Should I take Karate, Kung fu or Tae kwon doe?

Question

My dads giving me a choice of taking one of these classes, which one should I take?

Answer 1

You should take neither. Inform your Dad about how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the most effective form of martail arts. Tell him bow BJJ is desinged to defeat "other" martial arts and I am sure that he would allow you to take BJJ.

Answer 2

Sit in on at least one class of each before you make any decisions.

Then choose the one that is "most appealing" to you.

Answer 3

They are both really stupid. You learn nothing in Karate. Take Kickboxing/MMA

Answer 4

if i were you i would take kung fu. i took tae kwon do a long time ago and its an ok self defense martial arts. karate is also self defense somewhat close to tae kwon do. kung fu is more like an art. its a nice fighting style but it teaches you more than just self defense. its more involved in training and in my opinion its a better fighting style than either karate or tae kwon do. but i would suggest looking into either jiu jitsu or muay thai. jiu jitsu is more of ground work. in a street fight, the majority of fights end up on the ground. jiu jitsu teaches you how to defend yourself in this position. its one of the most effective fighting styles. it also teaches kicks and punches though. muay thai is more stand up fighting but its very effective. ask your dad about it if you can. but out of just those three, kung fu would probably be your best bet. and stick with it. i regret not getting back into it. after i moved. its so much fun and it gets you in shape and teaches you self discipline. have fun.

Answer 5

Wow the idiot patrol is out in force today lol.

Despite what thebigba.. says all of these arts are about defending yourself, not attacking. That being said all of these will exhaust every option to fight, but whne forced too will become very aggressive, and do what needs to be done, as quickly as possible, to survive.

As for vkotis any of these styles will teahch you far more then self defense, if you have a good instructor. They are all "arts" and most good schools teach them as such.

I wont recomend a style, even though I train a style of Okinawin karate, because I do not know what each school near you is like. My best advice is:

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.

The fact is that if you are not willing to do this, you are probably not going to have the drive to stick with any style for long.

Good luck

Edit for wonderf- How do you know BJJ is availible where he is at? If it is how do you know it's a good school? People like you are the reason so many BJJ/Muay Thai/MMA people are thought of as arrogant and disrespectful. I am quite sure you don't even train, and are a wanna be.

edit for dmaud - i am sure thatyou are an expert on Sholin kung Fu, but please quit tryng to tell people what karate cntins and doesn't contain, because it's obvious you have no clue.

Answer 6

DO NOT TAKE TAE KWON DO! Take either of the others but do not take TKD

Answer 7

It depends what style of Kung Fu it is.

If its Praying Mantis, Tibetan Crane, Hung Gar Chuan, or Sanshow, or h**l Shaolin, go for it.

If its none of those, take Karate or TKD; the choice between Karate and TKD boils down to the quality of instruction.

If you see overweight black belts, stay the h**l away from the school.  Their technique may be legitimate, but if a black belt is overweight it means they do not hold good training standards, and in a life or death situation that can cost your health or your life.

Between TKD and Karate boy, that's a toss up, and it boils down to what kind of instructor you see there.

Although I suppose, take the one with the nicest (and most fit) instructor, who holds the highest training standards.

Use your instincts; if an instructor gives you bad vibes, stay the h**l away.  Never train in a place that gives you the willies, or you have a bad feeling about, train in a place where the atmosphere feels good.

good luck.

Answer 8

dont take tae clown do its useless on the streets with those big ol fancy kicks its not practical karate is better depending on what style kung fu in my opinion would be best  but if you can get into bjj  that would be the best

Answer 9

They all have a lot of similarities. Most of the difference you'll see is from their country of origin. Karate is from Japan, so you will be hearing a lot of japanese words, and your training will be probably be traditional japanese style karate training (one of two main types more than likely).

Kung Fu originated in China, so you will see more of that culture. From what I know of most Kung Fu classes, they are fairly strict, but will give you an incredibly intensive workout. Depending upon your instructor, you may eventually receive iron palm training to some extent.

Taekwon Do is said to be a Korean art, although many will argue that it was heavily influenced by Japanese martial artists, and some will even go so far as to say it originated in Japan. However, regardless of its history, Taekwon Do focuses largely on flexibility. Expect an easier workout than Kung Fu, but be ready to stretch every day to make your training easier.

Really, its a personal choice. In order of difficulty I personally would rate it Karate > Taekwon Do > Kung Fu, with Karate being the easiest simply because I believe Taekwon Do conditioning to be slightly more intensive. This is not to say one is more effective than the others.

Also consider the credentials of the schools and instructors. In fact, this is probably the most important part of choosing a school. Really it is up to you, but there is no sense in training with someone who knows very little when you could be training with someone who could teach you an abundance about your art.

Answer 10

It depends:

TaeKwonDo: do want to do more self defenses, sparring, and forms? More legs

Karate: More concentration

Kund Fu: Is more of Art people whatch this stuff because it is beautiful!!

I have done TaeKwondo for 7 years and i am still doing it its so much fun you should do it 3-5 times a week!!

Answer 11

karate and kung fu focus mainly on attacking your opponent but tae kwon doe teaches self defence more. personally id recommend tae kwon doe