What does your style say about you?

[mr_clean]

Thanks for answering the bjj question for me Tom. We don't have that great a choice of Martial Arts here in the country but we do have a few flavours of karate (I take both Ishinryu and Shorin ryu) and also a bunch of TKD dojos. Before choosing between the 2 I watched a greatest knockouts video and noticed that 90% were finished with a punch (although plenty were set up by a good kick). With that in mind I put a mental stroke for the karate as it uses more punches. Also, because we are in Canada where we have snow and ice for half the year I needed something that didn't rely as heavily on kicking as there would be times that you just couldn't use it. So for me it made sence to choose the karate. I would love to take BJJ or MT but figure that abouut half the people who might pick a fight with me have no martial arts at all so I get a bit of an edge there and the ones that do may not know it as well as me. Either way, its great excercise and gives you a lot to think about.

I know that a lot of you hate them both, but if you had only karate or TKD to choose from which would you take and why?
Thanks, Mr. Clean

[Gunjin]

I know that a lot of you hate them both, but if you had only karate or TKD to choose from which would you take and why?

I have spent almost an equal amount of time in both. TKD was the first MA I studied while in college. I studied it for about a two and a half years. After some time off I got in to Shorin Ryu Karate while working in Japan for three years. I had to take advantage of the location for some authentic instruction

So having almost 3 years experience in both TKD and Karate, I would say I would take Karate over TKD any day hands down!!!!

For these reasons:

1) Sparring. The sparring I did in TKD was definatley sports orientated. Which most TKD is focused on anyways. On the other hand the sparring I did in Karate was geared towards full contact fighting. Though I never competed in one, the karate tournaments we were training for only allowed competitors to wear a cup. Mouth piece was optionaly. I don't need to describe all the pads competitors wear in TKD, 'nuff said.

2) Punches. TKD is a kicking art with hardly any punches. Other than ones in the Pumse, I only remember learning the Rear Cross punch in TKD. Karate is a punching art that includes kicks. What I learned from sparring in Karate was that after I closed the distance I was in perfect punching range.

3) Kicks. Yes, TKD has all the flashy jumping, spinning, whirling, rapid kicks you can imagine. I was even begining to learn some before academics kept me from further training. But all those kicks are nothing compared to the low round house kick I learned in Karate. MT has the same kick to the opponents thigh or calf. In my personal opinion this is by far the most effective kick in MA, regardless of style. Any true K-1 or MT fan would recognize the benefits of this low kick, which isn't allowed in TKD therefore wasn't taught where I studied.

The time I spent in Shorin Ryu Karate training for full contact events supersedes any thing I learned from TKD. That low kick and powerful punches I learned has given me a better foundation for in MA, than anything I learned from in TKD....

[mr_clean]

good answer...

I liked your answer. I also study traditional Shorin ryu and love it. I do have a serious question for all the bjj guys (for this scenario I think MT or Karate would be the same but I could be wrong) - what affect (if any) would a serious injury to either an arm or a leg have on the effectiveness of your style? Someone once said that you train for the day when you come out of a curry house at 2am overstuffed and a little drunk because thats the day you'll be attacked. So if we are being Machiavellian and anticipating all possibilities what would be the effectiveness of bjj if one of your arms was broken/stabbed/whatever at the beginning of the altercation. I don't honestly have enough MA experience to really address how this would hamper my 'Yellow Bamboo' skills and as I know nothing about BJJ I ask this honestly and without derision. If you were only trained in one art (I know - its a perfect world scenario) and had to take the broken arm or leg early would you still want BJJ as your main training?

If it counts for anything the only experience I have with BJJ was watching Royce Gracie in UFC 3 or 4 when he beat out big Dan Severn. The announcers had already predicted his demise and suddenly its Severne tapping out. I have never been so impressed with a fight in my life!

Mr. Clean

[sercuerdas]

my instructor continued to teach and spar the whole class with a broken arm, he still fought very well and was more then able to defend himself. some finishes he couldn't hit though. I do assume a broken leg would be harder to overcome because it would hamper mobility much more. now a stab or a cut is adifferent story because of blood loss.

[Lizard]

Originally posted by mr_clean
Also, because we are in Canada where we have snow and ice for half the year I needed something that didn't rely as heavily on kicking as there would be times that you just couldn't use it.

An excellent example of someone's style being influenced bytheir environment, perhaps this could be the start of a new thread.

I'm at my most constructive when I'm starting threads, too much posting turns me into a troll.

[TKDguy]

i am not dissin you Lonewolf but the tkd school where you had been training must not have been very good. if it only taught flash jumping kicks and focused soley on points when sparring the teacher must have either been scamming you or he only knew very little about actual tkd. my tkd school teaches the same low kick to the thigh as ur karate and yes there are some flashy kicks but those are only used in our class to practice coordination. we also focus on real street practical techniques and when we spar we usually use the same rules as full contact karate. also we incorperate boxing, kuk too ki, and hapkido in our classes. in my opinion this is what your class should have been like and you got a little short changed.

[koto_ryu]

Since it has a lot of punching, throws, joint locks, and dirty tricks, I'd have to say it says I'm a prick

[Jakuzo]

sparring

i took shaolin kung fu sparring was my favorite part of the class, but we had no fixed schedule and met once a week which caused us to go long periods without sparring because of this i could tell my techiniques were getting weaker so i quit to find a better school. Also when you spar u shouldn't hold back u need to feel what its like to actually get hit or else you won't be prepared for a real fight.


-anyone got a suggestion for a new style to take? I'm trying to find a new one.-