Karate, Tae-kwondo, kung fu

[striking_cobra]

good posting everyone. very interesting to hear what everyone thinks about the three styles.

[striking_cobra]

good posting everyone. very interesting to hear what everyone thinks about the three styles.

[the tkder]

it rele depends on ur age. if ur over like 17, dont do taekwondo because ull rele need 2 b flexible and its hard when ur older. i think the othr 2 ma r rele diffrent so u have 2 decide. i personaly do taekwondo and im 14 and im rele good but thent cuz i started young and could already do splits and stuff.

[mattyj]

i dont really know much about kung fu

 

karate is very rigid as people have said.. it uses strong movements with strong grounding. styles such as seido utilise momentum to string attacks together.

 

saying "dont do taekwondo unless your under 17" is a really strange statement. i dont see how a 14 year old would know how easy/hard it is for people over 17 in relation to flexibility. im almost 19 (though not too far out of that bracket) and i can tell you, there are no issues with flexibility (there are many many amazingly flexible older students in the organisation - general choi hong hi would perform high twisting kicks in his seventies). anyway flexibility is something that is developed and is not even 100% necessary - one of the best sparrers i know (in ITFNZ around our area) is actually not all that flexible, and uses alot more punches and lower kicks.

 

with taekwondo you should find out whether the club is more traditional based or sport based.

 

ITF is the original taekwondo (formerly KTA) designed by general choi hong hi and adapts techniques from shotokan karate and other arts, as well as choi's own knowledge and analysis. It is what you would call more 'traditional' in style. ITF and other traditional styles of taekwondo do not conform to the normal taekwondo stereotype in that they are not overly focused on high and flying kicks, but use punching more extensively, also incorporating throwing & joint locks (particularly in self defence curriculum - alot drawn from aikido and karate).

 

sport tkd is what youd see at the olympics (WTF), you can pass your own judgement on that. Sport TKD dojangs (often spin off's from WTF) are often unfortunately more 'Mcdojo' like.

 

hope this helps

[kzshin]

Althought, traditional TKD doesn't overly focused on high kicks, but alot of TKD kicks are in fact, high kicks. I think learning TKD without learning the high kick, is like learning judo without learining seoi-nage.

 

Generally speaking, it's is easier to start split your leg when you are younger, and harder when you are older. General Choi can split his kick during his seventy, but he didn't start spliting his leg at seventy.

 

However, if you really like TKD, and willing to work hard. Anything is possible.

[italian_guy]

For my body type, size and age (43) I rather prefer Karate to Taekwondo and kung fu (Here I mean northern external style, because for Southern or internal styles it is a completely different business).

 

I have not enaugh agility and flexibility to get proficient in those styles in a reasonable time so my personal best choice would be karate.

[kataman]

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.

And i would had any martial art is good as long as you put your heart in it , good luck.

[Mr. Mike]

that was a good suggestion to go and watch the classes...if at all possible, watch some of the advanced classes to see what the upper level students look like when they train. That will give you a better idea of what the art is about than watching a basic/drop-in class with large group warm-ups and nto so much one on one.

 

shop around before you decide...check out all options.

 

good luck, and stick with it.

[KF Dude]

Try out classes.

 

Pick one.

 

Practice regularly to get the most out of your chosen martial art.

[tkdBill]

Also, consider what your goals are. Some people are looking for physical fitness, some want to learn self defense skills, others are looking for sport/competition.

 

Many schools will have all of these elements, but lean more in one direction or another, even within the same style. You must check out each school, and decide which one fits your goals, schedule, and economics.