Which is the more affective Martial art, Taekwondo or karate?

Question

If you wanna use it for self-defence

Answer 1

neither and both.
All depends on your ability and the ability of your teachers. Both arts can be effective and both have their pro's and con's. The most effective martial artist is one with a wide range of experience. If you know how certain styles work you know to recognise their weaknesses and find your advantage in that. That's the ultimate reality in all martial arts.

Answer 2

I'm not exactly sure what it is you're looking for, but here goes: What Krav Maga offers, compared to classical martial arts from the Orient, is a self-defense system that is more compact and a more "realistic" approach to training. The former is not exactly new, but it does provide a simpler and more focused curriculum that might be easier to absorb in a relatively short amount of time. Meanwhile the latter has always been a part of classical martial arts training; even if it's not widely advertised as such, and the fact that many schools have forgotten about it. Anyway, if you want an Oriental martial art that, shall we say, comes close to the "realism" of Krav Maga, then all you need to do is find a good dojo/dojang/kwoon whose students train with a healthy dose of realism, aliveness, and resistance. You see, it's the training method, not the art. Full contact kumite (or sometimes bogu kumite) in traditional Shotokan dojos, the Senshusei course at the Yoshinkan Aikido honbu dojo - just to name a few examples - and many other training venues offer instruction that is just as realistic - if not more so - as the best Krav Maga schools, and sometimes bloodier as well. Also remember that Krav Maga itself has many faces. The Krav Maga taught to IDF troops rely a lot on the fact that trainees are disciplined and physically fit soldiers who are also conditioned to face actual combat, while those available to the civilian populace is a mixed bag, marred by the fanboys and marketers who hype it up way too far. You know, if you could rephrase your question, or add more details on what it is exactly that you're looking for, you might get better answers.

Answer 3

I think this is another one of these questions that has absolutely no relevance to the vast majority of martial artists. I am a black belt shotokan as is my son. He also trains in a Self Defence class with a Tae Kwon do instructor who has the humility to acknowledge that he can learn from my son's karate. Contrary to comments above karate practitioners do not 'pull' punches. The skill is in control which can be used to either prevent contact or do serious damage. If you are pulling punches you are not doing karate.

Answer 4

AAAAARGH , Tae Kwon Do is not all high kicks. A kick can go where ever the practitioner is able to place it.

All DoJangs are not McDojos , some are very reputable.

I have a Kung Fu School up the street from me that charges 800 bucks for 6 months , the instructor asks for 90 bucks to evaluate you for testing , then more money for testing.

I have a karate school in my town where the instructor gave himself a black belt and is teaching and handing out black belts to students.

On the other hand there is a Uechi Ryu school here that is very reputable , and I must say Tae Kwon do School as well. (ME) I do not teach for a living , and have never deluded myself that I would. I do not promote students who do not deserve it , and all students must know self defence. I bring in instructors from other martial arts to give my students a range. The response may be that this is not a typical Tae Kwon Do School , but here it is. We realize what we have to do to stay teaching our art , which is part of the reason why Tae Kown Do has spread to 182 member nations in the WTF and over 10 million blackbelts world wide.

Sour grapes over what a club has done in your town (good or bad) does not make Tae Kwon Do bad.

To put down Tae Kwon Do as an art because of an oppinion you have been taught is wrong. Maybe the school near you is bad , but they are not all.

McDojos happen over all the martial arts. But so do good schools.

Answer 5

I am a 2nd Dan of Shokokan Karate in Cumbria. Taekwondo is full contract in sport. Karate is best for self-defence, good for competition. As I no because my club is one of the best in the country.

Answer 6

Yo Man. Taekwodondo and Karate are different. In kararte when u kick u need to pull back and in taekwondo u just need to fix ur kick or puch. i love taekwondo. i have also done karate , it was bit boring though. Taekwondo is korean form orgin and kararte is japanies.
If u liike to see blood on peoples face and even urs then go for Taelwondo. Honesty i never had any beating this far but have smashed lot of people.

Answer 7

karate is more likely to be.

Depends on how you train. If you train realistically then it doesn't matter too much what style you train in.

HOWEVER- tkd, has a reputation for NOT training realistically and what they call sparring (point sparring) a five year old would call tag (its what he plays with his friends in the park). I'm sure somewhere in the world there is a TKD school that adapted the art to realistic fighting and training methods, however the vast majority of TKD schools suffer from unrealistic training methods because the focus is on unrealistic rule restrictions for thier "sportative" outlet. Unlike the ufc which pretty much designs its rules to add some measure of safety to its fights, tkd ruleset typically eliminates things like punches to the face, counterpunching, combinations and striking the supporting leg when one is kicking, etc.

Answer 8

well i normally would say it's not the art but the artist but in this case
i will say karate.tkd is karate koreanised and the reality and self defence taken out of it.as well as the martial,it's been replaced by money or business.money arts has a nice ring to it especially if your at the top of the ladder.just look for the golden arches MCDOJOS.

Answer 9

Although all martial arts have thier contributions in many ways regarding self defense, development of mind and body, improve focus, energy and discipline...I would like to speak from my own experience.
I have trained in Wing Chun, Boxing, and Kempo Karate as well as Kick Boxing since I was 14.

I am 38 now and I still train in many different arts.

Although I am not a grandmaster or a UFC Champion I can still speak from my experience in Martial Arts.

For practical self defense I would recommend Kempo Karate.

It is very linear in its attacks and it also has parrying movements that absorbs and throws stronger attackers off balance.

Even the blocks are powerful because they are taught with a striking motion on the attackers limb(s).

Also many of the strikes are used to knock an opponent down and/or inflict injury on the opponent as well as encourage the opponent to "back off".

Kempo Karate helps you finish the fight in a twinkle without the long variety of movements which can wast time if you are faced with multiple attackers.

A street fighter has many advantages when it comes to fighting because the street fighter is not locked in to any rules or regulations or routines.
But this should not be a disadvantage to the martial artist as most street fighters are good NOT because they are in good shape-but rather because they fight Dirty and use alot of Tricks and Intimidation Tactics- the "mask" of intimidation is what many street fighters like to use just like the way a dog shows his teeth. But the "mask" can be broken and when you do that- the opponent can be broken, too.
In martial arts you can use many Offensive moves which can help you fight off the street fighter without falling into any of the street fighters traps---Sometimes the best defense is Offense.

Kempo Karate as well as Jeet Kune Do can be very useful in self defense as they are very efficient and practical as well as fuctional.

To be effective in self defense anywhere -you must be able to finish the fight without wasting time and be alert, fluid, as well as focused.

Kempo and Jeet Kune Do can help you be a practical fighter without being robotic---in addition to this you will also be unlimited in technique, precision, and in control of the fight.

I hope this can help you.

Answer 10

Martial arts only teaches you how to react when in a fight not how to win one. I would personall go with karate because it heightens your natural ablities to defend yourself. A personal suggestion of mine would be to learn karate and take the skill that are EFFECTIVE in a fight and make them your own. Remember 75% of that stuff is fluff or conditoning your body. So take what you think is effective and create your own style of defence to meet your ablities and skills.