Karate Do.
I hope this helps.
The Emperor
