What is best? Kung-Fu or Karate?

Question

I know each has it's own advantages. When it comes to self-defence, which one is the best for a common man? In today's world, it is necessary that each one knows a bit of self-defence. I read that Karate is more of offense and Kung-Fu is more of defense. Can someone clarify?

I have already done some research in Google about the same. Anyone who knows the practicality of these two would be great to clarify this question for me.

Many thanks.

Answer 1

ah- the age old question:

"how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop"

why don't you ask mr. owl.

Answer 2

karate is easier to learn but thisis hard to say because it depends on the form of karate and  gong fu and it also depends on the teacher i like jeet kune do which is often considered kung fu ummmmm i realy cant say maybe karate cause it is easy to learn and u can just strength train and practice ur kata and be good at it but u decide iv etooken dragon kims karate and a s for gong fu i do jun fan gong fu and jeet kune do it all depend s on what u do otherwise as well karate is good with strength gong fu is good with focus

Answer 3

Yes, one is better than the other. It will depend on the practitioner.

Answer 4

"A karate punch is like an iron bar--whack! A kung fu punch is like an iron chain with an iron bar attached to the end, and it go Wang! and it hurt inside."

- Bruce Lee

(though probably a little biased)

Answer 5

With respect to Jake R, karate is in no way easier to learn then Kung-Fu. Both if taught and trained right are excellent for self defense, but understand "karate" and "Kung Fu" are fairly generic terms. It is the equivalent of saying which is the best car. how many different models of car are there? The same thing with karate and kung Fu, there are many different styles. Karate for instance:

3 main branches:

1) The original Okinawan styles- These generally tend to be very self defense oriented, with very little flashy technique. Most are a blending of hard and soft techniques. The stances tend to be more upright then the Japanese and Hybrid styles. They emphasize very tough conditioning, and despite what the uninformed think have many standing grappling applications, as well as knees and elbows.

2) the Japanese styles- Most of these are extremely hard styles, which may be where Jake gets his answer from. Stances tend to be much deeper, and most today are taught more as a sport then a self defense art, although taught right they are very effective.

3) Hybrid styles- These are styles developed fairly recently, and run the range from excellent to pi** poor.

So you see you really can't just use karate and Kung Fu, because within them are many differences. Both if taught and trained right can be very practicall.

Edit for k1_fan- I realize this will not make a difference to you but both karate and Kung Fu are very practical for self defense. Very seldom will you square off like in boxing in a self defense situation. A street fight maybe, but not self defense.

Edit for nedbar- Hello? 18 years training here. very instinctive. Any of our Brown nelts would be able to defend themselves against 95% of the people walking around out there? What you think you don't have to train the moves in Krav Maga repeatedly? Give me a break. If you took Okinawin karate you probably quit because it wasn't fast enough for you and actually took work and study.

Answer 6

If you just want to give yourself an edge in a real life street situation then i would suggest boxing.... because that is were its at. I dont care what these others say about diff styles. I have studied karate for more years than i care to remember but i have to say honestly that when the chips are down no amount of ushiro- geri or mawashi-geri or uraken will help.

Certainly go to one of these clubs because they will give you confidence and you will make friends for life, but on a practical point go to boxing and even study a little bit of judo as a back up

goodluck

Answer 7

the age old question on this site: "Which is better?!"

Honestly, and i'm a Kung fu teacher, for common practices, I'm going with karate.

not to say that i encourage the McDojo. no need to waste money on a "family" karate dojo. The fact is kung fu is much harder to learn. karate is a hard style that is right to the point in terms of block, strike, throw, subdue and much of that carries directly into a street fight situation.

kung fu is referred to sometimes as a dance-like style of martial arts. the moves are subtle and very lethal, but hidden in a lot of movements that the student might never fully understand unless he/she is training at a high level of proficiency.

though it hurts to say, i'd go with karate for what you're looking for

~Jake

Answer 8

If you're looking for self-defense, choose neither. You are training your brain and your body to learn techniques when you do forms or katas so unless you do about 1000 a day you're not going to be effective in the heat of the moment. You'll never try and throw an up block or a reverse round-house in a real fight, because chances are in the time that it takes to think about what you're going to do, that guy that's been eyeballin' you has already knocked you out. I've tried both Okinawan Karate and Kung-Fu, and if I could do it all over again, I would find something with situational self-defense. In fights I've been in, I never used one technique from Karate or Kung-Fu because it's not instinctive unless that's what you've been taught from childhood (3-4 years old.) We don't have that luxury in America, but in China they still do it. Try Krav Maga, or anything that will prepare you for ground fights. That's were most of them go anyway.