Whats the difference?

ShadowSkill · February 11, 2002

Hello, im kinda new here and have read through all of the posts which is very enlightening. I got into Martial Arts when i was in College even though there is a Dojo infront of our home, but i dont seem to understand whats with all the styles of karate and whats the difference from one another, cuz our school taught us Filipino Martial Arts and Arnis/Kali(escrima) but now i left college im thinking of other styles to learn? what is the most effective style in Karate?

spinninggumby · February 11, 2002

Although this is not really an answer, i guess all I have to say is that there are plenty of people here who would probably be qualified to answer that question (i.e. karatekas). There are styles from Okinawa and styles from the Japanese islands and although they may share similar principles in some ways my guess is that there are differences in ideologies and forms and technique but to what extent I do not know.

I know that a lot of purists and traditional guys will disagree with me but to me even though I train at a school with a specific style, I really do believe that there are only so many ways to move your body and direct your strikes with your hands and legs so I just feel that the more you train the more you realize that in general almost all the styles strive for the same ultimate goal and everything seems to come together and become fused more and more. I dunno, that's just me. I guess I'm just too new age b/c although I respect the upkeep of tradition and the history that has gone behind the many refinements and testing for each and every art that has been developed and stabilized, I am a content advocate of cross-training and the acceptance of all ideas (you can filter out the bad ones later).