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TAEKWONDO vs JIU JITSU vs KARATE

Hey,

I've just joined uni, and I want to do all 3 martial arts. Realistically I can only do 1 properly, maybe twice a week, and another one once a week.

Thing is I know taekwondo and karate are kicks/punches etc, and jiu jitsu is grappling, however I've never done martial arts before.

Any suggestions? This may sound stupid but in an actual street fight which martial art is more useful? I've heard Jiu Jitsu is the best martial art considering most fights end up on the ground anyway? At the same time the kicks in Taekwondo/karate etc look awesome, however in reality I don't know if they're any good?

Thank you :smile:

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Reply 1

Emanon

Hi,

The truth is that there is no 'best' martial art, if there was everyone would do it and the others would die out. Different people are better suited to different techniques, and different clubs will teach in different ways.

I would suggest attending all the classes once or twice and making a decision based on factors such as:

Does the instructor seem competent? What is the atmosphere in the class like? Do you enjoy the class? What do the more experienced students think?

Before starting Uni I decided that I wanted to to Taekwondo because a friend had started it and it looked 'really cool'. However after one session I knew it wasn't for me so I tried a Karate class instead. I haven't looked back.

Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 2

Genki Sudo

BJJ is superior to all other martial arts!

imo

Reply 3

zebra12345

Original post by Emanon

In reality, i.e in an actual fight which is the preffered martial art? I'm thinking of doing taekwondo for the flashy moves (from what I've seen Karate is more generalized, more use of the hands etc) and jiu jitsu for the grappling?

Reply 4

Emanon

Original post by zebra12345

The preferred martial art is one which you can use competently. It only takes one good technique to finish a fight, whether it's a punch, kick, or throw makes little difference. Martial arts clubs vary massively in how good the teaching is, which is why I suggested trying them before making a decision based only on the name of the art.

*Disclaimer* I have never been in a street fight, this is what i have been told by my instructor who has been in several.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

JohnC2211

Original post by Genki Sudo

BJJ is superior to all other martial arts!

imo

... Except for when your opponent has friends and you take him down and they all kick you in the head. Or when you're rolling around on the floor outside some club and roll over some broken glass.

Reply 6

A Perfect Circle

Muay Thai and BJJ.

Sort it out son.

Reply 7

miser

Brazilian Jujutsu practitioners like to say that most fights end up on the ground, which may or may not be true, but what is true is that fights aren't that clear cut - most people have friends, and their friends will join in, in which case being on the ground is the worst place you can be since you can't defend yourself adequately from a standing attacker. Out of those options, I would go with jujutsu.

Karate is a great art and I really like it, but it is primarily taught in kata (sequences of choreographed movements intended to transmit techniques and concepts) which will not be immediately applicable. Karate that is taught in a more hands-on way will usually still be points-based, and training in those kinds of competitive rules-based environments can do terrible things to create unwarranted self-confience in your abilities to handle yourself in real-world altercations.

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that focuses a lot on kicking due to its development roots. Check out some Youtube videos to get a feel for what it's like, but personally I don't find it very appealing, mostly because of its emphasis on distance - there is no real grappling element to taekwondo which means that if an opponent closes distance on you, you will not be well-equipped to deal with that situation.

Jujutsu however, though there are many, many different styles, often teaches both long- and mid-range situations (which require striking) and close-range situations (which require grappling, locks and take-downs). Depending on the club (and faithfulness to historic roots) it does not necessarily focus on a competitive element, where techniques must be necessarily limited due to the damaging nature to the aggressor. Specifically, koryu styles focus directly on the teachings transmitted to previous generations (and members of the Samurai class in Japan) which were purely about efficiency (necessiraly as their applications were usually to be employed in life-and-death situations) and so they lesser take into account the well-being of the aggressor (which is required in competitive sports). The drawback of this is that you need to be conscious to a certain degree which techniques you are taught would be permitted reasonably under a self-defence scenario.

Reply 8

Pochi_X

I am going to do Goju-Ryu Karate!

As far as I know, there's 10 styles of Karate, each is different and unique.

Reply 9

Genki Sudo

Original post by JohnC2211

... Except for when your opponent has friends and you take him down and they all kick you in the head. Or when you're rolling around on the floor outside some club and roll over some broken glass.

Then tell me the amazing martial art that will work against several people effectively if that happens, please do share.

Reply 10

Sunshine showers

In a 1 v 1 brawl, I would go with Taekwondo because you are able to maintain a distance from the attacker in case they pull out a weapon and you need to escape.

If there are multiple attackers, martial arts is pretty useless so you are better off running away.

Reply 11

Einheri

BJJ is awesome. Some styles of Karate are good others are lame - Kyokushin is great. Whatever you do don't take TKD - it's toss.

Reply 12

JohnC2211

Original post by Genki Sudo

Then tell me the amazing martial art that will work against several people effectively if that happens, please do share.

The 100m sprint.

Either way, any standing martial art has a distinct advantage over BJJ for facing multiple opponents.

Reply 13

Bobifier

Taekwondo is probably the most ineffective martial art you will come across.

Reply 14

Genki Sudo

Original post by JohnC2211

The 100m sprint.

That's a good argument, saying BJJ isn't better than other martial arts because running is better than using BJJ.

Logic, how does it work?

Reply 15

User570431

Ju Jitsu sounds the coolest IMO

Reply 16

H.JJJ

Original post by Einheri

BJJ is awesome. Some styles of Karate are good others are lame - Kyokushin is great. Whatever you do don't take TKD - it's toss.

Thoughts on someone taking up Judo?

Reply 17

Xarren

Errrm, I'm going to be honest here - I wouldn't even go as far as considering taekwondo a martial art. More of a sport if anything.

One of my good mates is a british taekwondo champ, not that he could hurt a fly with his kicks.

I've never tried BJJ myself, but quite honestly it looks very efficient.

This is coming from a boxers perspective. I still think boxing is the best choice :P

Reply 18

Einheri

Original post by H.JJJ

Thoughts on someone taking up Judo?

Judo is similarly awesome.

Reply 19

Einheri

Original post by Xarren

This is coming from a boxers perspective. I still think boxing is the best choice :P

I like striking as an addition, but IMO grappling is the best base for a well-rounded fighter. If I shoot for a double leg and take you to the ground what are you going to do?