Kung Fu kinder to the body than karate

General
1

I started training in karate in 1982 and ended up getting my black belt but found the training very hard on the joints…I started in Kung Fu under Walt Missingham in Sydney in 1995 and have had no issues arising from training…Is Kung Fu kinder to the human body than karate?

2

Yes and no IMO. The main issue is karate’s information bottleneck compared to kung fu is quite extreme. There’s Okinawan vs Mainland then theres hierachy of Okinawan locals, then you have to roll the dice and see if they are willing to teach foreigners.

Overall it seems Many (but not all) Okinawan teachers are more willing to teach Asian visitors, especially Chinese.

How to maintain health and train safely is one of the core information bottlenecks in East Asian martial arts. Perhaps in modern sports also (rehab and prehab protocols).

3

I think that coming from a Shotokan based system with the karate where the emphasis is on aesthetics over function, there was tendency to lock joints out when kicking and punching the air.

I found the kicking in Kung Fu much easier on the hips and knees

4

I have heard that visitors to some (but not all) Okinawan dojos who have shotokan affiliation are turned away. Shotokan is the literal WW2 *mperialism style.

How to maintain the joints of the lower body is definitely an often ignored topic.

5

Ive not heard that…Ive only heard of Okinawan dojos being open and welcoming…The joints need to be protected

6

Hearing and experience are perhaps two different things.

*scratches belly

7

Ive heard it from experienced shotokan karateka here in Australia and in Japan

8

Then maybe time have changed or only a minor group is insular to westerners. I could always be mistaken. But the point stands that health and longetivity is a bottleneck and used as tools of control of the sifu/sensei over the ambitious student.

9

My answer to the question is largely YES. First because the theory and technique of Kung Fu are very wild in range. There is surely school of style in Kung Fu that is soft, like Tai Chi. On the other hand, Karate is regarded as mainly composed of hard techniques. So, people who are born with strong body would find it easier to train in Karate.

Regards,

KC

Hong Kong

10

Agreed, and also considering that fact that karate is just from 3 villages with Chinese language barrier, vs thousands of villages with knowledge continuity