Karate vs Kung Fu

[Ian_Lee]

Who is the best fighter? Karate expert or Kung Fu Master?

Last year five Japanese Karate experts went to Guangzhou to 踢館 (Unfriendly challenge) against the Chinese Kung Fu Master.

But all five were beaten. The news shocked Karate organizations worldwide. This year they dispatched five more Karate experts again to Guangzhou. But these Karate experts are all Russians that include President Putin's body guard. The one being challenged includes the first runner up of National Kung Fu competition.

And tonight is the night:

http://news.chinatimes.com/Chinatimes/newslist/newslist-content/0,3546,110505+112005122300084,00.html

[elizaberth]

oh my god!! they really did that?

what are they trying to prove?

I am a Chinese Martial Arts trainee. so... JIA YOU! the KUNGFU MASTERS!

[Song You Shen]

This doesn't suprise me. Karate is inferior to Kung Fu in many aspects. Karate is linear and focus on one's own strength, which is limited. Kung Fu relies the strength that is transfered between the fighters which is almost unlimited. Kung Fu is adaptable and is fluid, while Karate is straight forward and ridgid. Karate is a hard form, while Kung Fu is a soft form... and a soft form typically wins.

I am not sure why this would have sent a shock through the karate world... this ration of wins/losses between Karate and Kung Fu has not changed over the centuries and China is known as having the worlds best martial arts for most than a few thousand years.

Youshen

[randall_flagg]

I'd just really like to see those fights. You can't download them anywhere, right?

[Quest]

Karate is one type of Kungfu... What Kungfu did they use to fight back? I will see if I can find the video somewhere.

[Outofin]

WOW, 5:0

But honestly, I don't think 散打 is Kung Fu.

[Quest]

For those who are interested, I uploaded one of them: 20 Second Knock Out

It's freestyle Chinese Sanshou vs Japanese Karate. As always, the fans never cheer for the Japanese.

[deezy]

Well, let's not forget that Okinawan karate was originally a Chinese knock-off (kara-te meaning "Chinese hand"). Only later on in the 30s after Japan had colonized China, did Gichin Funakoshi dilute it even more and change the meaning to "emptiness hand."

Anyhow, this modern karate is thus a degenerated bastard style that most martial artists will acknowledge as inferior to most others, except perhaps TKD...

[xiaojiang216]

The style that I study is called 上地流

(Japanese: Uechi Ryu, Chinese: shang4 di4 liu2)

Chou-tzu-ho, a 师傅 in 府城 taught a man named Kanbun Uechi. Uechi was studying a style called [pop=semihard/bànyìng]半硬[/pop][pop=soft/ruǎn]软[/pop] ("Half-hard, Half-soft").

Uechi began a school of his own. But he was attacked and in defense, he dealt a lethal blow. The people in the village blamed the death on Kanbun, and he returned to Okinawa. There he began teaching to Japanese students. After Uechi died, his students named the system after him. 上地, or Uechi, 流 or way. (Like 道).

The system is a mix of Chinese 功夫 and Okinawan martial arts. It specifically focuses on both hard and soft aspects. The first kata, Sanchin (三戰) "Three Conflicts" focuses on the hard techniques. Other katas, such as Seichin (Don't know how it is written) focus on the soft techniques.

So, to get the best of both worlds, study 上地流空手道!

[Ferno]

i never understood this marital arts stuff. the human animal was not designed to learn "moves" and "techniques" for fighting. It was designed to use adrenaline and momentum to batter a threat down and smash them until they stop moving. Theres no "blocking" except reflexively covering yourself from blows.

i always wondered what would happen if some big guy from the street went into one of these kung-fu competitions and just rushed his opponent, toppled him over, got on top of him and started feeding it to his face...

[Quest]

i never understood this marital arts stuff. the human animal was not designed to learn "moves" and "techniques" for fighting. It was designed to use adrenaline and momentum to batter a threat down and smash them until they stop moving. Theres no "blocking" except reflexively covering yourself from blows.

There's dodging, 借力打力，四两拨千斤, techniques to knock down someone twice your size.

Anyways, agility and flexibility certainly give advantage to the fighter, especially when weapons are used. Brute force, like what you described, is another approach. Martial Arts is about all of them, there are different approaches. Other than training up your body, martial arts also teach you how to identify the enemy's weaknesses, and strike where and when it's most effective. There are many martial artists but few true masters. Most practice martial arts as a sport now, so they can do the moves but they can't really apply them in fighting. We call it 有形无实。

Try this video: http://youtube.com/w/Urban-Skills---Ninja-For-Hire?v=rAfLBrz02Ko&search=urban%20jump

http://youtube.com/w/Ninja-Evolution?v=eKeTZsR7ePc&search=urban%20ninja

Hope you will appreciate the human body more, it can do wonders