What's the difference between Kung Fu and Karate?

Just wondering!








Thanks!|||There are way to many differences for anyone to accuratly explain on yahoo answers. I am afraid if you really want an in depth answer you will have to do some research on your own. temptest steel has given you some links to start.





Other then the people who said Kung Fu is from China and karate is from Okinawa you can pretty much diregard most of the answers. You do not have to learn Kung fu from a master. example: Bruce Lee taught kung fu, yet he really only trained it under a Sifu for 5 years, and in no sense does that make him a master. I really do not know where people get this stuff from.





The main reason it is so hard to describe differences is that a lot of Okinawin karate was derived from Kung Fu motions that were taught by Chinese sailors, merchants, and diplomats, and incorperated in modified versions into the indiginous fighting art%26#039;s of Okinawa. Also complicating things is the fact there are literly 100%26#039;s of kung Fu styles, and many karate styles.





Example:


There are 3 main branches of karate right now:





What style of karate? There are numerous style that are broken down into three main catagories:





1) Okinawin- Karate originated in Okinawa, and true Okinawin karate is more then blocking, punching, and kicking. It contains numerous Locks, throws, sweeps, take downs, chokes, and clinch fighting techniques. The stances tend to be more upright, closer to a boxers stance, for mobility. Most styles are a blending of hard and soft techniques, and very few are flashy, and are focused on effective self defense motion. Okinawin karate tends to suit smaller people very well, because quite honestly your average okinawin is on the small side.





2) Japanese styles- These on average tend to be more sport oriented, but if taught by a good instructor are more then adiquate for self defense. These styles tend to have lower stances, which are great for power, but they sacrafice some mobility. Most japanes estyles that I know of would fall more into the hard style catagory.





3) American Hybred styles- These are styles that people have made up, and run the gammit from excellent to not worth c***. These are the ones you really want to check out the instructors credentials and who developed the style, and find out how well respected they are in the martial arts community.





Even this list barely scratches the surface. I suggest doing some research on your own, and not trusting many answers you will get on here, because these types of questions seem to bring out the people who have no clue.|||Here is a website the will tell you the difference between the two. It will also go into detail that will not be found in Yahoo Answers. Have a look.





http://www.ezinearticles.com/?The-Differ...





But the short answers is


1 - Location of Invention


2 - How difficule the Kata is (and whatever it is called in Kung Fu)


3 - Type of weapons used


4 - Uniforms used.|||Karate is from Okinawa (sp?) which is now part of Japan. Kung fu is from China.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_fu|||Kung Fu, is a philosophy, a way of life, Karate, is a fighting style. Anyone will teach a form of Karate, You can only learn Kung Fu from a master!|||Katana nailed it. I only thing I would add is that if you can find a good Okinawan school, I would go with that.|||kung fu is chinese and karate is japanese, both styles are way different, different punches, kicks and techniques. just watch youtube videos about each one and youll see a difference.|||kung fu is chinese karate is japanese evolved from kung fu and kung fu has more circular movements and offensive criterions|||Kung Fu has a type of fighting eg.eagle move, snake move.





Karate is a self defend and improving self-esteem.|||kung fu seems to be more fluid and karate more structured just my opinion as I%26#039;ve trained in both but best decide yourself :)***|||Kung Fu - Chinese


Karate - Japanese (origins from Okinawa)|||it depends on the styles of each