Hi,

What are the main differences between Chinese, Korean and Japanese Martial Arts?

Is it Weapons they use or what?


?

I would say that Japanese, Korean and Chinese Martial Arts ARE the closest of all the styles, schools of Martial Arts

If you look at the forms, Kata, Hyungs or Poomse, depending on the country of origin they will be very similar

We can take many of them an link them across all 3

Take Bassai, this was a Chinese fighting style which the kata/form was introduced into Japanese karate and then into Korean karate like Tang Soo Do (Korean Shotokan).

We can take other forms too like the Pinan series, this was Okinawan which has Chinese influences still a mystery and is practiced in Korean and Japanese schools

I suppose if you are unsure what you want to do try all three and pick one

In the end ALL martial arts originate form India in the Tamil regions

Hi,

What are the main differences between Chinese, Korean and Japanese Martial Arts?

Is it Weapons they use or what?


The main difference between them are the countries of origin...

Then there are philosophical differences...

Strategic differences...

Cultural differences...

Range of focuses...

Even within a single country, there are a vast range of different arts, especially within the Chinese martial arts.


In the end ALL martial arts originate form India in the Tamil regions

I have to disagree.
Martial arts originate from everywhere that there has been conflict, and those involved in the conflict have sought to improve their chances of victory/survival by seeking better techniques and stratergies.

You're statement, I'm assuming, follows the common belief that Damo/Bodhidharma brought martial arts to China from India - this is not true, as fighting arts existed within China long before this. Many styles were kept within families and not propogated.

Koku Tora wrote:


...In the end ALL martial arts originate form India in the Tamil regions

Not so. The etymology of Martial is taken fromm the root Mars, the Roman god of War and Conflict.

As a matter of fact, it has been hypothosised by those wiser than I that the Indian Martial Arts themselves may have been influenced by the Greek/Macedonian armies of Alexander, whom we know for a facy pushed his Empires boundaries into what we now call India.

Bailu Taiji wrote:

Hi,

What are the main differences between Chinese, Korean and Japanese Martial Arts?

Is it Weapons they use or what?


The main difference between them are the countries of origin...

Then there are philosophical differences...

Strategic differences...

Cultural differences...

Range of focuses...

Even within a single country, there are a vast range of different arts, especially within the Chinese martial arts.


In the end ALL martial arts originate form India in the Tamil regions

I have to disagree.
Martial arts originate from everywhere that there has been conflict, and those involved in the conflict have sought to improve their chances of victory/survival by seeking better techniques and stratergies.

You're statement, I'm assuming, follows the common belief that Damo/Bodhidharma brought martial arts to China from India - this is not true, as fighting arts existed within China long before this. Many styles were kept within families and not propogated.

I totally understand and agree with you to a point in asian culture a lot of the styles practiced today especially the Tai Chi styles some of the Gung Fu styles and Okinawan styles are as you said "father to son" in the heritage and not until the last 100 years did they start to aquire students that were not related to their teachers.

I am looking more on the "Silk trade" as a way the Tamil Martial Arts came into China and beyond as opposed to Damo/Bodhidharma. Either way there is some "national pride" in the heritage of some of the styles therefore some of the History has been "amended" to make it more "appealing" to the country claiming ownership of the style etc. We just have to look at the Korean arts to see this, they are predominately Japanese arts translated into Korean by their founders then a "history" of origin is founded on ancient Korean arts to justify they're Korean not Japanese

And we take Japanese Karate, this is Okinawan and was known as China Hand (Kode-Te) it was "National Pride" that eventually got it changed to Empty Hand (Kara-Te).

Its all there in wherever you look

Hello,

According to Shingo Ohgami (8th Dan (JKF Wado Kai), budo historian and author), it was Funakoshi that, in 1928, changed the kanji character from "Chinese" to "Empty" to reflect the concept of "emptiness" as found in Zen Buddhism.

I am with John and others when they say that martial arts almost certainly evolved alongside the human being and human conflict, where ever that may have been.

Ohgami details a lot of History here:

http://www.hogia.net/karate/karate/index.htm


Gary

the strange thing is that (i feel) most of the martial arts all come down to the same thing in the end: beating the other person/s in a fight situation or confrontation, even using psychological methods to avoid a fight at all.
along with the health benefits and enlightenment and sometimes just plain enjoyment that karate, kung fu, and korean arts can bring.

but people are endlessly bitching and arguing about which style is better,
yet i have endlessly seen similarities between japanese and chinese styles, as if they are sort of entwined and cross over in various places along the respective journeys, sometimes even the EXACT same techniques, but people are always putting other arts down.

it has been said that karate(japanese) starts off "hard" and softens and flows as one progresses on their journey (this i can testify to)
and uses a more common power with technique.
there tends to be lots of big warm-ups and stuff like that, but ironically features lots of chinese styles.

whereas wing chun kung fu, for example (chinese) begins using almost complete relaxation, and soft training (which is really hard to get used to when you are used to training in other styles that use "hard" power) and relies on there being no wasted effort, very close range with small movements, and machine gun type speed attacks.
creating muscle mass is considered bad as it will slow you down.

i don't know much about korean arts.

either way, it's up to the individual martial artist to properly apply their art and make sure it's doing what it should, sometimes there are perfectly good clubs but maybe a student just has'nt applied themself or has'nt bothered to squeeze the best out of their resources and not down to karate, kung fu, or anything else being rubbish as such.