Founding Fathers - Part 3 - Grandmaster Hong, Chong Soo

Hwang Kee - Original Founder

The Kyo Tong Bu Woo Hae was the third kwan to open in the '40s - 1946 - by Hwang Kee who taught Tang Soo Do to his students at the Yong San Railway Station in Seoul. Originally Hwang Kee's style had a different name - Hwa Soo Do - which was a combination of Kung Fu and Karate and other Martial Arts. However this didn't catch on and he changed it to the more recognisable name of Tang Soo Do , used by his friend Lee Won Kuk of the Chung Do Kwan. However Hwang's style was very different and only the name was the same. After the Korean War in 1953 he changed the name of his Art to Moo Duk Kwan - "The School of Military Virtue".

Hong Chong Soo - Moo Duk Kwan

By 1965, the various kwans of the modern Korean martial arts were merging under the banner of Taekwondo. Hwang, Kee resisted this trend, wishing to maintain control over his organization. Due to this fact, two advanced students of Hwang, Kee's: Im, Young Tek and Hong, Chong Soo ( pictured above )broke away from their teacher, formed their own branch of Moo Duk Kwan, and became a part of the Korea Taekwondo Association. From this act, two distinct systems of self-defense, bearing the title Moo Duk Kwan, emerged.Many advanced practitioners of Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan followed this lead and broke away from Hwang, Kee. They each became part of the Taekwondo branch of Moo Duk Kwan.