What is the difference in karate, japan karate, taekwondo, tai chi, or kung fu if any?

Im going to be entering my kids and I, in martial arts classes this summer, but I don't know which one. I don't know what to really look for in a class either.|||Depends what you want for your kids.


If it's just as a physical exercise for your kids, then any will do, most schools offer trial period, so the decision will depends on which one your kids enjoy and probably price for the lesson.





If you want your kids to learn a real self defense art, then I suggest to stay away from Taekwondo, as most TKD schools are now just watered down version of the actual art, and will train very little in term of self defense.





Karate is good as self defense only if you can find a serious Karate school. As with TKD, Many Karate schools are so watered down too (nicknamed McDojo).


BTW, Karate is actually a Japanese art.


Kyokushin Karate is a very good form of Karate with emphasize on full body contact sparring to prepare the practitioner for real world application.


But I won't suggest Karate for your kids, as the McDojo ones are useless and the serious ones are too hardcore for kids.





Chinese Kungfu, which includes Tai Chi are alright, but this will pose the same dilemma as Karate. The fakey ones are basically just teaching your kids how to dance, the serious ones will be very hardcore. (serious self defense school will put emphasize on real contact sparring, rather than touch spar or point spar like TKD)





My suggestion for your kids will be to train in grappling art like Brazilian Jiujitsu or throwing arts like Judo. They have pathways for world class tournaments and they are pretty effective when it comes to self defense. If possible, find Judo school that train with no gi (martial art uniform) so you know they also put emphasize on real world use.


Those art above are softer art and you won't have to suffer seeing bruises on your kids as much as if they take Kyokushin Karate. Nothing is stopping your children to take the more hardcore training when they are older, but those other arts will provide them with the physical training.


They then can combine the arts together and be good at both stand up and ground fighting.|||Your kids won't like tai chi, it's almost entirely slow motion breathing exercises.



Most kung fu (kung fu is very varied, in fact tai chi is a form of kung fu) is traditional and elaborate with forms named after animals like the tiger and the monkey. It's pretty good but it depends on the instructor



Karate is more hard-style: straightforward punching and kicking while yelling. It has the white jackets with the belts (e.g. black belt) that you see on the tv and in the movies. It can be effective for self-defense but only if the school is a "hard contact" style like kyokushin. If you don't want your kids fighting for real then there also are tons of karate schools that don't do that.



There is no "japan karate" as karate is already from japan (originally okinawa, which is an island owned by Japan)



Taekwondo is unrealistic to the extreme, with movie-style kicks. You are not allowed to punch, catch the opponent's kicks, kick to the legs, grapple, grab the opponent's wrist, etc. It's centered around slap-kicking for points. Check out olympic taekwondo on youtube, the olympic's own announcer laughingly called it the world bouncing championships.|||Karate is Japanese it means empty hand. It has been taught in Japan for a thousand years. Tae kwon do is the Korean version of Karate brought from japan in the 50's. Tai Chi is not really a martial art but a chinese exercise routine that looks like kung fu. kung fu is the original chinese boxing that was developed by unarmed monks in china many years ago. Karate is also used as a general term to describe all of them. I have taken Karate and tae kwon do. I prefer karate because of its practicality and easier learning curve. Tae kwon do is nearly the same but with difficult to learn and generally impractical flashy hollywood style kicks added.|||Sorry Jeffrey but Tai Chi or it' s correct name Tai chi chuan is a real martial art with a long history of centuries. It is much older than Taekwondo and might be as old as Karate or the original Okinawan Te.


The slow movements are just one part of the martial art. I briefly trained in a Wu Style Tai chi chuan school in Sydney, Australia. They did the slow form (48 movements) then you could move up to the fast form (with the self defence applications) and also the weapons like double swords and spear. Tai chi chuan is a solid martial art when taught well. As good as Karate or Taekwondo when correctly instructed but like all three can be taught incorrectly or often not completely like the other two. Many only teach the slow forms. Kung Fu like Wing Chun, Bak Mei and Choy Li Fat are awesome too.





My advice would be Karate or Taekwondo for the kids. It will keep them fit, make friends and be social. It will teach self defence. When they are older they can choose to stay or go to another MA for self defence.





Note: I am not saying Karate or Taekwondo are bad for self defence. I do not know the branch of them or instructor. I assumed they would be McDojos/McDojangs since they are kid classes. However both can be great! ITF Taekwondo or JKA Shotokan Karate are solid for self defence and be great for your kids to train in throughout their lives. Kung Fu is great too like the ones I mentioned earlier. Tai Chi would be better for them when they are a bit older.