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If you are like me, you are looking to get in a little better shape. What better way to do that than to start taking up martial arts. There are literally hundreds of different types of martial arts styles, and you want to make sure that you are getting a good deal on your karate lessons. Karate studios vary in quality, and unless you know what you are doing it might not get the best deal available. There are hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of karate instructors and their quality varies widely. Let’s take a look at three different tips to keep in mind when shopping for a karate studio.

1. How long. This might not seem obvious at first, but the length of time that a karate studio has been in existence is more important than you would think? Why is that? Because many karate studios are like restaurants. People who open restaurants generally are good cooks, and maybe not the best business people. Just because you’re an Olympic athlete doesn’t mean you are a good business person. So what if a karate studio is brand new, the odds of its staying around for a long time, are fairly low. But if the karate studio has been around for a little while. You might be a lot safer, signing a long-term contract with them.

2. Instructor. Who is the instructor? Is he or she a well-known name? Is in a chain of karate studios? The instructor makes all the difference. Finding a good instructor is like finding a nugget of gold. The good ones are hard to find, but when you find them, you should really stick to them. Ask the instructor or what his qualifications are and how long he’s been practicing karate. A little legwork goes a long way.
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The two most common martial arts practiced in North America are karate and tae kwon do. Many wonder what the difference between these two martial arts is. This is especially the case for those who are just starting to look around for a martial arts studio. After all, most practitioners in both karate and tae kwon do seem to wear the same type of white gi uniforms with various colored belts.

Modern traditional karate was developed in the islands of Okinawa in Japan after some influences from Chinese martial arts. There are actually different styles of karate but they are all commonly considered as Japanese martial arts today. The colored belt system was developed to show the various ranks of karate practitioners with white depicting novices and black belts (with various degrees) representing instructor levels and higher. There is a whole range of other different colors in between. Modern tae kwon do was developed in Korea after much influence from Japanese karate during the occupation by Japan. Indeed, tae kwon do is sometimes referred to as Korean karate. The Koreans adopted similar white uniforms along with a colored belt ranking system for tae kwon do. Today, there are two main styles of tae kwon do, one under the International Tae Kwon Do Federation and the other under the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Many tae kwon do schools have added a black lining to their white uniforms for black belt levels. A V-neck top is often seen in schools affiliated with the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. There are also older Korean styles including tang soo do and moo duk kwan. Some of the more Americanized karate and tae kwon do schools also use uniforms with other colors such as red, black and blue in addition to the traditional white.
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For many people, especially those who are not familiar with martial arts, the question often arises on what the difference between karate and kung fu is. Upon watching somebody doing martial arts, the untrained eye will find it hard to tell whether that person is doing karate or kung fu. Even those who are beginning martial arts may sometimes be confused about the different styles until further exposure to them will reveal just how different they really are.

Historically, the people living in the islands of Okinawa just south of Japan got exposed to Chinese kung fu martial arts due to the close proximity to China. Over time, the Okinawans and Japanese developed their own styles of martial arts now known as karate from the original influence of Chinese kung fu. Although both karate and kung fu utilize many similar martial arts techniques, most kung fu styles will usually have more variety of techniques compared to karate systems. It’s almost like the Japanese streamlined the number of techniques from Chinese systems to develop karate. The Japanese also modified the way techniques are executed in karate as they became more linear compared to kung fu. This is especially evident in the forms or katas (traditional sequence of set moves) where karate techniques are performed with crisp movements that have distinct stop and go motions.

In kung fu forms, movements involve the use of more circular techniques, particularly with the hands. These circular motions give kung fu forms a more visually graceful look as techniques seem to flow from one to another. There is less stop and go with most kung fu styles. This is why some martial artists, especially in North America, often refer to Chinese kung fu as ‘soft’ styles while karate and tae kwon do are ‘hard’ styles. This is not to say that hard styles such as karate or tae kwon do are more powerful martial arts than kung fu and other soft styles. The term ‘soft’ is a bit misleading because the power from circular kung fu moves is often hidden. Circular moves can generate just as much power as linear ones found in hard styles. Most kung fu forms are also usually more complex and longer in duration than most karate forms. To most martial artists, a kung fu form will look much more exotic while a karate form will look more straight forward in terms of martial arts techniques. Interestingly enough, there are karate styles such as goju which do have quite a lot of circular techniques similar to kung fu. Kempo styles are considered a hybrid of Chinese kung fu and Okinawan karate techniques with both circular as well as linear techniques. There are also many more different styles of kung fu compared to karate.
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Besides rocks, one of the most basic of all weapons throughout mankind’s history across most cultures has been the long wooden stick. This makes sense since sticks were always readily available in the forests or could be easily made. The Asian martial arts took the long wooden staff into an art form as many martial art styles include the long staff in their systems. Some styles even have traditional weapons forms or katas featuring the long staff. Some systems of martial arts train with weapons such as the staff through practical techniques only without the use of set forms.

Unlike many martial art weapons such as swords, knives, kamas and sais which are short range, staffs are long range weapons with superior reach. This enables the user to attack and defend from a distance which can be frustrating from the point of view of an opponent who has a short range weapon. Long range weapons are also useful in keeping multiple opponents out of reach too. Of course, long weapons such as the staff cannot be easily concealed like short range weapons so they can be cumbersome to carry around.

One of the most popular martial arts weapons from the Japanese karate styles is the bo. Even today, the bo is usually the first weapon taught at karate schools and is the most common weapon seen at tournaments. The bo staff comes in different variations. There are heavy bo staffs which resemble thick poles which are considered more traditional and there are lighter versions which are tapered at both ends. There are also multi-sided bo staffs such as octagonal but these are much less common than the usual round, circular versions.
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