Taekwondo and Karate may look like the same martial arts form, especially with their belts and uniforms. However, they have major differences in technique, origin and history.
These fighting skills can help you develop more robust self-defence while improving your overall physical health, agility and balance.
Fitness trainers often recommend one of the two for people who need help sticking to a routine and a proper workout schedule. In fact, opting for martial arts classes can help you learn a new skill and experience a full-body aerobic exercise to improve your muscle strength!
However, many people aren’t aware of the difference between Karate and Taekwondo, even though they are highly coveted Olympic sports. Keep reading to learn more about the critical differences between the two martial arts techniques.
What Is Taekwondo?
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art form focusing on kicking techniques over other aspects of combat. This martial arts style is based on the belief that the legs are the most potent weapon of the body.
So, taekwondo focuses on giving its students better exposure to different kicking styles, including throwing, jumping, and spinning kicks. It doesn’t give much importance to other fighting techniques, such as punches, trips or sweeps, which are considered secondary.
Origin Of Taekwondo
Officially founded in the 1940s, Taekwondo originated as a leading martial art form in Korea. It is derived from the words ‘tae kwon’ meaning ‘kick’ and ‘destroy’–this highlights its fighting style of using kicks for attack and ancillary moves like punches for self-defence.
Initially, this martial art technique was popular among the Korean army as a form of self-defence. However, military martial arts, including Taekwondo, were banned during the Japanese occupation. But since Taekwondo had a vast influence among its practitioners, it morphed into different branches and gained popularity as one of the best combat sports. The major forms or branches of Taekwondo are as follows:
- International Taekwondo Federation (ITF)
- World Taekwondo Federation (WTF)
- American Taekwondo Association (ATA)
Today, the rules and guidelines of Taekwondo as a striking art are set by the World Taekwondo Federation, which is used worldwide due to its simplicity and popularity.
What Is Karate?
Popularised in pop culture by the ‘shuto uchi’ or karate chop, Karate is a full-contact art that specialises in punches, takedowns, kicks, ground fighting, and knee and elbow strikes. Karate focuses on hand techniques as the main method of attack, while kicks are used for defence. However, Karate places all the limbs of the human body on an equal footing when it comes to weapons during mortal combat.
Moreover, Karate is a Japanese martial art form that specialises in simple yet effective strikes with the least margin of error—this is why it is a popular self-defence technique.
Origin Of Karate
Karate originated over 500 years ago on the Japanese island of South Okinawa as part of the self-defence strategy of the then King Shoha, who was against weaponry. His no-violence stance led to the terminology ‘Karate’, which means ‘empty hands’. What’s more, this hand-to-hand combat technique is said to be highly influenced by Chinese martial arts like the famous Kung fu.
The followers of the first Karate master, Funakoshi Gichin, later established the Japan Karate Association to spread his teachings across the country. Karate gained popularity over other martial arts, and the first training space was established in the U.S. in 1945. From then on, modern karate emerged into a few different styles that are widely practised. They are:
The universal guidelines and competition rules for practising Japanese Karate as a sport and competing at national and international levels are set by the World Karate Foundation.
Karate And Taekwondo: What’s The Difference?
At first glance, taekwondo and karate can be very similar to someone who recently developed an interest in martial arts. Both Karate and Taekwondo involve learning basic techniques and using stances as training tools. From here, Karate and Taekwondo practitioners move on to more advanced techniques with overlapping, common styles. However, these two styles differ in techniques, forms and rules.
1. Techniques
Karate is one of the most developed striking arts, focusing on two methods: striking and kicking. A karate martial artist also stresses vital point striking, joint manipulations and throws that support executing powerful strikes. Moreover, it requires hard physical training to develop skills and restraint to build strong mental discipline.
On the other hand, a taekwondo school focuses solely on the kicking technique since they believe the legs are the body’s most powerful weapon. Besides, taekwondo training builds speed, flexibility, stamina and physical balance.
2. Forms
Karate is based on three forms called Kihon, Kata and Kumite, where Kihon stands for the basics every practitioner needs to learn. These basics include stances, strikes, blocks, punches and kicks.
Kata is a sequence or pattern of movements memorised to execute a synchronised strike; this requires speed, rhythm, memory and power. Lastly, Kumite is a kind of sparring that introduces drills in the routine to help you master defence movements and counter techniques.
Meanwhile, Taekwondo includes ‘Kata’ and taekwondo sparring. Like Karate, Kata is a set of movements executed in competitions. On the other hand, Taekwondo sparring is a full-contact combat with a balanced mix of defensive and offensive techniques.
3. Rules
Scoring in a Karate competition is based on the different parts of the challenger’s body, including the neck, face, chest, abdomen, side, and back. The following criteria also play an important role in judging a competitor’s ability:
- Accurate distance
- Good form
- Synchronicity and timing
- Awareness
- Vigorous execution
- Sporting attitude
Moreover, scoring techniques such as the Jordan kick are awarded three points, while middle-level kicks and upper-level punches can get you two points and one point each, respectively.
In Taekwondo, three kicks to the head have a value of three points, a spinning kick can score two points, and a basic attack has a one-point score. There are usually four judges in a taekwondo competition, and a score is awarded if most judges agree.
Taekwondo Vs. Karate
Martial art techniques like Taekwondo and Karate can give you a full-body workout while helping you develop mental discipline and physical strength.
Despite both styles being very popular worldwide, Karate is preferred as a method of self-defence. This is because Taekwondo focuses on competition rather than a full-body street fight technique for self-defence like Karate.
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