Martial arts in general are often considered as sports due to the popularity of arts like Tae Kwon Do and Judo that feature in the Olympic Games. While this is great advertisement for getting people into martial arts there is so much more to it than competition.
We have competitions in Tang Soo Do but they are not considered a necessity to our training. You can make it to master rank without having ever set foot in the ring because there is more to training that just the desire to compete and win.
At a glance the physical appearance of Tang Soo Do would indicate that it's a sport. For example, it combines the physical contact of rugby, the hand-eye co-ordination of tennis, the strategy of basketball, the agility and speed of hockey, and the rhythmic beauty, poise, and grace of gymnastics or ballet.
So what's the difference? The difference lies in the philosophy of Tang Soo Do and how it teaches students to develop one's self through rigorous training. Below is a chart that gives a better understanding of how Tang Soo Do and Sports are so different.
This table is taken from Grandmaster Shin's first volume book 'The Essence'. The information mainly looks at team based sports and makes a general overview of them and doesn't take into account each individual sporting activity and its traits. However, the generalisation allows you to start seeing how Tang Soo Do is considered to be different to a sporting activity.
Part of the purpose of Tang Soo Do is to become a 'better person' and seeing the purposes listed above and what TSD training offers, you can start to understand how it can shape and mold individuals into well rounded people.
I do believe competition in Tang Soo Do has its place as it allows students to challenge their abilities and measure their development against another opponent. Competition has played a huge part in my Martial Arts career and has been critical for the improvement of my technical skill. But as my competition career came to an end and I began teaching I started to see there was more to the art.
Whether a student competes or not is not important. What's important is their enhancement of mental and physical betterment.
Master R Tyler
Tang Soo!!!