Karate for kids or martial arts for kids, what do I choose, what is the difference?
I am sure this questions has crossed the minds of parents who are looking to get their kids involved in a martial art of some sort. Let me try to explain as best as I can.
Karate has become a generic term that defines martial arts that include Japanese karate, Japanese jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, judo, kung fu and essentially all martial arts. I liken the term karate to kleenex. Kleenex is actually a brand name, but because it ruled the market for so long all facial tissue is called kleenex. In the south all soda is referred to as coke, even though Coke is a name brand. So it is with karate, most people and even most martial arts instructors don’t know that karate really understand what real karate actually is.
Karate is a Japanese term meaning empty hand and became popular in Japan after Funikoshi introduced the martial art to Japan from Okinawa. Karate is different from Tae Kwon Do and other
martial arts in origin, method, focus and teaching. Many martial arts may have blocks, strikes, kicks and forms but differ in how it’s taught and what it is meant to do. Just like all facial tissue is not created equal all martial arts are the same. Even though karate is what they say they teach or even advertise it can be completely different.
Martial Arts studios or dojos in Fort Collins are doing just what I explained above, saying they are teaching karate or using karate as an advertising keyword and are not teaching true karate. At Total Ryu Martial Arts we teach true Japanese karate. Our system has kata, striking, blocking, kicking, takedowns and throws like karate is suppose to have. Our kids martial arts programs are a combination of traditional karate and traditional jujitsu. We teach the kids karate techniques such as blocks, strikes and kicks while including jujitsu self defense applications. The kids jujitsu self defense applications include escapes from many different kinds of holds and attacks. Our reason behind our kids curriculum is essentially self defense without aggression. We want to have a well rounded self defense based martial art for kids and have found that combining kids karate and kids jujitsu into one kids martial arts program is the best way to accomplish this.
Our adult karate program is very different from what others have. As you can see from what is included in the website it includes kata, rule of 8’s, throwing, striking, blocking, kicking, multiple attackers and more. Also check out our fantastic adult jujitsu classes, they are a fun and engaging way to learn martial arts.
If you are looking for a martial arts program for your child or yourself we have the class that will meet your needs. Total Ryu Martial Arts is dojo for the entire family. Come try a class for free and you will see that it’s for you.
