Now, if you're like a lot of other people, you're probably wondering what makes taekwondo any different from other martial arts. Or maybe you've only ever heard of karate and you're thinking "where did all these other karate knockoffs spring from?" If I have my taekwondo uniform on out in public for some reason, people often assume I do karate. It used to really annoy me. So, the focus of this page will be the similarities and differences between taekwondo and karate (although there are many other martial arts to get mixed up). |
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For the record, although taekwondo was partially inspired by karate, which is the reason for many of their similarities, they originated in completely different places. Taekwondo is mostly a mix of older Korean martial arts, whereas karate started much earlier in Japan (so, taekwondo is NOT a 'karate knockoff'). Plus, karate was also based on even older martial arts. However, karate, taekwondo, and the many other martial arts all have a lot of things in common. For example, the goal of a martial art is to learn to defend yourself. Also, they all have a big focus on self-discipline and self-control. Both karate and taekwondo are primarily forms of unarmed combat, meaning that they don't focus on learning to use weapons, although some martial arts do include weapons. Here are some of the differences between taekwondo and karate: |