"I am doing some research on the Dan Bon system and was
wondering if you would have any information which would
enlighten me on the system's process. i.e. Are Dan numbers
only issued to Moo Duk Kwan members?
If you are a
Federation or Association outside of Grandmaster Hwang Kee's
organization can you effectively still be issued numbers
from the Dan Bon?"
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Silver Moo
Duk Kwan Pin |
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According to
Grandmaster Hwang Kee's "History of the Moo Duk Kwan"
published in 1995,
the "original" Dan Bon
(Dan numbering) system was created in 1948 when the late
Grandmaster Hwang Kee started to produce Dan ranking
students in the Moo Duk Kwan.
Beginning with # 1, new Dans were assigned their number
which was personally recorded by the Grandmaster in his
carefully guarded book, the "Moo Duk Kwan Jeok Bu". The
intent of the system was to denote seniority among the
members. Students were also given a silver pin to
commemorate their achievement, hence the term "Pin
Number" which became synonymous with "Dan Number".
The assignment of numbers
continues to this day, however only members of the World
Moo Duk Kwan (originally Korean Soo Bahk Do Moo
Duk Kwan Federation) are recorded in Grandmaster Hwang
Kee's book. Organizations which were formed by Masters
who left the federation began their own independent
numbering systems.
As also noted in "The
History of the Moo Duk Kwan", some of the new
organization's heads continued to use numbers that
followed from where they had left off from the
Grandmaster's organization rather than starting with
their own number 1. This obviously led to some confusion
among members as to where their rank (number) was
recorded and where they stand in relation to all Tang Soo Do practitioners.
