Moo Duk Kwan

Moo: can be translated as: military, chivalry, martial.
Duk: This word means: benevolence, virtue, goodness, commanding respect, etc.
Kwan: means: mansion, large building, palace or library.

You can translate Moo Duk Kwan as

"The institute of martial virtue".

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In 1907 and the Japanese invasion of Korea, brought an end to the ruling Korean Dynasty, and along with it, the warrior caste. From 1907 until the end of World War II in 1945, the practise of Korean martial art was discouraged as the invaders brought the Japanese arts of judo, kendo, aikido and karate to Korea.

Shortly after the war, five martial art schools emerged in the newly liberated Korea : Moo Duk Kwan, Changmu Kwan, Sangmu Kwan, Jido Kwan and Chungu Kwan.

Each martial arts style taught a unique Korean blend of Chinese (Kung fu), Japanese (Karate) and native Korean (soo bakh) arts. The Moo Duk Kwan school was run by Grandmaster Hwang Kee, who had also travelled to China.

While in China, he complemented his mastery of original soo bakh do by studying the Chinese martial arts (kung fu, wushu etc).

In 1964 the Korean government planned to unite all Korean styles under the one name Tae Soo Do, but this failed. A year later the government united some Korean arts under the name Taekwondo a sports based style.

The move was not universally well received, and Grandmaster Hwang Kee along with the grandmasters of many other styles broke away to continue the traditional aspects of Martial arts.

He renamed his school Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan. which means “the way of the (Chinese) open hand”.