The River Valley Logo

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When I made the decision to open my own studio, I thought long and hard to develop a name for our studio. It was important to me to choose a name that would embody the spirit of Tang Soo Do. There is a long tradition of naming a school after its founder. And while there is nothing wrong with this, it just wasn't right for me. One day while driving down the road it struck me out of the clear blue. That very moment I knew that the studio I started would be called the River Valley Tang Soo Do Academy. The name was relevant for many reasons: First is simply the geographic area in which we live, the Ohio River & Beaver Valley areas. Second was the recognition that throughout the history of civilization communities have settled in and around rivers. Rivers and their surrounding areas have nurtured mankind for generations. River Valley Tang Soo Do Academy is a place where we strive to better our bodies, minds, and souls essentially we come here to nurture ourselves. Finally, in Oriental philosophy, rivers and valleys are powerful forces; flowing water can cut great canyons and move boulders, yet at the same time it is a gentle force that always follows the path of least resistance. This is an important philosophy for martial artists to understand, both in self defense and in life. Having settled upon a name, I began developing a logo. The prominent feature of our logo is the three mountains. While many people think the mountains represent the three Masters I have had the opportunity to train under, this is incorrect. While the Master/Senior Instructor is the driving force behind a studio, he or she does not represent the sole source of knowledge and wisdom for a studio. A student's experiences are shaped not only by interaction with the instructors but with the other students as well. Therefore, the three mountains in our logo represent the three studios where I have had the privilege to train: Shin Karate, Appalachia Tang Soo Do, and the Penn State Martial Arts Group.

Which mountain represents which studio? That is easy to identify when you consider the lineage of the studio owners for each studio. Master Kaye is the Chief Instructor for the Penn State Martial Arts Group; his instructor, Master White, is the Chief Instructor for Appalachia Tang Soo Do; and Master White's instructor is Grand Master Shin, who not only founded the World Tang Soo Do Association but also is the head of Shin Karate, my original studio. With that information, consider each mountain in succession: the closest mountain is the Penn State Martial arts Group, the next is Appalachia, and the farthest, representing my earliest experiences in Tang Soo Do is Shin Karate.

Each mountain is divided in half by a curved line running from the mountain's peak to its base. This division represents the universal concept of opposing but complimentary forces. The Um/Yang of Oriental philosophy. The river that runs between the mountains also follows the same curved lines as the mountains, thus establishing the harmony between the mountains and the river.

The river itself is the final and key element of the logo. In nature, the melting ice and snow in the upper elevations of the mountains rolls down the mountain, ultimately contributing to make the river greater. As the water comes down the mountain it takes small pieces of the mountain with it. This sediment will be carried far down stream from the mountain and settle in the flood plains of the river valley. The fertile soil of this flood plain will be used to grow the crops that will nurture the people. In our logo, the river represents the knowledge taken from the mountains that will flow down to nurture the next and future generation of students.

My experiences in Tang Soo Do have been shaped not only by my instructors but by the myriad of people I have had the honor to train with. Some I have trained side by side with for years, others I have only had one or two occasions to work with. Each encounter, whether it be an old friend or a new white belt joining our studio for their first class, helps to develop and shape our experiences in Tang Soo Do. It is this collective experience, much passed on to me from my instructors, some learned through the act of instructing, that I desire to add to the river of knowledge which will flow to the future generations of Tang Soo Do warriors.

Tang Soo!!!
Master Scott C. Homschek