In a structured society, laws are created to bring about order, keep the peace, and protect the individual members. In a perfect society, this would not be necessary because its members would share a common set of guiding principles and ideals. Throughout history, specialized groups have been formed whose membership was carefully selected and trained to ensure that they possessed the right character to uphold those ideals in service to the ruler and community as a whole.

One such group was the Hwa Rang (Flowering Youth), an elite warrior class created in Korea during the Silla Dynasty around the 6th century AD. The institution they formed was the Hwa Rang Do. They were generally young and well educated, coming from the noble class and with good moral character. As Hwa Rang they received instruction in literature and the fine arts and were taught the art of warfare. They were also given a code of ethics that were divided into five doctrines and nine virtues for correct living called Hwa Rang Do O Kae and Hwa Rang Do Kyo Hoon.

Soo Bahk Do adopted the five doctrines and expanded them into the Ten Articles of Faith that we train by. The first five are directly from the Hwa Rang code.

For historical reference, the nine virtues of the Hwa Rang were:

1. Humanity 2. Justice 3. Courtesy 4. Wisdom 5. Trust 6. Goodness 7. Virtue 8. Loyalty 9. Courage