Introduction
Martial arts are a popular lifestyle activity to take part in, due to its fitness benefits, self-defence aspects, and broad cultural appeal. However, it can be difficult to choose which martial art to focus on, given the many different martial arts out there. If you find yourself in such a position, this article could be helpful for you, as we shed light on what makes one of the most popular martial arts – karate – different from the others. Knowledge about the different martial arts is important for making a decision on which to pick. So what are you waiting for – lets dive right in!
Striking-based:
Karate is a martial art which focuses mainly on striking. Striking techniques include punches, kicks, and elbow strikes, and they form a definining aspect of karate.
In contrast to the striking-based nature of karate, there are martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling focus more on grappling and ground fighting. These martial arts focus mainly on controlling and submitting an opponent. Grappling techniques, which are a defining aspect of a grappling-based martial art such as Brazilian Jiu-Jistu, include joint locks, chokeholds, and throws.
Weaponless:
Karate does not use weapons, whereas other martial arts such as Kendo and Fencing use swords or other weapons as part of their training and techniques.
Karate does not use weapons, but focuses instead on using the body’s natural weapons, such as the hands and feet, for striking and defending. This is in line with karate’s philosophy of self-reliance. Reliance on one’s own skills and strength is seen as important for personal development.
Martial arts which involves the use of weapons include Kendo, in which practitioners use the shinai (bamboo sword) and the bogu (armor) during sparring.
Hard and linear movements:
Karate techniques typically involve striking with a lot of power and force, and travel in a straight line. These techniques are meant to generate maximum impact in each attack against an opponent. Two of such techniques are the front punch (gyaku-zuki), which is a straight punch delivered using the front hand, and the roundhouse kick (mawashi-geri), which is a circular kick delivered with the back leg.
This is in contrast to other martial arts like tai chi or wing chung, which are characterized by their soft and circular movements.
Conclusion
We hope this short article has helped you attain a rough understanding of what makes karate, karate. Although it is among the topmost popular and well-known martial arts, it would also be good to explore other martial arts and what they have to offer, before coming to a final decision. Because of this, we would recommend going on Entresell. Entresell is an online marketplace focusing on brand discovery, meant to help you discover and shop from new brands to best meet your lifestyle or enrichment needs. It would be a great way to explore other martial arts besides karate and the schools or instructors who teach them.
