November 20, 2025

Do San Tul

Pattern Definition & Diagram

Do San Diagram
Do San Diagram

(24 Movements). Do-San is the pseudonym of the patriot An Chang-Ho (1876-1938), who devoted his entire life to furthering the education of Korea and it’s independent movement.

Pattern Tutorial / Videos

Click the “next” and “previous” arrows on the image below to step through this pattern.

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START: Parallel Ready Stance

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Rare International Tae Kwon-Do (ITF) video produced by General Choi.
You can see Grand Master Park Jung Tae, Grand Master Choi Jung Wha and other masters of the ITF performing tuls and explaining the movements of each Tul.


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The history of Do-San

An Chang-ho, or Ahn Chang-ho, pen name Dosan, (November 9, 1878 – March 10, 1938) was a Korean independence activist and one of the early leaders of the Korean-American immigrant community in the United States. He established the Young Korean Association and was a key member in the founding of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai. He was also the father of Hollywood actor Philip Ahn.

Early Years

Ahn was born in 1878 in Kangso, Pyeongan province, in present-day South Pyongan, North Korea. In 1896, Ahn moved to Seoul,and attended Gusae Hakdang, a missionary-sponsored school, and converted to Christianity over a period of four years.

Immigration to America and Later Years

In 1902, Ahn came to San Francisco with his wife Helen in order to get a better education. While living in California, he witnessed two Koreans fighting in the streets over sales turf. Ahn was apparently upset by this display of incivility among his countrymen overseas, and he began to invest time into reforming the local Korean diaspora, rising to become one of the first leaders of the Korean-American community.

He founded the Friendship Society in 1903, the first Korean organization in the continental United States. In 1906, he established the Mutual Assistance Society (MAS). MAS would eventually merge with the United Korean Society in Hawaii to become the Korean National Association, the official agent of Koreans in the United States until the end of World War II.

Many consider Ahn Chang-ho to be one of the key moral and philosophical leaders of Korea during the 20th century. In the turmoil immediately before and during the Japanese occupation of Korea, he called for the moral and spiritual renewal of the Korean people through education as one of the important components in their struggle for independence.

In 1938, Japanese authorities arrested Ahn, but due to severe illness, he was released on bail and transferred to the Kyungsung University hospital where he died on March 10, 1938. A memorial park and hall were built to honor him in Seoul. Another memorial was built in downtown Riverside, California to honor him. The Taekwondo pattern Do-San was named after him.

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