Karate vs. Kung Fu

[Kramerman]

Although Im mainly wondering which of these two is better (and why you think so), as a sort of japanese vs. chinese thing, I am curious at which form of martial arts in general is favored and why?

[Kramerman]

Ninjas use karate, right? or is is osme other form of japanese martial arts?

And what is that French martial arts developed by french sailors where they just use their feet?

and btw, my favored form of martial arts at this point is boxing (kick boxing), but i am greatly ignorant about other stuff too. So i would like to learn more before I explore any of my options more closely and hands on

[chequita guevara]

Kung Fu has better movies.

[chequita guevara]

Ninjas use ninjitsu.

If you'er interested in kick boxing, look into Akido or Hapkido (Japanese and Korean kick boxing arts respectively).

[DaShi]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Kung Fu has better movies.

And a better song.

[chequita guevara]

Everybody wanna go kung fu fighting
You know those moves are fast as lightening.

Or did you mean . . .

Hong Kong Phoey
Never met a great guy
Hong Kong Phoey
Quicker than the human eye

[Japher]

Look into Kempo (spelling?) Karate, it is an American, Bastardized version of Kung-Fu that has a lot of Karate moves incorporated into it.

From what I understand is that Karate requires more strength than Kung-Fu... I would ask around to see what would be best for your fighting style choice and height/weight...

I thought Hapkido was more along the lines of wrestling...?

or is that jui-jit-su?

[Lorizael]

it's called American Kenpo. Kenpo is about making the fight end very quickly.

[Proteus_MST]

I think it is impossible to say which is beter.

I think to moves within one martial art, there will also be Blocks in another martial Art whichare well suited for Defense.

So if one Kung Fu Fighter conbats an Karate Fighter I think the winner will be the one who knows his Martial Art best and so is better able to counter enemy Moves with the tactically best moves his own martial Art provides.

After all the Techniques taught to you during Training are just Tools and the real art lies therein, to use the Tools for best effect

[David Floyd]

First of all, never, ever take Kenpo. I took it for about a year, and it was horrible.

As for Kung Fu, I have a friend who took Wing Chun once. Once I started doing Valetudo/Brazilian Jiujitsu/Muay Thai, I killed him every time we sparred. He would actually get pissed at me.

The French style of fighting is Savate, and I don't recommend this, either.

There are various forms of Karate (Ishin-ryu, Shotokan, Goju, etc.), but honestly, I wouldn't take any of them. Like the various Kung Fu styles, the Karate styles are much too limited.

If this is your first foray into martial arts, I would recommend starting off with some boxing, or, preferably, Muay Thai, and eventually get into Brazilian Jiujitsu. There are a couple of places here in Austin where you can go for both.

chegitz,

You mentioned Aikido and Hapkido. I can tell you definitely that Aikido is not considered a kickboxing style.

Muay Thai is generally recognized as the superior style of kickboxing.

[Kramerman]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Ninjas use ninjitsu.

If you'er interested in kick boxing, look into Akido or Hapkido (Japanese and Korean kick boxing arts respectively).

I thought Aikido was a martial art of pushing and shoving and grabbing, or something like that? anyway, i read somewhere the SEALs use some customixed form of aikido for their unarmed combat

[Kramerman]

cool, thanks DF, i was hoping youd poke around.

Muay Thai is generally recognized as the superior style of kickboxing.

is that what you were talking about the other day?

[David Floyd]

Kramerman,

SEALs use something called SAFTA, I believe. It's effective, but not something you would want to learn - it's effective from the standpoint of killing, but not conventional self defense.

is that what you were talking about the other day?

Yes.

[Dis]

I just like the drunken master form of fighting

[Alinestra Covelia]

When you talk about gongfu, you're actually looking at an entire class of martial arts. There are a lot of gongfu styles and many of them are very different.

Right now I'm taking mantis gongfu and Muay Thai kick boxing. The former is extremely good for grapples and trips and joint locks. The latter is much more a "keep 'em at arm's length and take out their pressure points with surgical hits" sort of style.

I've also seen tiger style gongfu (Nan Quan - southern fist) and that looks very interesting. Mantis and tiger are both quite circular in the way they work - you're usually circling your opponent instead of going at them head-on.

All in all, you might want to try a variety of them. And remember that no matter how good the style is, it basically boils down to how well your teacher can train you. That's much more important than anything else.