tkd vs karate

[mea140]

whats the main distinct differences between the to. compare disadvantages and advantages. thankyou

[joe360]

Taekwondo focuses largely on kicking, while karate kinda has a more balanced form of combat.They are both equally good, I've been trained in Taekwondo, but I wouldnt say I've had the full expereince due to the fact that the place I trained at was very unorganized.Im looking into karate so I'll be getting a first hand experience on the differences between the two.

[kuk sool won]

Depends on what type of TKD and what type of Karate you mean, there are differences.

[Whispers]

Karate has a more developed set of hand techniques. Taekwondo is mostly focused on foot techniques, and mainly those which score well in tornament, so many are not very effective in self-defense(though this may not be the case depending on what kind of school you attend).

They can both be equally valuable for self-defense if trained properly, but most schools for both don't train with contact or aliveness.

[eXcessiveForce]

some people consider TKD a version of shotokan.

Some systems are very divergent from the typical idea of karate and TKD.

This is a very broad topic that no one is going to be able to answer. You need to narrow it down a bit.

[GranFire]

From what I understand, though Korea had a longstanding Military tradition, it was all but whiped out in the Japanese Occupation in the first half of the last century. Most of the influential Dojang leaders of that time had to study in Japan (with the blessing of the authorities) and I would venture a guess be strongly influence by Karate...comparing the two via similar books by the same publishing company I coud not see many diferences, or at least they didn't jump out at me.

I don't think one could say that TKD is mostly about kicks...(I wish it was, my Freedesign form would be so much easier to compose...). But there are so many styles...I am sure Karate is similarly fractured...

Kissing Cousins...that's what I descibe it as...

[tkd_wrestler]

the main difference i see between the two is that most karate teachers teach well balance close quarters karate while tae kwon do is good at a range but most teachers don't teach the close quarters aspects to it.

i've sparred with a friend of mine who does karate before. we're both good but i have the advantage at a distance and he's better close in an enclosed space.

[aku aku]

I've looked through different tkd textbooks before and they seem to have everything you would expect to find in karate: a variety of hand strikes, elbows, knees, low kicks, etc. It seems like the main difference would be the emphasis in training.

[Maxx]

I think that over the years Taekwon-do has gone through a period of evolution. In the mid-late 50s though the 60s it probably didn't differ too much from shotokan karate. I remember reading somewhere that grand master Hee Il Cho actually commented that during his early years the emphasis was only on 4 basic kicking techniques: the front, side, turning/roundhouse and back kicks. Even during the seventies and early eighties when I was training, I remember that you didn't learn a lot of the advanced techniques until you were close to black belt. Now more advanced techniques are taught more quickly and much sooner than before.

[seanyseanybean]

Most karate styles will emphasise deep rooted stance, a karate-ka will not want to go to the ground (read shotokans secret by bruce clayton to find out why)

Tkd is much more about evasion and staying light on your toes to pull off quick extravagant kicks, most of which will end up with both people on the floor.

It does of course depend on the style as mentioned before. I am just speaking generally. I.e i practice 2 styles of Karate, Korean and Kyokushin, they have most of the same techniques but the execution is worlds apart. All styles have there merits when you have a decent instructor.

[kuk sool won]

From what I understand, though Korea had a longstanding Military tradition, it was all but whiped out in the Japanese Occupation in the first half of the last century. Most of the influential Dojang leaders of that time had to study in Japan (with the blessing of the authorities) and I would venture a guess be strongly influence by Karate...comparing the two via similar books by the same publishing company I coud not see many diferences, or at least they didn't jump out at me.

I don't think one could say that TKD is mostly about kicks...(I wish it was, my Freedesign form would be so much easier to compose...). But there are so many styles...I am sure Karate is similarly fractured...

Kissing Cousins...that's what I descibe it as...

Its true but many styles were still practiced 'underground' without any real exposure to Japanese styles though i do doubt that TKD was able to resist exposure to Karate

[seanyseanybean]

The history of TKD says that Gen. Choi learnt Shotokan Karate and taught it to his troops. Gradually it became reknown and he was asked to teach all of the troops. Korean pride obviously stopped the Korean military from admiting they were teaching their troops Shotokan, so a few changes were put in and the name was changed. It has evolved due to the restrictive ruleset, but essentially its Shotokan at heart.

[Piston]

Thats not quite right. Gen. Choi did indeed learn shotokan, I think he achieved a 2nd dan in it, however TKD is not just a mutation of it. Granted if one looks at some of the kyokushin kata they are very similar to many TKD patterns (note this is very general as I understand the variety of patterns in all the different froms of TKD), the emphasis on hips powering most punches.

However the kicking style is very different, especially evident in sparring. I find that most shotokan sparring revolves around punches to the mid section supplemented by the odd turning kick or axe kick, please don't flame me for this as I'm only basing this on what I've seen, I have only ever practiced shotokan at a young age (7-8 yrs old, although what I was taught has stuck!). TKD on the other hand has many kick combinations and one has to the think about which foot is leading, he has to stay on bounce, chambering etc. and the stance is very side-on because of this. Although it may change from one practitioner to another.

[seanyseanybean]

Thats not quite right. Gen. Choi did indeed learn shotokan, I think he achieved a 2nd dan in it, however TKD is not just a mutation of it. Granted if one looks at some of the kyokushin kata they are very similar to many TKD patterns (note this is very general as I understand the variety of patterns in all the different froms of TKD), the emphasis on hips powering most punches.

However the kicking style is very different, especially evident in sparring. I find that most shotokan sparring revolves around punches to the mid section supplemented by the odd turning kick or axe kick, please don't flame me for this as I'm only basing this on what I've seen, I have only ever practiced shotokan at a young age (7-8 yrs old, although what I was taught has stuck!). TKD on the other hand has many kick combinations and one has to the think about which foot is leading, he has to stay on bounce, chambering etc. and the stance is very side-on because of this. Although it may change from one practitioner to another.

TKD was and is derived directly from Shotokan. (It has nothing to do with Kyokushin other than they both derived from Shotokan.) Gen. Choi did make new forms however they are still based on Shotokan techniques i.e reverse chambered punch, high block etc. I understand it is difficult to look at TKD sparring and Shotokan sparring and see a direct resemblance, however that is because of the ruleset in the respective compotition. TKD does not score punches easily and encorages kicks to the head. Its basically Shotokan with a differant sparring ruleset.

Presumably they wanted to make it Korean by adding in more kicks, perhaps to look more like Taekkyon? Tho im not sure of this. I do know that the side kick and the axe kick are of Korean origin as well as all of the spinny flashy 540 kicks.

[Maxx]

There's a lot of questionable history with regards to Taekwondo as well as other korean martial arts. It's interesting that TKD history is so obscure because most of the relevant history regarding this martial art occurred after the end of the japanese occupation of korea ended.

Someone help me with this... I believe somewhere between 7 and 9 kwans of korean martial arts decided to unify under the banner of TKD in 1955. General Choi supposedly created modern tkd from a combination of Shotokan and Taekkyon techniques. I find it hard to believe that he had a direct influence on all of the kwans at that time.

Another interesting thing is the supposed combining of taekkyon and shotokan technqiues. I read an article some years ago in TKD times about the General's supposed training in Taekkyon, which was supposed to be quite rare. According to the article, the general never lived in an area of korea where there was a known practitioner of Taekkyon and no evidence of an individual matching the name he gave as his instructor in Taekkyon was ever found.

Also, somewhere in the encyclopedia General Choi stated that he and Mas Oyama (Who was by the way Korean) were supposedly good friends and that Oyama adapted elements of the General's TKD into his Kyokushin Karate. Don't know if it's true or not. I've never read anything else confirming this but it is interesting.

All of this obscure history has in many cases led people of various backgrounds to question TKD's authenticity as a true martial art. All I know is that when someone with skill hits you, it hurts. I think what we have seen over the past 50 some years is an evolution of TKD from a system that was virtually identical to shotokan karate into several branches such as the ITF and the WTF and even the ATA which bear similarities to each other but are different enough not only from their origins but from their contemporaries to be considered authentic stand-alone systems.