Martial Art Style Comparison

American Kempo Karate

2009-04-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

American Kempo Karate is an eclectic Martial Art with Asian roots.

Strengths: Practical Martial Art with a traditional base. Wide variety of skills and self defense techniques taken from many different styles of Martial Arts. Beginner friendly style that will adapt to the individuals abilities. Well structured training programs. Well rounded training system that teaches striking, kicking, impact training, ground fighting, weapon defenses, weaponry, joint locks, submissions, Kata, and conditioning.

Weaknesses: Tends to be an overload of memorization of material which makes it a challenging style to master.

Brazilian Jui Jitsu

2009-04-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

Brazilian Jui Jitsu is a Martial Art that focuses more on ground fighting and control.

Strengths: Very effective for one on one encounters on the ground. Great conditioning. Trains actual sensitivity and body positioning. Great submission training.

Weaknesses: Very dangerous since you will be learning chokes and joint locks. Not practical for multiple attackers. Dangerous for street defense because the style is trained on the ground which is the worst place to be in a real self defense situation. Style tends to be more sport oriented. Many of the techniques will not work when certain attacks are allowed. Most practitioners lack vital, effective striking skills.

Tae Kwon Do

2009-04-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Tae Kwon Do is a Korean Sport Martial Art

Strengths: Amazing kicking techniques. Good free sparring techniques. Most popular sport Martial Art worldwide.

Weaknesses: Sport oriented therefore lacking practical self defense skills. Little to no hand to hand skills. Limited punching or hand striking techniques. A focus on competition tends to develop more bad attitudes and egos. Requires a high level of athletic ability to be proficient. Primarily a FLASH type of style.

Kung Fu

2009-04-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

Kung Fu is a Chineese style. There are many different types of Kung Fu.

Strengths: One of the most beautiful of all the Martial Arts. Considered to be the "father" of all Martial Arts. Fighting system rooted in philosophy of developing the whole person, not just fighting skill. Vast variety of skills and techniques including weaponry. Focus is on fluid motion.

Weaknesses: Overall lack of practicality. Much of the self defense training can be too "fancy" to be practical. Very complex style to learn and master. Much of the weaponry is more show than practial use. Limited impact training. Many kung fu schools can be Eastern religion based in which philosophies can conflict with modern day American society.

Uechi Ryu

2009-04-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Uechi Ryu is a traditional Okinawan form of karate.

Strengths: Emphasis on body conditioning. One shot one kill striking philosophy. Great for developing striking power by rooting to the ground. System has some of the most dedicated practitioners.

Weaknesses: Traditional to the point of unwillingness to change with the times. Too much emphasis on Kata (patterned fighting). Training lacks practical application and in most cases is out of date. Not enough mobility, mainly a linear style vs circular. Not enough variety in skill sets. Body conditioning can be tough on the body over time if trained improperly.