| The two most common martial arts practiced in | | | | which are set routines which simulate |
| North America are karate and tae kwon do. | | | | fighting against imaginary opponents using |
| Many wonder what the difference between these | | | | martial arts techniques. The forms from tae |
| two martial arts is. This is especially the | | | | kwon do would have the opposite percentage |
| case for those who are just starting to look | | | | breakdown with 40% hands and 60% legs. In |
| around for a martial arts studio. After all, | | | | tae kwon do, there is also more emphasis on |
| most practitioners in both karate and tae | | | | higher kicks to the head level than in |
| kwon do seem to wear the same type of white | | | | karate. Tae kwon do practitioners also |
| gi uniforms with various colored belts.Modern | | | | utilize more jumping or flying kicks where |
| traditional karate was developed in the | | | | one is airborne while executing kicking |
| islands of Okinawa in Japan after some | | | | techniques. The tae kwon do forms or |
| influences from Chinese martial arts. There | | | | patterns are generally a bit shorter and less |
| are actually different styles of karate but | | | | complex than the karate forms. Some tae kwon |
| they are all commonly considered as Japanese | | | | do schools have been known to use the odd |
| martial arts today. The colored belt system | | | | karate form in its curriculum as well.In |
| was developed to show the various ranks of | | | | North America as well as other parts of the |
| karate practitioners with white depicting | | | | world, there are separate traditional |
| novices and black belts (with various | | | | competitions for karate and tae kwon do. |
| degrees) representing instructor levels and | | | | However, the open martial arts tournaments in |
| higher. There is a whole range of other | | | | North America often have competitors from |
| different colors in between. Modern tae kwon | | | | both karate and tae kwon do competing |
| do was developed in Korea after much | | | | together. Some of the larger open martial |
| influence from Japanese karate during the | | | | arts competition events will have separate |
| occupation by Japan. Indeed, tae kwon do is | | | | forms divisions for Japanese karate and |
| sometimes referred to as Korean karate. The | | | | Korean tae kwon do competitors but the |
| Koreans adopted similar white uniforms along | | | | fighting or sparring divisions will usually |
| with a colored belt ranking system for tae | | | | be combined. Many black belts in tae kwon do |
| kwon do. Today, there are two main styles of | | | | end up studying karate as well and the |
| tae kwon do, one under the International Tae | | | | opposite has been true too. Tae kwon do has |
| Kwon Do Federation and the other under the | | | | received more publicity in recent years since |
| World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Many tae kwon | | | | its introduction as an Olympic sport. The |
| do schools have added a black lining to their | | | | style and rules used for the Olympic version |
| white uniforms for black belt levels. A | | | | of tae kwon do fighting comes from the World |
| V-neck top is often seen in schools | | | | Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF). Both karate |
| affiliated with the World Tae Kwon Do | | | | and tae kwon do are considered as hard style |
| Federation. There are also older Korean | | | | martial arts in North America today (as |
| styles including tang soo do and moo duk | | | | opposed to soft styles such as the many |
| kwan. Some of the more Americanized karate | | | | versions of Chinese kung fu).Clint Leung is a |
| and tae kwon do schools also use uniforms | | | | lifelong martial artist with over 32 years of |
| with other colors such as red, black and blue | | | | training experience in kung fu, tae kwon do, |
| in addition to the traditional white.It can | | | | karate, kickboxing and martial arts weaponry. |
| be generalized that in karate, one would use | | | | He has won Canadian and world championship |
| their arms or hands for 60% of the time for | | | | titles (NASKA, NBL and WSKF). He is also |
| strikes or blocks while the use of legs for | | | | owner of Free Spirit Activewear ( , an online |
| kicking will be about 40%. This breakdown is | | | | retailer and designer of premium martial arts |
| seen in the many forms or katas of karate | | | | activewear. |