What Karate style is Best for YOU?

Everybody is looking for something different when it comes to Karate! Whether its taking a traditional route of Goju Ryu, Shotokan, Kyokushin, wado ryu, shito ryu, etc or you want it for the sport karate or something in between, I hope this finds you well, and good luck on your Martial Arts Journey!

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[sturg]

“It isn’t a bad thing or a good thing, it’s just different styles” my favorite quote ever

[SloeElvis]

I've been doing kyokushin for a little over a year now and I love what you said at the end: if you want to achieve something, traditional karate is probably the most attractive. My school is very traditional and the shihan was a direct disciple of Mas Oyama.

I'm also into modern, very pragmatic fighting methods so I take what I learn there with a grain of salt whenever they talk about practical application, which makes the journey an exercise in discernment as well. I love your videos because they bring a totally different outlook to what I'm used to on the practices and techniques of karate as a broad fighting style.

Also, there's something to be said for kyokushin's insistence on high-power unprotected kumites, shin and knuckle conditioning and all that. Getting people used to getting hurt and feeling (not too much) pain in a very controlled and safe environment is great for self confidence and it probably does you plenty of favors in a self defense environment as well.

[michaelhanrahan]

Small town here, so options are very limited, but I'm very happy with the TMA style I've chosen. I would lump it into your "modern" category. It's nominally a "Kung Fu" style, but in reality it's more of a hybrid of modern Shotokan and more traditonal Shaolin-style kung fu . The early belts focus on learning and mastering the "harder" karate punches, kicks, blocks and katas, while the later belts incorporate the "softer", more fluid animal forms (leopard, snake, crane, tiger, dragon), which are fun to perform, even if they lack practicality. Given a choice, I'm more likely to clock someone with a clenched fist than a tiger claw... Unlike many other TMA, especially traditional kung fu, my head instructor (70+yrs old 8th degree black belt) was also a regional full-contact lt. heavyweight kickboxing champ in his day, so we also focus on kickboxing combinations and sparring. It's a really good mix. Plus one of the other senior black belts, who also has a blue belt in BJJ has started a BJJ session every week, which I'm pretty stoked about.

[RyFol]

Uechi Ryu, Goju Ryu, and shotokan are my favorites. Currently learning Goju and Shorin

[yuvacoothen]

While your description of traditional karate might be accurate in a lot of schools, it's not always the case.

I'm from Goju Kai style (i.e the Goju Ryu that was passed down by Miyagi sensei to Gogen Yamaguchi). We do have some point fighting competition karate (that I am not a fan of). Also yes we do the rigid blocks and other techniques during training but that is not how we actually fight. We look at it more like each technique can be broken down into more practical application. We do Jiyu kumite (full contact fighting) and move more fluidly than people might think karetekas do (that might be because of how it is depicted in movies).
This is an example of the competitive Jiyu Kumite in Goju Kai:


I'll be the first to admit that traditional karate lacks ground work like in BJJ.

[Ottepeg]

Nice explanation, when I did Kenpo it was mainly continuous fighting which was great, I used to have an instructor who let us beat the hell out of eachother, good times.

[jaysonderus]

"You touch somebody, Yell and run away" LOL

[ibliskhan]

I do Kyokushin karate, kickboxing and judo and honestly kyokushin toughend me up and helped me go toe to toe in close range

[Legkicker]

I do GoJu ryu with a tradition approach but the sparring is light contact for safety until you get your black belt. I’m a brown belt but I do full contact vs black belts and you learn tons from it. The body conditioning can also be quite relentless and throws, takedowns and joint locks are badass too. Traditional for me is my personal fit because it’s more than just your punches and kicks but it’s everything useful for a combat situation in a street as well as being really humbling as you do cop the occasional beating here and there which makes you bullyproof .

[blockmasterscott]

I've tried all 3, and being a big guy, I love traditional Karate(back in the 90s, I take traditional Chinese martial arts now) because I'm mostly a hands guy. I'm not good with kicks at all, but I'm a beast with the traditional conditioned blocks with my forearms. Did iron palm training for about 20 years with hands and forearms, and that's where I shine.


I never did well with modern and sports martial arts, I just never clicked with it. But the ultra traditional Japanese and Chinese martial arts is 100% for me. Never could kick well.

[KineticZen]

Informative and fun as always. The gent who teaches me Krav Maga is also a 2nd Dan in trad karate. Some insanely cool kicking skills! 😀

[runakobannister]

The style i learned was actually an offshoot of Tang Soo Do/So Bahk do. Instructor was a kickboxer for quite some time so we got that full contact training as well. Over the years ive tried to fill the gaps in my knowledge with Muay thai and MMA in general but im thinking i should really head back and get my black belt.

[dnaleksiev]

enlightenment is in modern martial arts, traditional are all about fighting

[Yogurt_alt]

Is there specific names for modern karate? If so what are they called

[normalhumanperson]

It's always good to keep in mind that karate styles are like paths to the tip of a mountain. Different ones will start in different areas but the more you approach the tip of the mountain, the closer the paths become.

[charlesdourado]

There is also kudo wich is a modern version with some traditional stuff in there

[PhilDancer]

A lot of schools where I live are super traditional but they teach practical methods. I think it's probably school dependant rather than style dependant.

[oldschoolkarate-o]

I’m from a Gōjū-ryū school with a sports karate tradition and a tradition of open tournaments, so it was a hybrid, traditional/ sports Style

[lanemir_sindjelic]

My style is all of these combined, we do full-contact, we do light contact and we do the kata and takedowns the traditional with a ground grappling kumite.

[ynotlearn]

Which style is modern karate? Please be specific!