| Okay, keep in mind that some styles of Taekwondo use more hand attacks than others. Tang Soo Do is also an option as it is essentially a Korean version of Japanese Shotokan. That being said, a breakdown of some styles of karate (and a few other arts)though I apologize because my knowledge is somewhat limited in some areas and I am away from my normal references.
Karate Styles:
Shotokan: Gichen Funakoshi's style, based on Shuri-te techniques but changed slightly to make it more accessable to teach in the schools in Japan.
Shorin Ryu: a modern descendant of Shuri-te, uses pretty much the same forms as shotokan, though many with their original Okinawan names.
Isshin Ryu: founded by Tatsuo Shimabuku, this style throws vertically aligned punches (thumb on top) though I forget what katas it uses.
Goju Ryu: the hard/soft style. Does a fair amount of body conditioning and uses its own katas
Ueichi Ryu: An offshoot of Goju Ryu, and as I understand it, it uses the same katas as Goju.
Kyokushinkai: Mas Oyama's style. This style emphasizes sparring from what I understand.
Other styles:
ITF Taekwon Do: uses Chan-Hon forms, and uses both punches and kicks, though kicks are still the primary method of attack.
WTF Taekwondo: Olympic style TKD, uses Taeguk/Palgae forms, and many (though not all) schools place more emphasis on sparring and competition. Primarily kicking style, punching/striking very limited, especially in sparring.
ATA Taekwondo: I do not know too much about the Amercian Taekwondo Association, though they use the fairly newly created Songahm forms. I have no idea what rules they spar by or what percentage of hand and foot techniques they use.
Tang Soo Do: As I said above, a Korean version of Shotokan which was taught during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Tang Soo Do tends to throw a few more kicks than its Japanese counterpart and they usually try to throw them higher. |