Which one is better...? Kung Fu, Taekwondo, or Karate?

Question

which one should I take? I am very interested in the martial arts.. which one do YOU think is the best one? and why...

Answer 1

You can never tell which one is the best just by saying this is a better art then the other.The arts you are mentioning are very different in style and not to compare with the other.

It depends a lot on a couple of matters.

1.Everybody is different and has a different way of moving, to find the right martial art for you is just a matter of trying them for a while.
2. what do you want to reach with the sport, do you want it for self defence, to become fitter and more flexible or to become good in a art.
3. do you like the classes in the first place, every school and every teacher is different so it has to fit you.


The best thing to do is try all of them for a couple of beginners classes, most of the better schools will recoment that to you any way.

Tae kwon do is a fast moving and high kicking art, use to be powerfull and fierce, but lately very focust on competitians mostly( Depends on the school of course)

Kung fu can be a very good and fierce way of self defense, but not really easy to learn the basics.

Karate can be a very static way of defending, but happy to say they have very various way of practising it,
All of them have many styles so enough to choose from.

the problem with all of them is that they do not teach you how to break your fall if you are in a ground fight.

I am a martial arts teacher for 10 years now in 4 different arts.
Karate, tang soo do, Aikido and tae kwon do.
I practiced about 10 different arts in a period of 22 years and enjoyed them all.
I alway recomment my students to combine at least 2 of them to really become self confidence.

My advice is to look around.
Good luck and enjoy what ever you choose

Answer 2

all martial arts are good. if you like to get into trouble, take kung fu or taekwondo. if you want to keep yourself safe from bullies, karate, jujitsu or judo. jujitsu is good for keeping active, and it's really fun to learn. I've never taken any other martial arts, but I read alot and I'm always watching different forms of martial arts. kung fu is all attacking, and so is taekwondo. the other ones are mostly defensive styles.

Answer 3

Whichever you have most access to is the best for you. You don't want to spend lots of time commuting to learn a new martial arts.

Personally I like taekwondo best 'cause I practised that for a year before. You can learn basic kicks and punches and blocks and become more flexible and stronger..and you advance faster than any of the other two. That way you have a greater sense of achievement.

Kung fu is cool but don't be deceived by all the chinese kungfu stuff you need MANY years before you can get to that kind of standard.

Answer 4

I suggest you look into an ecclectic style, such as jeet koon do or american freestyle. These systems offer a more well-rounded approach to martial arts training. Tae kwon do is a kicking art. Karate is a "one punch, one kill" art, very linear. Kung-fu is more circular, very graceful, needing very good flexibility, and discipline. Jiu-jitsu is grappling, and joint manipulation. Aikido is good for understanding others body movement. Then , of course, you have boxing and kickboxing. Tremendous grit and cardio needed for these. JKD and AFK offer the best of some, if not all of these systems to build a more well-rounded martial artist. I hope this helps you find the art you prefer.

Answer 5

For interest, you may gradually take up all three. Cos to me all three are unique. There isn't one kind of martial art that rules.

I would recommend you to try ninjado. Or even ninjutsu, bywhich ninjado is derived from. I tried that for a few months and to the best of my knowledge, it covers skills (not in depth) from Taekwondo, (the normal kicks and punches) Judo, (Some flips in the higher stages), and self-defence skills that are pretty similar to aikido. You will also be trained to use weapons, which will enable you to make good use of your surrounding materials when you need to defend yourself, which taekwondo doesn't have.

Good luck=)

Answer 6

Disclaimer: I am a Tae Kwon Do instructor.
All are good arts. What is more important than the style tou choose is the instructor.
Tae Kwon Do & northern Shaolin Boxing emphasize foot techniques. Southern Shaolin & Okinawan Karate emphasize hand techniques & low strong stances, esp the horse stance.
Japanese Karate is somewhere in between. If you can find good instructors in all of the above, try a few & see what suits you best.

Answer 7

i have experience in taekwondo and karate and from what ive seen, tae kwon do is good if you want to learn a bunch of fancy kicks or just have strong legs. my friend plays soccer and does tkd and he has an awsome flying side kick. the only downside with tkd is that if you fight anyone who isn't strictly a tkd fighter, you will get the crap pounded out of you. when i switched from karate to tkd i had to hold back practicly all of my techniques and at least 50-60% of my strength. if your going for street fighting ability, karate would be the better choice.

as for kung fu, i hear it is very effective but have no personal experience in it.

Answer 8

Yaekwondo for the heck of it

Why should you learn Karate if you learn it to never use it? Kung Fu their is too many basic martial art classes.

Answer 9

none is better....each is known for their own techinques.......U SHUDNT TAKE ANY1 O THEM...U SHUD TAKE MIXED MARTIAL ARTS.....because in all these arts u can only fight when u r standing up...but if someone takes u to the ground then what will happen to u? think bout that...besides if u get into a street fight .....ur karate, or taekwondo wont help you! only ur reaction and Mixed martial arts will......

Answer 10

You didn't tell me what you wanted to get from it? Striking martial arts are usually better for cardio and getting in shap. Grappling ones are better for self defense.

There are also ones like Hap Kido which are a mixture of both.