Is TKD considered Karate?

[taekwonho]

I have a quick question that will probably be considered dumb but here goes. Is Tae Kwon Do considered Karate or what? The master of my school will shoot you if you call it Karate but everyone else calls it Karate.

 

Karate to me would be considered Japanese and not Korean so I don't know.

[stl_karateka]

If you are in a school that wants to teach you culture as well as TKD....then no, TKD is not considered karate....and you don't practice in a dojo, but a dojang etc

 

By everyone else do you mean other MA practitioners or just everyone in general? Eitherway --- most will label any form of fighting where you punch and kick karate.

[taekwonho]

I've seen other schools in the phone book listed as Tae Kwon Do Karate or TKD schools saying they teach Karate. I see Tang Soo listed as Karate.

 

People on the street have no clue about any of it so they don't matter.

 

Sometimes it gets frustrating because I explain my art to them and they start a fight saying it's karate. I'm not taught any weapons and barely any self defense and Karate has all those.

[MadCapoeirista]

Taekwondo has roots in karate(shotokan mainly). Tangsoodo was/is a name used by some of the kwans (schools) before the name taekwondo. Some still use this name, ie the Moo Duk Kwan. So, TSD (being an older name for what became TKD) also has roots with karate and is generally closer to it than most TKD is. Usually TKD or TSD scools with karate in the name do so for recognition purposes. Just like how when TKD first arrived in the states, the teachers called it Korean Karate because that was familiar to the Americans (karate had been in the US for awhile by then, along with judo).

[taekwonho]

Cool that helps some since people seem to immediately rank me in with the Karate group. The only reason I hang around is because the grandmaster of my school is totally awesome in skill. I'm not too hip with the art but I have good teachers that really get into the deep mechanics behind forms. I've noticed my TKD school is far more "diciplined" than other schools I've visited. People accuse me of joining the Korean military.

 

TKD seems like it was heavily influenced by the Japanese during the occupation. The uniforms and ranking system are also very close.

[karatekid1975]

Schools use the word "karate" for recognition, like Mad said. TSD (which I have studied) is nicknamed Korean Karate. I donno why, but it does have roots from karate.

 

My TKD instructor also would shoot you if you called our style "karate." I got yelled at a few times for doing that LOL.

[Toast]

TKD is NOT Karate....

 

All forms of martial arts have taken things from one-another...

 

Did you know, that historians believe TKD was practiced earlier that karate...due to some paintings found in Korean caves of men practicing what looked like TKD...and dated back to before the Shaolin Monastary....

 

Its just that TKD was "re found" after the Japanese left Korea...

[taekwonho]

So basically Karate is added just to get you in the door so you'll take a class. Cool was just a little nag question in the back of my head that needed fixing. I did'nt have much choice as to which art that I would take in this area. Everything around is Tang Soo basically or Karate no Kung Fu other than this master from china that teaches in a community center.

 

I just wanted to clarify what I have spent 2 years studying and defending.

 

Karate is never mentioned in the dojang ever especially when the grandmaster is around. A guy showed up to testing one time with a Isshinryu badge on his uniform since he studied that previously. The grandmaster decided it was an insult to him and ripped his uniform off his back then banished him forever from the school. I feel my school is very strict but it also makes us better fighters and in the end better people.

 

Thank You All

[MadCapoeirista]

TKD is NOT Karate....

 

All forms of martial arts have taken things from one-another...

 

Did you know, that historians believe TKD was practiced earlier that karate...due to some paintings found in Korean caves of men practicing what looked like TKD...and dated back to before the Shaolin Monastary....

 

Its just that TKD was "re found" after the Japanese left Korea...

 

That history is bogus. I know because TKD can be traced back to shotokan. The very first kwan, Chung Do Kwan's founder was a student of Funakoshi during the Japanese Occupation. Also from speaking with people who have access to some of the kwan founders (those that are still alive) and students (who are now high ranking masters) of those founders and know them personally. And through one of those people I got access to a somewhat new text on the history of TKD, done by non-partial historians (non-MAists) that, unfortunately isn't availiable in English. Also, Korean MA throught history has been heavily influenced by the Chinese. Just read the Muyedobotongji, you'll see. One argument people also use is the statues at korean buddhist temples...well, all Buddhist temples have guardian statues in martial arts looking stances. The only Korean MA that seems to be unique to Korea is taekkyon, which many believe TKD came from...and it did not. I've seen taekkyon and it is quite different from TKD and influence is even denied by the taekkyon practicioners.

[Cybren]

He's probably referring to mural paintings in about 50 BC which showed the figures in Tae Kwon Do like stances. I belive at that point it was called Taek Kyon, EDIT: wether or not Tae Kwon Do derived from it is up to debate entirly...