A taste of Karate and Jiu Jitsu

Karate

I have had very few experiences of Karate, I have probably attended 3 or 4 lessons, the last one about 20 years ago in Banbury. As far as I recall I went to about two different clubs.  I was heavily into Taekwondo at the time so I wasn’t serious about taking up Karate, more of a few taster lessons to compare. I contacted the instructors beforehand to let them know of my intention.

I can’t remember what style of Karate but I’m guessing that different styles of Karate vary considerably. Some traditional and some modern alternatives.

Karate V Taekwondo

Google “Karate v Taekwondo” and lots of information comes up; Karate is Japanese, Taekwondo is Korean, Karate is more hand techniques, Taekwondo has more high kicks.  There are many differences.

Styles of Taekwondo vary and styles of Karate vary between associations, clubs and instructors.

Some say Karate is more of a martial art and Taekwondo a sport as it is included in the Olympics. However, Taekwondo as a sport relates mostly to the WTF style not the ITF style that is more self defence and less sport orientated.

My brief experience is that Taekwondo patterns (sets of movements against an imaginary opponent) are very similar to Karate kata (again, sets of movements against an imaginary opponent). The way in which the Taekwondo movements are performed to me was more dynamic than Karate using a wave motion and hip twist although again, different styles vary. I found the biggest different to be when sparring; Taekwondo using mostly kicks above the waist with only a small amount of hand strikes; Karate using far more hand techniques and very few kicks. The result was that if I could get a few kicking combinations making contact I could hold off my opponent but as soon as they closed the gap and got in close I was getting punched around the head. Thankfully sparring pads were worn.

Jiu Jitsu

It was about the year 2000, I recall this because I had an Inguinal Hernia in my groin area at the time. I attended a couple of lessons at the Banbury Jiu Jitsu club based in the Spiceball Leisure Centre. I wanted a grappling style martial art to practice alongside the Teakwondo. It was a traditional Jiu Jitsu club wearing white gi. The students were mostly adults or older teenagers which I preferred. I have to admit I was impressed at the friendly discipline and the way the class was conducted. The warm up consisted of the usual light stretching and cardio then break falls in preparation for being thrown around on the matts – and thrown around I was.

I recall we practiced several different wrist and elbow manipulations resulting in being flung in the air landing fairly hard. You couldn’t resist, if you did you would suffer great pain so you had to go with the throw (or flow). The hernia didn’t help, every time I was thrown it hurt as I landed.

The few classes I attended was a worthwhile insight into Jiu Jitsu. I daren’t venture back until after I had my operation to fix my hernia which was probably about six months later.