Karate, Tae-kwondo, kung fu

[wu_shu_girl]

I have three friends who are really into kung fu. Right now, I'm not taking a martial art, but next semester I'm going to do shaolin staff. I still don't know which one I want to do. My one friend insisted that kung fu would be the best one to take. I was leaning towards karate. But there's also a taekwondo place close to my house so I was debating that. What are the differences between the three, and what do you think would be my best bet?

[Shane]

Tae Kwon do is normally very sport orientated, of course it will depend on the school, it is a Korean art.

 

Karate????????? What style of Karate is it? (Japanese)

 

Kung Fu???????? What style of Kung fu is it? (Chinese)

 

Karate is normally more rigid filled with hard movements to wear Kung Fu is more fluent with softer movements. But you really need to find out what style of karate and kung fu is available to you and then post that in here and then I'm sure you will get replies from some Stylists who train in the styles you list.

 

Good Luck

[Shane]

Tae Kwon do is normally very sport orientated, of course it will depend on the school, it is a Korean art.

 

Karate????????? What style of Karate is it? (Japanese)

 

Kung Fu???????? What style of Kung fu is it? (Chinese)

 

Karate is normally more rigid filled with hard movements to where Kung Fu is more fluent with softer movements. But you really need to find out what style of karate and kung fu is available to you and then post that in here and then I'm sure you will get replies from some Stylists who train in the styles you list.

 

Good Luck

[ncole_91]

I am sure that you will enjoy all three types of Martial Arts, but I would suggest go meet the instructors, see the dojos, check out the prices. If all of these are balanced out, then you might see the schedule and notice that having a dojo close to your house might be more time managing.

 

I do not think that there is a best Art of these three, it just depends on your preferences. You might try one, and decide to switch to another, or even try another, and do two at the same time.

 

There are alot of different styles in Karate, which are all a bit different, so you might want to fond out the styles of each dojo, do a bit of research. Then you might have more confidence in deciding for your self.

[wu_shu_girl]

Okay, sorry I didn't make it more clear. The karate is Shotokan karate. That's all I know about it. There kung fu would be shaolin five animals kung fu. And I don't really know about the tae kwondo place. What I mostly want to know is just baisic differences and what kind different people here do, why the like the kind the like, etc.

[ncole_91]

Well I do Shotokan Karate, and I love it. I have only been doing it for a short while and I would not be able to give you a complete answer on the differences. The differences can also be based on the instructors. For example, I do not think that Shotokan generally deals with much work on the ground, but more with striking and kicking. My Shihan teaches us a bit of work on the group because he thinks it is very useful.

 

I have no real experience with Kung Fu or TKD or any knowledge of these two MA. Maybe someone else can help you.

[dingyuan]

Tae Kwon do is normally very sport orientated, of course it will depend on the school, it is a Korean art.

 

Karate????????? What style of Karate is it? (Japanese)

 

Kung Fu???????? What style of Kung fu is it? (Chinese)

 

Karate is normally more rigid filled with hard movements to wear Kung Fu is more fluent with softer movements. But you really need to find out what style of karate and kung fu is available to you and then post that in here and then I'm sure you will get replies from some Stylists who train in the styles you list.

 

Good Luck

 

Kung Fu are not really softer than karate but it is just that those famous ones are those soft ones there are many others styles that are as hard and as linear as Shotokan for example like Baji Quan, Ba Shan Fan and many other southern styles.

 

I won't which one are better but it is best for you to go for the one that you will love, since you are leaning towards Karate I would highly sugesst you to go for Karate my personal opinion is go for Goju Ryu. Good luck.

[Kaminari]

TKD is mainly kicking, but also has things like joint locks, other hand strikes/techniques, etc.

 

Karate is less kicking, more hands, and Shotokan (from what I know, I didn't study Shotokan) is more linear, and has rigid/hard movements, as Shane said.

 

Kung Fu is more circular, and with animal styles you'll vary more the hand techniques (example, snake and tiger, crane, don't mainly utilize a closed fist, rather knifehand (snake), the tiger's claw (tiger), crane wing/beak, etc.) If someone who actually does the 5 animal styles Kung Fu wants to correct me, by all means, do so.

 

Go to the dojos, watch a class, or, if possible, take a free class. See which one really catches your interest.

[pineapple]

Any martial art is good, everthing depends on your own personal preference. Every school is different, even schools of the same art as they may have different emphasis and every instructor is different. It is important to find an instructor that you respect and feel comfortable with and the only way to know this is to go and see the class for yourself.

[aefibird]

Any martial art is good, everthing depends on your own personal preference. Every school is different, even schools of the same art as they may have different emphasis and every instructor is different. It is important to find an instructor that you respect and feel comfortable with and the only way to know this is to go and see the class for yourself.

 

Excellent post!

 

Aravis, the best way to find out about all 3 martial arts you listed would be to go and train in a couple of classes at each school. Then you can decide which would be the best for you. Good luck!