Sparkey Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 Here's a funny thing that happened to me today. My husband and I were out for Sushi for lunch at a strip mall. I noticed a fairly new dojo (dojang??) had opened up near by, so after we ate, we walked by to see what the deal was. I'm always curious about the 'competition' to the dojo that I learn at (I study Shorin-ryu at a pretty small, non-commercial place). So I asked the sensei at the dojo, "What style of Karate do you teach?" expecting an answer like 'Shotokan' or 'Shito-ryu' or whatever. His answer was that they teach Tai Kwan Do. That since TKD was empty hand that it was a form of Karate. What do you think about his answer? I'm thinking that he's sort of right, but that if he's teaching TKD he should say that on his sign on the wall.
SaiFightsMS Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 Was the instructor oriental or western? Actually there are many similarities between Tae kwon do and Japanese karate. There is a lot of debate among those who seek to chronical the developement of Tae kwon do and other korean martial arts as to when they did develope and how they developed. Believe it or not I did see Tong so do labeled as Korean karate in Korea in 1976 in a village about 15 minutes from Pyong Taek. I can't tell you if it was called that because they were teaching American GI's or what the reason was.
BKJ1216 Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 I wouldn't even consider going to that dojo. White Belt- Shudokan Karate
AndrewGreen Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 When Tae Kwon Do was young it often was called Korean Karate, which it was. Tae Kwon Do started off as a Shotokan karate off shoot, it has developed away from that now though. There are many reasons the instructor might use "Karate" Maybe its just Marketing, he feels the name karate will draw more students in. Or it could be "his" TKD is more karateish then TKDish, he doesn't do Olympic style which is usually what is meant by Tae Kwon Do. or maybe he just doesn't see a difference... Andrew Greenhttp://innovativema.ca - All the top martial arts news!
Venezolano Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 TKD is also known by Korean KArate Valencia - Venezuela.
SoulAssassin Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 Believe it or not I did see Tong so do labeled as Korean karate in Korea in 1976 in a village about 15 minutes from Pyong Taek. I can't tell you if it was called that because they were teaching American GI's or what the reason was. Not sure if I understand right, but I took tang soo do and it was at a place called, The Korean Karate Academy. Another question I see you spelling it as 'Tong So Do' rather then 'Tang So Do' There a difference? The place I studied at spelled it like I did.. Hehe Maybe they are wrong.. -SoulAssassin"I aint gonna eat, I aint gonna sleep, aint gonna breath till I see what I wanna see and what I wanna see is you goto asleep, in the dirt permanently"
ZR440 Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 I seen advertisement on the wall at a college gym a few weeks ago that read Karate, but it's really a TKD type class. It's happy hour somewhere in the world.
karatekid1975 Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 "Karate" is just a general term for most stand up styles. My dojang as "Karate" on the front of it, but we do TKD. When I did Tang Soo Do, it was labled as "Korean Karate." My instructor said Korean karate, but he would explain the style to you when you first started. Laurie F
SBN Doug Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 My only thought is that he felt "Karate" would be more understood by Joe Public than TKD. However, he should have the details on the inside somewhere. As well know as TKD has become, there will still be some that don't really know what it is. Kuk Sool Won - 4th danEvil triumphs when good men do nothing.
JerryLove Posted March 10, 2003 Posted March 10, 2003 In terms of sinage: The term "Karate" is well known and understood by an American audience. Since the purpose of a sign is to attact attention and get the right people to the right services. If one is advertizing to non-martial-artists to get them to attent "Karate" gets the right mesage across (IOW, "I teach foreign boxing arts") In terms of weather TKD is Karate: Well, there's two ways to take that too. Choi, the founder of TKD had his belt in Japaneese karate, and several of the standard Poomse (forms) are move-for-move identical to forms in certain Karate Ryu. Is it a good use of the definition of the Japaneese word "Karate"? I don't think so. Firstly, "Kara-te" originally ment "chinese hand", but was changed in a fit of japanesse nationalism. Secondly, since not all empty-handed arts in okinawa / Japan are called "Karate", it would be sill for an English-speaker to use an Okinawan term to describe a Korean art. https://www.clearsilat.com
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