Ju-jitsu vs. Karate

[Mart]

lol, yeah actually its nice but its still a car park but there si some greenery, damn we are off topic

[Shawn]

I hope I can provide you with an unbiased opinion seeing as I teach both. Correct, it does depend on the school. While there are only four "traditional" styles of Karate recognised by WUKO (World Union of Karate Organisations), there are many other variants. Having said that, there are throws and grapling in Karate, but this is usually only at a high level, or with a less experienced teacher, not at all. Japanese Jiu Jitsu is a little different as there is no standard, so what can be Jiu Jitsu for one school may look completely different to another school. For the most part though, it is a standup grapling art. That is throws, locks, chokes, disarms etc. Many systems though do branch into weapons, strikes and all sorts of things. The best thing to do is attend each school, watch the classes and ask questions.

[markusan]

I would say if you are beginning, pick one style and stick to it till you reach a high level of skill and then diversify and build up your knowledge.

 

I'll probably get myself into trouble here, but I think you can become an effective fighter(not an expert) in a shorter time with the hard striking styles, like karate and TKD. Most of these include some self defence anyway.

 

Once you are proficient in one of these maybe try jujitsu.

 

Whateevr you do do it for the joy of learning and training, not to be the toughest kid on the block.

[White Warlock]

Yeah, i would say you got yourself into trouble there Markusan.

 

While many systems can provide a reasonable degree of combat ability after a lengthy study (2-4 years), in my opinion what provides the most in the shortest amount of time is freestyle wrestling (grappling), followed shortly thereafter by muay thai (striking). That is not to say either is better than other systems, only that these provide the basic essentials far earlier in the training program, on average.

 

However, and i keep saying this but keep getting blown off, what makes the biggest difference is who you learn from and how you study.

[kotegashiNeo]

Yeah I agree with warlock the fsatest way to go is grappling specifically BJJ. Those are some very practical techniques and you learn to aply them against a struggling human in radori that knows the same techniques and is trying to use them against you. However that being said you couldn't pick one style over he other unless you specify the criteria, for instance if are looking at a practical combative style then I would go with a south american form of grappling but for health and fitness I would choose karate but again i have to agree with warlock it helps to have a really knowledgeable teacher.

[Luckykboxer]

the simple answer is the best trained athlete will win regardless of which style.

 

I am of the firm belief that no style is the best around.

 

Every style teaches counters, offense, etc.

 

The practitioner that is faster, stronger, smarter, better trained wins.

 

I have seen white belts with no pure martial arts training, but plenty of practical experience win in a fight against a trained black belt in martial arts.

 

The key is getting to know the rules of the type of fight you are doing, and adapt your skills to best handle the rules and your opponent.

 

In a grappling fight, in most cases if all otehr things were equal i would probably say the BJJ fighter would do better.

 

In a stand up fight, all other things equal i would think the karate practitioner would do better.

 

In a no rules/no holds barred situation it would depend on the person.

 

A person with the right training can mame, render unconcious, or kill another with one shot.

 

I personally train in several styles and cross train. I think that it makes for a well rounded martial artist, and I think it adds to any style if they are an evolving adaptable style to learn new skills and adopt them into their system in some way.

 

My advice, decide what style you want to learn first.... and for what reasons..

 

And concentrate on that fully until you get to a level you feel comfortable, and have attained goals you set forth, then if you are interested in another style try it out.

[Luckykboxer]

While there are only four "traditional" styles of Karate recognised by WUKO (World Union of Karate Organisations),

 

In my opinion this organization is no more valid then any other numbers of organizations out there, and has no say in what is valid karate and isnt.

 

traditional is a matter of interpetation.

 

If someones grandfather does kenpo karate, their dad does kenpo karate, and they do kenpo karate then it is a traditional form of karate to them.

 

I think that while the "traditional" japanese styles have certain benefits, I think that alot of the Varients you mention give alot of valid modern day self defence and solutions for health safety and defense.

[Shawn]

Luckboxer,

 

I agree in some instances that traditional is subject to interpretation, but where there is a clear concise path to the founder of the style, it is not. For example, you could not say what is traditional hapkido or jiu jitsu because the path travels back to far and can't be traced, where as for Judo it is Jigoro Kano, for American Kenpo Karate it is Ed Parker, for Jeet Kune Do (although not a style as such) it is Bruce Lee, and for Karate.... it is Gichin Funikoshi (the founder of modern karate). It is for this reason WUKO (the government recognised organisation and holder of the world titles and biggest Karate research organisation in the world etc etc etc) only recognises these styles. Not because it choose those cos they look pretty or even because of how long they have been in one family line, but because they have a defined history back to the founder of Karate as it is known today, and because that history can be proven as fact.

 

This is NOT to say that

 

a) all schools that practice these four styles are good schools or

 

b) all schools that practice other styles are rubish

 

because that is not the case. I was merely stating a RESEARCHED FACT that they are the only styles recognised by that organisation. The possibility that others chose not to agree with WUKO is besides the point I was making.

[markusan]

Yeah, i would say you got yourself into trouble there Markusan.

 

 

I take your point WW, and I agree the teacher and the training is all important. I like the idea of sticking to one style, for a while at least till the technique becomes ingrained. I guess I'm a bit of a plodder and I feel a bit humble when I see how many styles some people have under their belts. I'm still working to improve hyungs I first learnt decades ago. And I admit I haven't done enough grappling to give an informed comment. Being small and light I'm very reluctant to get up close and personal.

 

Maybe Sky should take that sort of thing into account when choosing a style??

 

Do you think different body types, attitudes suit different styles?

[Coco]

This is weird... i itrain on a shito ryu dojo, and the bunkais for alot of the katas have jujitsu implied into them, like one for heian sandan you do the wrist twisting thing... im not sure if my teacher edited the bunkais to mix them with jujitsu or they are like that, but id rather go with karate anyways.