7900 Northside Dr, Oklahoma City Oklahoma 73132

Our Legacy

A Legacy of Tradition, A Future of Transformation

At the Oklahoma Institute of Martial Arts (OKIMA), we don’t just teach techniques—we carry forward a tradition that spans thousands of years. Our foundation in Tang Soo Do, a classical Korean martial art, connects us to a lineage of warriors, scholars, and master's whose teachings continue to shape our modern world.

Martial arts at OKIMA is more than movement. It’s the passing of timeless wisdom, from generation to generation, from master to student.

Moo Do Chul Hahk & Our Martial History

"The Void is where there is nothing or any form. Man cannot have knowledge of this because it is nothing. Since we have knowledge of what it is, we therefore know what is not. That is the Void.

In order to master the Way of Strategy, you must study the other martial arts, and you must not abandon the Way of the warrior at all. You must set your mind upon practicing every single day, hour by hour. You must develop the double spirit of the heart and the mind. And you must appreciate the two-fold use of perception and eyesight. When your mind is clear, and there are no clouds of confusion, this is the True Void"

Miyamoto Musashi

Undefeated samurai

1584-1645

Approximately 2000 BC

ANCESTRAL ARTS THAT HELPED SHAPE TANG SOO DO EMERGE

57 BC

SILLA KINGDOM FOUNDED IN SOUTHEAST KOREAN PENINSULA

(one of three separate kingdoms of Korea)

37 BC

KOGURYO KINGDOM FOUNDED IN NORTHERN KOREA

(one of three separate kingdoms of Korea)

18 BC

PAEKCHE KINGDOM FOUNDED IN SOUTHWESTERN KOREA

(one of three separate kingdoms of Korea)

Approximately 200 AD

5 CODES OF TANG SOO DO DRAFTED BY THE MONK WON KWANG

(Not to be confused with the 5 Pillars of Moo Do)

668 AD

SILLA, KOGURYO & PAEKCHE KINGDOMS ALL UNITED UNDER SILLA DYNASTY.

INSTRUMENTAL IN THE UNIFICATION WAS THE "HWA RANG DAN", A GROUP OF YOUNG

ARISTOCRATS WHO FURNISHED MANY OF THE EARLY LEADERS OF THE TIME

918 AD

UNIFIED SILLA KINGDOM OVERTHROWN BY WARLORD WANG KUN.

KORYO KINGDOM BEGINS

1392 AD

KORYO KINGDOM SUCCEEDED BY YI DYNASTY

1790 AD

MOO YEI DO BO TONG JI - THE MOST IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION OF KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS IS WRITTEN

1909 - 1945 AD

JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF KOREA DURING WHICH TIME PRACTICING AND TEACHING MARTIAL ARTS IS RESTRICTED

Post WWII

ORIGINAL FIVE KEY STYLES IN KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS AFTER WWII WHICH HAVE BEEN A MAJOR INFLUENCE ON CONTEMPORARY KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS:

• SCHOOL MOO DUK KWAN FOUNDER HWANG KEE LOCATION SEOUL

• SCHOOL YEON MOO KWAN FOUNDER CHUN, SANG SUP (STYLE LATER CHANGED TO JI DO KWAN) LOCATION SEOUL

• SCHOOL YMCA KWON BOP BU FOUNDER YUN, BYONG IN (STYLE LATER CHANGED TO CHANG MOO KWAN) LOCATION SEOUL

• SCHOOL CHUNG DUK KWAN FOUNDER LEE, WON KUK LOCATION SEOUL

• SCHOOL SONG MOO KWAN FOUNDER NO, BYONG JIK LOCATION GAE SONG

Note

THE NAME “TANG SOO DO” IS COINED BY WON KUK, LEE (FOUNDER OF CHUNG DO KWAN) WHO STUDIED KARATE DO “CHINESE HAND WAY.” WON KUK, LEE REPLACED “KARATE DO” WITH “TANG SOO DO” AND STARTED THE TANG SOO DO CHUNG DO KWAN SCHOOL IN SEOUL, KOREA

November 9, 1945

MASTER HWANG KEE FOUNDS THE MOO DUK KWAN ORIGINALLY CALLING HIS ART “HWA SOO DO” (WAY OR ART OF THE FLOWER HAND)

1947 AD

AFTER HAVING MET WON KUK, LEE - HWANG KEE REEVALUATED THE FUTURE OF THE MOO DUK KWAN AND DECIDED TO INTEGRATE THE ART OF TANG SOO DO INTO HIS HWA SOO DO DISCIPLINE AS HIS SCHOOL WAS NOT GROWING DUE TO A LACK OF FAMILIARITY AMONG KOREAN YOUTH WITH KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS AS A RESULT OF THIRTY-SIX YEARS OF JAPANESE OCCUPATION.

1957 AD

HWANG KEE DISCOVERS THE MOO YEI DO BO TONG JI AND FROM IT REALIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF “SOO BAHK” AS A TRADITIONAL KOREAN MARTIAL ART. ON JUNE 30, 1960 HWANG KEE REGISTERS AND INCORPORATES WITH THE KOREAN GOVERNMENT UNDER THE NAME “KOREAN SOO BAHK DO ASSOCIATION INC.” USING “SOO BAHK DO” TO DESCRIBE THE ART WHILE CONTINUING TO USE “TANG SOO DO” AS IT WAS WIDELY ACCEPTED AND VERY POPULAR AT THE TIME.

1964 AD

KOREAN TAE SOO DO ASSOCIATION WAS FORMED AND WENT UNDER THE NAME OF THE “KOREAN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, INC.” THE FOLLOWING YEAR (1965) THE KOREAN TAE SOO DO ASSOCIATION CHANGED THEIR NAME TO THE “KOREAN TAE KWON DO ASSOCIATION.” THE KOREAN SOO BAHK DO ASSOCIATION, MOO DUK KWAN DID NOT TAKE PART IN UNIFICATION UNDER THE TAE KWON DO NAME.