Compatible?

I've been doing Shotokan karate for a few months and I'm loving it!

 

I originally wanted to study Tae Kwon Do though, and only went for Shotokan because I couldn't find a TKD club near me. I've found a club now and would like to attend it, but I don't want to give up my karate.

 

I feel that I would like to wait a while before attending TKD too though, to make sure I've got a firm grasp of karate, yet I'm "biting at the bit" and don't know if I've got the patience to wait any longer!

 

Do you think TKD and karate are compatible though, or do you think that they're too similar to one another and will just get me confused as to which is which constantly?

 

Thanks in advance

I think you better wait, to be honest. I didn't study TSD and TKD at the same time (well ...... I do now, sort of), but they are similar. I got confused between the two arts. The kicks and such are the same, but the step sparring, forms, and sparring rules are all different. At first, I'd confuse or mix up the step sparring between the two arts. Then the forms. I did learn to seperate the two, but it took a while.

 

It's a lot harder for color belt ranks to do that, than it is for black belts who have a strong base in one art before switching to another. In my case, I had no choice.

 

Stick to Shotokan for now

Speaking from experience, Shotokan and TKD are a very good mix if you want to solidify the basics and expand on your kicks. I'd suggest at least another 6 months, preferably a year before signing up with TKD. That way you shouldn't have any problems mixing basics up.

Kyle-san took the words out of my mouth.

 

Its good you wait for some more time to have even more solid basics and then, if you have the time, money and energy, you can start to attend the TKD school,

 

Is going to be confusing at first but youll manage to do both.

 

Maybe the only thing that can be problematic is that both schools are on the same area, so they may go to the same competitions, and if you want to compete, you'll have to choose ONE school to represent. Thats the problem i see when you train in two school that attend the same Competitiions.. but if you arent into Sport, then you won't have any problems.

I have never done TKD but people say it is a lot like Shotokan believe it or not. I don't know how. LOL Sorry TKD guys.... What Im getting at is the learning curve from one to the other is low. However both are base arts that are well rounded so I would stay with one before I got into the other.

 

Im a Shotokan guy btw....

I have never done TKD but people say it is a lot like Shotokan believe it or not. I don't know how. LOL Sorry TKD guys.... What Im getting at is the learning curve from one to the other is low. However both are base arts that are well rounded so I would stay with one before I got into the other.

 

Im a Shotokan guy btw....

 

General Choi, the "founder" of TKD had a Nidan in Shotokan and used a lot of the basics as a foundation for TKD.

You know.. I feel its better, if you want to train two styles, to take one striking style with a grappling style.

 

That way, you won't confuse because those are to separate things.

Although TKD and Shotokan have their similarities, they are still two totally different arts in respect to application. Shotokan is great for kihon or basics. It's great for developing punching techinques and low stances for developing strong stances. TKD on the other hand is great for taking your kicks to a new level. Their stances are higher in nature making you more mobile. I feel you can benefit from both, but as one member stated, try to get your basics down in one art, then transition to the other. After all a punch is a punch and a kick is still a kick. It'll just come down to how you apply each technique you learn. Good luck!