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The History of Our Style

The base or core of this “new style” of karate is a very traditional and very old Korean style known as Tang Soo Do.

Tang Soo Do, sometimes called The Art of the Knife Hand or The Way of the China Hand , is well over 2000 years old and is an extremely powerful type of martial art. Tang Soo Do focuses on awareness, self-confidence, discipline, self-control, self-defense, and physical fitness.

Chances are you've probably seen or heard of Tang Soo Do's influence due to a common ancestry with Tae Kwon Do. In fact, Tang Soo Do has often been referred to as The Grandfather of Taekwon Do. Even more likely, you may have heard of one of Tang Soo Do's most famous practitioners - Chuck Norris.

Mr. Norris brought his black belt in Tang Soo Do with him when he returned from Korea while in the military. While Mr. Norris' carreer in film and television is well known by many, we would like to note some of his

many accomplishments throughout the years and trace his lineage down to Coffey Karate today.

Chuck Norris began winning major karate championships in 1967 i ncluding the Internationals, the All-American, and the National Tournament of Champions.

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That year he was rated the No. 1 Fighter by Black Belt Magazine for going undefeated.

In 1968 Mr. Norris again went undefeated, winning all the major tournaments a second time. In November of 1968 he fought for the World Middleweight Championship at Madison Square Garden and defeated his good friend, Louie Delgado, for the title. Mr. Norris was also named Black Belt Hall of Fame's "Fighter of the Year."

In 1974 Mr. Norris formally retired as the World Middleweight Champion and decided to pursue an acting career after having appeared in the 1972 hit Enter The Dragon with Bruce Lee.

Mr. Norris continued to train students including one Richard "Duke" Tirschel. Mr. Tirschel received his black belt in Tang Soo Do from Chuck Norris and went on to open his own karate schools. There he trained many students who became black belts one of which was Mr.Rick Burnette who eventually opened several schools of his own in the Atlanta area. Mr. Burnette produced many talented black belts including all of the following of Mr. Coffey's instructors: Mr. Dwayne Sharp, Mr. Donald May, Mr. James Viar, Mr. Monte and Mr. Brian Smith.