Hapkido, Karate, Kungfu, TaeKwonDo, what is the difference between them all and how do I decide which is more?

Question

suitable?

I am not so concerned with you answering which style is from where, I meant with the movement although if you feel the some unknown history is important for me to know feel free.

does one of them contain more graceful moves than the others? one more flips?

I like the idea of doing flips..

Answer 1

It would be easier to list the similarities, that being that if you have a good instructor and train right they can all be very effective.

Too list the differences, no offense to bob t, would take far more time and resources then anyone here has. For instance I will simply address karate.

Starting off you have three main branches of karate:

1) The original Okinawin karate- Okinawin karate is noted for it's intense conditioning and it's no nonsense self defense. Despite what many who do not know it think, it contains a lot of stand up grappling, including locks, throws, chokes, sweeps, take downs, techniques for fighting in a clinch. Most Okinawin styles keep their kicks low. Stances in Okinawin karate tend to be more upright for more mobility. Okinawin karate uses much moving and avoiding techniques while counterstriking. Most are a blending of hard and soft techniques.

2) The japanese styles that were developed from the Okinawin versions.- These tend to be more sport oriented, with wider, deeper  stances, and more focus on raw power. These can still be highly effective if  taught right and trained well.

3) The hybred styles that have been put together over the years by various people, that run the spectrum from great to pi** poor.

I could go on and on just about karate, so you can see my point.

Rather then style here is my suggestion:

1) Make a list of all of the schools and classes availible in your area.(that's the problem with people recomending styles, not everything is taught everywhere)

2) Go here www.bulshido.com. They have an excellent list on what to avoid and what to look for in a good school, regardless of style. You could also do a search on here, as there are many good questions and answers about finding a good school.

3) Visit all of the schools/styles that have an interest to you and watch a few classes, and maybe even participate if they have free trial classes.

4) Figure out which school is the best according to the list you have, and the questions you will ask of the instructor, and if it fullfills what you are looking for.

Any martial art if trained well will meet your needs. Be aware that some like karate, kung fu, TKD, will take a little bit longer to put into actual application. This does not mean they are worse, it is just the way they are designed to be taught.

It really doesn't matter if you winde up in one of the ones you listed, or Judo, or Akido, or BJJ, or Muay Thai, or Krav Maga, or MMA etc.

I would rather see you get training at the best school or gym avalible that you can afford, because you will be much better off in the long run.

Answer 2

Hapkido is korean. it is one of (if not THE) most complete of the traditional arts. it has everything. it comes from aikijujutsu(from japan) ...it has the throws, and locks of judo, jujutsu, and aikijujutsu. it also has the strikes, and pressure points of an old korean art called tae kyon. similar to taekwondo. most hapkido has no forms (kata/hyung). there are 2 main lineages though.

yong, shul choi ...the original founders lineage..he pretty much just taught daito ryu aikijujutsu. it was really nothing korean.

ji, han je lineage...a student of the original founder..but he encorporated the kicks and strikes of tae kyon, as well as taoist breathing exercises and meditation.

hapkido is not taught with forms...or patterns. it is taught using techniques and principles. it is based on 3 main principles

1 yu (ju in japanese) "flowing like water" Water never struggles with any object that it encounters! It exhibits tremendous patience and adaptability in it's engagement with any obstacle it faces during the natural 'downhill flow'. Rather than rising in direct conflict with an adversary, the Hapkido student seeks to join with, or adapt to the opponent and their motions, in order that a the 'clashing' so commonly seen in many martial arts, is avoided. Although this is a demonstration of a keen ability to adapt, it is important to realize water never changes itself. The Hapkido practitioner must learn to adapt in this same way

2 won (circular motion) A circle represents the perfect geometric figure. Every person has his or her own circle that is their "private space." It is this circle that we seek to protect. An opponent's attack should be met with a graceful, circular defensive motion. We choose not to meet an opponent's force with direct force. Instead, we choose to lead this oncoming force in a circle, deflecting it, so as to minimize its effect. Therefore, we end up redirecting an opponents force against himself. We should think of this circle as a form of least resistance; always moving (active), and therefore difficult to hold or grasp.

3 hwa (harmony or non resistance) The learning of Hapkido is accomplished through the continuous generation of harmony between mind, body, techniques, and environment. Harmony is the most important element one should strive to achieve through their training. How often in your training do you feel that your mind has "learned" a new technique, only to find that your body is not embracing this new knowledge as rapidly as you desire? Each time we perform a technique, connections are made between the brain and the muscles which control the movements of the technique. Every maneuver you learn through Hapkido training has it's own special 'control center' inside the brain. We practice what we are shown countless times so that our body and mind will eventually act as one unit in response to a confrontation.

After one achieves harmony within himself, the next requirement is to harmonize with one's opponent. Having accomplishing this, the Hapkido student will find it quite easy to control the movements and energy of an opponent. We seek to blend or harmonize with the attack to create the defense. The words "non-resistance" are often substituted for harmony in defining the theory of Hwa. Before an attack can be directed in a circular manner, it must first be received or intercepted with a non-direct block or maneuver, thus allowing a harmony to be created using the opponents oncoming force to fuel the defending motion.

Following this, learning to harmonize with one's environment is the next stage. The final task is blending the harmony that one has developed with himself, his opponent, and the environment, with that of the techniques.

Once the mind and body are unified, the techniques will feel "natural." It is not enough to merely know the technique; this knowledge must become reflexive, or "second nature."

karate:...okinawan karate is very well rounded. taught with kata (forms) ..it is GREATLY misunderstood...even by many of its own practitioners. it takes a long time to learn and perfect. but it encorporates not only strikes and kicks, but throws, joint locks, and pressure points as well. if its lacking anything, like most traditional arts, it is lacking groundfighting.

japanese karate looks similar, also taught with kata...it on the other hand is mainly concentrated on striking and kicking. hard impact style karate. some styles teach grappling, but striking and kicking is the main focus.

taekwondo: is korean, but it comes directly from japanese karate. but with much more emphasis on kicking. its flashy kicks come from an art called tae kyon. an old korean kicking style. ..it has evolved into a uniquely korean art however as they changed the kata(forms) and added tae kyon kicking techniques. it is largely little more than a sport today however...at least in the west. i never learned or seen any taekwondo practitioner use throws, or joint locks at all. it is a striking system.

if you want a well rounded style...hapkido or okinawan karate would be good choices. although i'd say hapkido is quicker to learn.

if you want strictly a striking art...japanese karate or taekwondo would do well...these two would also do well for "point sparring".

if you want hard contact during sparring, okinawan or japanese karate are probably best.

the biggest thing though is to have a good school, with a good teacher.

id rather learn a less effective art from a great teacher, than learn the ultimate martial art from a bad teacher.

Answer 3

Hapkido= Think of it as Korean Aikido. It uses throws, joint locks, and various strikes, it is kick heavy in it's striking (as most Korean arts are) but it has sort of a wide array of techniques. It has little to no flipping, unless you count making your opponent flip. It is a very flowing style, it can appear graceful.

Karate: This is a general term, for many many different Japanese hard style arts. Hard to say, but what you have is mainly striking (punching, elbowing, kneeing and kicking), hard blocking, with a lot of differences between styles really. It is like saying "I do sports". There are some pretty big differences between the styles, but they are all mostly striking based. Not so much graceful as powerful, little to no flipping, unless of course you count flipping an opponent.

Kung Fu: Also broad based term for Chinese type of styles. You have a wide variance and variety, there are many styles of Kung Fu that are very acrobatic (flipping), and some that are very aesthetically pleasing. There are major differences from one style to the next, so it is hard to say. Tai Chi Chuan is very different than say Wing Chun. But both are commonly called Kung Fu. So it is hard to say... but it is very graceful in most applications, and there are some styles of it that are very acrobatic.

Tae Kwon Do: Korean style, striking oriented, heavy use of kicks, while certain styles or schools may work more on some of the throws, or joint locks, it is still a very kick based Martial Art. Here you can find practioners who become very acrobatic and get involved in XMA (Extreme Martial Arts). Most of you big time XMA and unnarmed exhibition competetors or TKD based. It is currently labelled as the most prolific style in the world, meaning it has the most schools.

I personally would caution against an art or school that emphasized flipping, and tricking. Mainly because this has no combat effectiveness, and just looks cool.

Ultimately it is what is available to you, and what place you enjoy the most. I can tell you more than likely you will be able to find a TKD and some form of Karate almost anywhere you are. Hapkido and Kung Fu styles are much less prevalent, and therefore you won't always be able to find a school near you.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Hapkido uses pressure points and joint locks

Karate is striking that uses both hands and feet

Kung Fu is what Shaolin Monks do, they have different forms and ways of attacking, and is kind of acrobatic.

Taekwondo uses mainly kicks which I find effective but useless when in close quarters

If you really want to do more graceful and show martial arts you should really pick Wing Chun.

Answer 5

Hapkido - bares a lot of similarity to Aikido.  It's a Korean grappling art.  It deals with joint locks, throws, and pressure points like Aikido.  I think it teaches weapons.

Karate - very popular style obviously and comes in many flavors.  Very linear style/hard style (not like difficulty).  Hard/Linear style means it's more direct and focuses more on strength and impact like breaking bricks and boards.  Teaches weapons as well.  Focuses a lot on punching.  A striking art.  Overall, a pretty balance style.

Tae Kwon Do - similar to Karate as it's a linear/hard style as well though it relies a lot of kicks.  It's more of a sport than fighting style.  It has stylish kicking moves and fanciful footwork.  Not very useful when you're pinned down on the ground and when you've broken your leg. lol  Teaches weapons too like Karate.

Kung Fu - it focuses a lot of speed and technique.  When I say technique I mean like how you punch and where you punch.  It's more an art like graceful movements.  Kung Fu has linear/hard styles like Wushu and Hung Gar and circular/soft styles like Tai Chi and Baguazhang.  Teaches Chinese weapons.

If you like doing flips then I really suggest TKD and Capoeira.  Wushu can be your alternate choice.

Answer 6

Karate as a Martial Art combines smooth, flowing, evasive movements with sudden hand strikes. In Karate the emphasis is on power. With its vast range of kicks, hand strikes and escape techniques Karate covers a broad spectrum of self defence and, as such, has an obvious attraction for men, women and children of all ages.

However, the wado-ryu style of karate,  "way of peace and harmony",  founded by  by   Hironori Ohtsuka, a student of Gichin Funakoshi,  in 1939. This style of karate combines basic movements of jujitsu with techniques of evasion,  putting a strong emphasis on softness and the way of harmony or spiritual discipline. Wado-kai or ryu  is one of the four major styles of karate in Japan.  Trained in classical bujutsu (the techniques of the samurai),  Sensei Ohtsuka applied this outlook and experience to his teachings. Some of the harsher resistive or hard contact elements of sparring technique,  typical of many karate styles,  are not present in Wado.  Sensei Ohtsuka rejected hardening certain parts of the body, such as hand conditioning,  as useless preparation.

While learning Hapkido the student acquires numerous skills.  These include Tan-Jeon breathing for improved general health, fitness and power.  Also practised are a wide variety of kicks, punches, blocks and strikes.  As the student develops they will go on to learn tripping, throws, wrist & arm locks and holds.  At advanced levels the Hapkido students can also study weapons like sword, staff, fan, dan-bong (short stick), cane and belt.

Kung fu and wushu are popular terms that have become synonymous with Chinese martial arts. However the Chinese terms kung fu  and wushu have very different meanings. Wushu can describe greatly varying martial arts traditions. Kung-fu can be used in a context without any martial arts whatsoever. Colloquially, kung-fu (or gung fu) alludes to any individual accomplishment or cultivated skill obtained by long and hard work. In contrast, wushu is a more precise term that refers to general martial activities. The term wushu has also become the name for a modern sport similar to gymnastics involving the performance of adapted Chinese bare-handed and weapons forms  judged to a set of contemporary aesthetic criteria for points.

There are also many different styles of kung-fu.

A typical class will include:

Basics  are a vital part of the training, as a student cannot progress to the more advanced stages without them; without strong and flexible muscles including the management of the concept of "Chi" (breath, or energy) and proper body mechanics, many movements of Chinese martial arts are simply impossible to perform correctly.   Basics training may involve a series of simple movements that are performed repeatedly over a short interval; examples of basics training include stretching, stance work, rudimentary conditioning, meditation and basic kicking and punching techniques.

Stances are structural postures employed in Chinese martial arts training.   They represent the foundation and exaggerated form of a fighter's base. Each style has different names and variations for each stance. Stances may be differentiated by foot position, weight distribution, body alignment, etc. Stance training can be practiced statically, the goal of which is to maintain the structure of the stance through a set time period, or dynamically, in which case a series of movements is performed repeatedly. The horse riding stance  and the bow stance are examples of a stances found in many styles of Chinese martial arts.

In many Chinese Martial Art systems, meditation is considered to be an important component of basic training. Meditation can be used to develop focus, mental clarity and can act as a basis for qigong training.

Forms or taolu  in Chinese are series of predetermined movements combined so they can be practiced as one linear set of movements. Forms were originally intended to preserve the lineage of a particular style branch, and were often taught to advanced students who were selected to preserve the art's lineage. Forms were designed to contain both literal, representative and exercise-oriented forms of applicable techniques which would be extracted, tested and trained by students through sparring sessions.

Many believe that Kung Fu form needs to be both practical, usable, and applicable as well as promoting flow, meditation, flexibility, balance and coordination. Often kung fu teachers are heard to say "train your form as if you were sparring and spar as if it were a form."

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and literally means “The way of the Hand and Foot”. It is a good means of self-defence and principally uses blocks, kicks, punches, locks and restraints to achieve this.  

Sorry for the essay!

Answer 7

Hapkido is a synthesis of Karate, Judo, and Tae Kwan Do, and it is considered the most practical martial art ever developed in Korea as it is relatively easy to learn, and you can apply it in self defense within a year of learning it.

Karate is a blend of native Okinawan martial arts originally called "To Te Jitsu," I am unfamiliar with the Okinawan name (Okinawan and Japanese are separate languages), and Chinese Kung Fu, especifically, the Fujian Crane style, and Hung Gar Chuan, both southern styles.  Its emphasis is defensive, and a counter offensive, delivered with maximum power and speed, to end a fight as quickly as humanly possible, at the highest levels with a single strike.  It also involves joint locking techniques which it borrowed from its Kung Fu roots, specifically Chin Na, and the Shotokan and Kyokshin styles both incorporate throws from Judo.

Kung Fu is divided, generally, into two major families; the northern and southern school, both originating from the northern and southern shaolin temples respectively.  Each of those styles is subdivided into internal, and external martial arts.  Internal Kung Fu emphasizes meditation, while external emphasizes the body's physical fitness.

The major styles are;

Tai Chi Chuan, and the five major variants (Chen, Yang, Wu, Hao, and Sun).

Hung Gar Chuan, a style originating from the southern temple.

Praying Mantis, also from the southern temple and a heavy influence on Hung Gar.

Fujian Crane style; developed by I believe a woman, who was a student of Hung Gar, but was inspired when, trying to whack some cranes that were bothering her while she was washing clothes, despite being trained with the staff, the was unsuccessful at hitting any of them.

Tibetan Crane style, not to be confused with Fujian, taught initially in the north, and one of the styles chosen by the imperial guard, the other two being Shuia Jiao and Tai Chi.  What allowed the Chinese emperors to burn down the Shaolin temples, was the raw power of this style.  Many of the soldiers who slaughtered the monks were in their own right experts in the Tibetan Crane style, a style that when perfected, makes it impossible to hit the practitioner.  Although, a variant is taught at Shaolin or it was anyway to my knowledge.  The monks took down many soldiers, but in the end they were overwhelmed by numbers.

Monkey Kung Fu, which is a form as well as a separate style.

Drunken Fist, which is a variation of Hung Gar emphasizing dodging.

From those major styles, a myriad of variants developed which means there are literally tens of thousands.  Then there is also Shuia Jiao (Chinese wrestling) from which likely Jiu Jitsu was born, as well as Chin Na.

In terms of "beauty," I would have to go with Shaolin; the 108 step "master's forms" are often very graceful when performed correctly.

Finally there is Tae Kwan Do, which originated from an ancient Korean art called "Taekyon," dating back all the way to before the Christian era, and later on it has been speculated, adopting moves from the northern Shaolin temple.  Highly likely since if you look at the location of the old northern temple on the map, it is actually not far from Korea, and after it was burned likely some monks escaped to Korea where they may have trained the soldiers there.

How else where they gonna eat?

Tae Kwan Do does indeed have a very limited range of hand techniques as the martial art focuses almost exclusively on kicking.

Still though; Shaolin Kung Fu has more kicks than Tae Kwan Do, more throws than Judo, techniques more powerful than Karate's, and the way it is taught and trained it, is actually even simpler than in Aikido.  That is, all fitness in Kung Fu is geared to prepare you for the martial art itself.

If you like doing flips, I would go with the Monkey style.

If you just wanna look good, probably Tae Kwan Do or Shaolin, although, Shaolin also works, it doesn't just look good.  Not saying Tae Kwan Do doesn't, just not as well as it is less complete.

good luck.

Answer 8

Hapkido- Tae Kwon Do style kicks along with joint manipulation.

Tae Kwon Do- Legs are primary weapons punches are also included. Some styles of TKD also have knees and elbows and are very similar to Muay Thai.

Karate and Kung Fu- I haven't taken them so I can't say for sure.