Styles of karate... whats the difference?

[Kirves]

If it was all about where your toes are pointed at, we wouldn't have different styles. Lots of the differences in the stances today are due to them having all been taught by old generation masters (like Kyan Chotoku as a good example) in different ways to different students. Now the students teach it verbatim to their students not understanding that the reason they got different instruction was because back then it was normal to tailor the methods and tactics to suit the person (you know, some are tall and thin, others small, some chubby and so on, the stances are tailored for mobility, stability, speed, strength, etc). In Okinawan styles this tailoring is still done, but the Japanese styles are often very rigid about doing everything exactly as taught. But there are exceptions both ways.