Karate

[islandman]

Just a small poll

[Rateh]

erm, does yes mean decendant and no mean parent? or the other way around?

[neclos]

I think yes means either descendant or parent and no means neither (no connection whatsoever).

Considering my TKD has Pinan (Heian in Karate), no connection seems unlikely. TKD and Karate must be connected at some point, not necessarily descendant or parent, more like adopt. I think an X is more appropriate. Born from two different sources, at some point interact, and then go their separate ways.

[DWx]

I'd have to say yes. A lot of Koreans (including the Kwan owners) were exposed to Karate during the Japanese occupation. Also some of the moves or forms are similar. I wouldn't put Karate down as the only parent style though. From my own experiences I can see elements of Chinese styles and of course there is TaeKyon which could well be the main parent style.

[bushido_man96]

TKD and TSD both have their roots in Karate. Most of the other "history" that is put forth about the origins of TKD and TSD are mainly propogations made by the Koreans in charge to disengage them from being associated with the Japanese, whom they don't like.

[YoungMan]

I think Karate undoubtably had an influence on Tae Kwon Do in the early days. But I've seen clips of Taekkyon on YouTube, and to me there is no doubt that modern Tae Kwon Do owes much more to Taekkyon than to Karate. The sparring, kicking, and overall movements are eerily similar.

[Montana]

The martial arts trail is thus:

From China (kung fu) to Okinawa (karate), to Japan (Shotokan), to Korea (TKD)....roughly of course.

[YoungMan]

One of the things I really hate is when people try to say that Tae Kwon Do is nothing more than Japanese karate in Korea.

In the beginning, there was undoubtably a Japanse influence. But modern TKD bears no resemblance to karate, and indeed from the earliest days, established its own identity away from any foreign influences.

And for that, Chung Do Kwan must be thanked. If it were up to some of the other schools, it would still be Kong Soo Do and practicing Japanese forms.

Indeed, in an interview, Won Kuk Lee mentions Japanese karate and Funakoshi only briefly. He establishes Tang Soo Do as a Korean style. And he was one of the most important Founders. Without him, TKD as we know it simply wouldn't exist. Choi was a great promoter. But much of the substance of what we call TKD was from Lee.

[bushido_man96]

I think that Tae Kyon is more of a revival Art than anything else.

I do think that TSD and TKD were very Japanese in the beginning, but the founders of the Kwans wanted to distinguish themselves from the Japanese and their styles, and therefore, we have what is TKD today.

[YoungMan]

So like I said, modern Tae Kwon Do is much more descendant from Tae Kyon than Karate. I tend to agree. The second generation of Instructors consciously removed the Japanese influences and emphasized the Korean aspects (movement, kicking, steps etc.).

I saw an interesting clip of Kukkiwon black belts practicing, and they moved almost exactly like Tae Kyon fighters. Conversely, I saw a clip of Tae Kyon fighters sparring, and they moved and fought almost exactly like Tae Kwon Do students.