Karate vs. Taekwondo
Quick answer
Taekwondo emerged historically from the karate environment and both arts have forms, belts and dan grades. Karate works in balance with hands and feet and in sport kumite allows only a light touch to the head. WT taekwondo is built on kicks, full contact in protectors and electronic scoring, and has been Olympic since 2000.
At a glance
| Karate | Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Japan | South Korea |
| Origin | 20th century (present form) | 1955 |
| Founder | Anko Itosu (codifier) | Choi Hong-hi |
| Contact | Semi-contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Full contact · Light contact (depending on style) |
| Sparring | Medium contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Full contact · Light contact (depending on style) |
| Competition format | Point fighting | Point fighting |
| Olympic status | Former Olympic sport | Current Olympic sport |
| Ranks | Yes (belts) | Yes (belts) |
| Rank recognition | fragmented | by federation |
| Attire | Gi required | Gi required |
| Weapons | No weapons · Weapons optional (depending on style) | No weapons |
| Forms | Forms at the core | Forms at the core |
| Relative cost | low | medium |
| Katas and forms in the encyclopedia | 67 | 41 |
| Techniques in the encyclopedia | 230 | 84 |
Scales 1–5
Rated for the typical training of an adult beginner in an ordinary club, calibrated across all arts.
What each art is built from
Editorial rating 0–3: how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
History and relationship
Taekwondo emerged in Korea after 1945 in an environment where karate was practised. The founders of the schools known as kwans had experience of karate and the Chinese arts, and several of them used the name Tang Soo Do, the Korean reading of the characters 唐手道, with which karate was written.
- Karate: Okinawa (Ryukyu), origins around the 15th century. Gichin Funakoshi brought it to the main Japanese islands in 1922.
- Taekwondo: the name was introduced by Choi Hong Hi on 11 April 1955, and the Korea Taekwondo Association was founded in 1959 from nine kwans.
- Choi Hong Hi stated that he had studied Shotokan under Funakoshi in Japan.
- The first taekwondo forms (Pyung Ahn) corresponded to the Pinan and Heian kata, created by Anko Itosu.
- The prevailing historical interpretation places the roots of taekwondo in karate, while the official Korean interpretation stresses a domestic origin.
Technique
- Hands and feet in balance: punches, kicks and blocks from stances.
- WKF kumite: 1 point for a punch to the body, 2 points for a kick to the body, 3 points for a kick to the head.
- Only a light touch is permitted to the head.
- Prohibited: contact to the throat, attacks on joints, open hand to the face, elbows and knees.
- Some styles, for example Wado-ryu, include joint locks and throws.
- The emphasis is on kicks, including spinning kicks.
- WT match: 1 point for a punch to the trunk, 2 for a kick to the trunk, 3 for a kick to the head, 4 for a spinning kick to the trunk, 6 for a spinning kick to the head.
- Fist to the trunk only, to the head only with the foot.
- Prohibited: grabbing, holding, pushing, attacks below the waist and attacks on a fallen opponent.
- ITF fights with light contact and permits hand strikes to the head.
In WKF kumite a karateka may, from 2026, strike a fallen opponent only with a hand technique. WT taekwondo penalises an attack on a fallen opponent with a penalty point.
Training
| Karate | Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pillars of instruction | kihon, kata, kumite | forms, sparring, breaking, self-defence |
| Sparring in training | from prearranged (yakusoku) to free kumite | kyorugi and matsogi, also step sparring |
| Forms | kata, roughly one hundred across styles | poomsae (WT) and tul (ITF) |
| Mental component | dojo kun, kiai, etiquette | meditation, breath control, etiquette |
We have not been able to confirm the training frequency or when a beginner first spars for either art. It is determined by the club and style.
Progression and ranks
| Karate (JKA, Shotokan) | Taekwondo (Kukkiwon) | |
|---|---|---|
| Student grades | 10 kyu | gup, numbered in descending order |
| Master grades | 10 dan | 9 dan, exceptionally 10 |
| Children's grades | we did not find them in the sources | 4 poom grades up to age 15 |
| Waiting between 1st and 2nd dan | 1 year | 1 year |
| Waiting between 3rd and 4th dan | 3 years | 3 years |
| Age limit | 3rd dan from age 18 | 1st dan from age 15, a British guide states 16 |
In karate it depends on the style: each organisation has its own regulations and belt colours are not uniform. WT taekwondo keeps dan grades in the central Kukkiwon register, while ITF has its own regulations with six belt colours and nine dan grades.
Physical load and risks
- Meta-analysis of 28 studies of sport kumite: 88.3 injuries per 1 000 starts.
- Most injuries of the lowest severity, mainly bruises.
- Most often head and neck (median 57.9%).
- Concussion at the WKF World Championships 2008–2014: 0.43 per 1 000 starts.
- Junior WT World Championships: 38.55 injuries per 1 000 starts.
- Australian amateurs in competition: 59.93 per 1 000 starts.
- In training 7.0 injuries per 1 000 hours, over 81% of all injuries occur in training.
- Most often knee, instep and foot, and ankle.
Who it suits
| Karate (WKF) | Taekwondo (WT) | |
|---|---|---|
| Youth in competition | under 14 (12–13), cadets 14–15, juniors 16–17 | cadets 12–14, juniors 15–17 |
| Seniors | from age 18 | from age 17 |
| Older age | we did not find WKF veterans' categories | poomsae up to the over-65 category |
| Women | at the World Championships since 1980 | at the Olympics since 2000 |
| Para sport | para-karate, World Championships since 2014 | para taekwondo, Paralympics since Tokyo 2020 |
Children
| Karate | Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest competitive category | WKF from age 12 (category up to 14 years), national competitions earlier, for example Shotokan SKDUN from age 10 | WT cadets from age 12, children's poom grades up to age 15 |
| Protection of children in competition | up to age 14 helmet and body protector compulsory, bout of 1.5 minutes | cadets head guard with face shield, round can be shortened to 1 to 1.5 minutes |
| Injuries in youth | Slovak children's tournaments: 45.3 injuries per 1 000 starts, 12–17-year-olds almost double the risk of 6–12-year-olds | we did not find an injury study in children alone |
| Benefits according to studies | the American Academy of Pediatrics report from 2016 lists karate, taekwondo and judo among activities that may improve fitness and motor skills | review of 8 studies (402 children aged 6–16): improved strength, flexibility, balance and cognitive performance |
Self-defence
- Kumite from prearranged attacks to free sparring.
- Resistance is limited by the scoring rules and the light touch to the head.
- Full-contact Kyokushin fights without gloves, but without hand strikes to the head.
- Wado-ryu and other styles also practise joint locks and throws.
- Self-defence (hosinsul) is part of the syllabus.
- WT sparring is full contact with protective gear, hands to the trunk only.
- The rules exclude grabbing, holding and attacks below the waist.
- ITF fights with light contact and hand strikes to the head.
Both arts train mainly at punching and kicking distance. The competition rules of neither develop ground fighting.
Practical use
| Karate | Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-defence | we did not find an official self-defence programme of the federation, a review from 2009 states that no study has compared the effectiveness of traditional arts and modern self-defence for women | randomised study of 30 women: improvement after 6 weeks in a self-defence test against simple and dangerous attacks, hosinsul self-defence is in the syllabus |
| Older age | randomised study of 89 people around age 70: improved reactivity, stress tolerance and attention after 5 months | study of women around age 63: improved sit-and-reach test and stance stability after 8 weeks, higher agility in postmenopausal women |
| Mobility | we did not find a study | a review in children and a study of older women report improved flexibility |
| Competing at an older age | veteran categories, for example Shotokan SKDUN up to over 68 years | poomsae up to the over 65 category |
The studies concern specific groups and short programmes. No general conclusion about suitability for women, older adults or people with sedentary jobs can be drawn from them. How close the training is to a situation under pressure is shown by the Self-defence transfer scale.
Competition
| Karate (WKF) | Taekwondo (WT) | |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | Tokyo 2020 only | since Sydney 2000 |
| Senior match | 3 minutes | 3 rounds of 2 minutes |
| Senior weight classes | 5 for men, 5 for women | at the Olympics 4 for men, 4 for women |
| Scoring | judges | electronic protectors and headgear |
| Forms as a discipline | individual and team kata | individual, pair, trio and freestyle poomsae |
Gear and costs
| Karate | Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | karategi | dobok, in WT usually with a V-neck |
| Competition protectors | gloves, mouthguard, body, shin and instep protectors | trunk and head protector, forearm, shin, groin, gloves, mouthguard, sensor socks |
| Relative cost | low | medium |
The difference in cost is mainly down to the set of protectors that WT taekwondo needs already for sparring with electronic scoring.
Availability and organisations
| Karate | Taekwondo | |
|---|---|---|
| World sports federation | World Karate Federation | World Taekwondo |
| Other organisations | styles and their organisations (JKA, IKO and others) | three ITF organisations |
| Central dan register | none, grades are awarded by the organisation | Kukkiwon in Seoul (WT system) |
| Recognition of grades on changing club | depends on the organisation, we did not find a general rule | in the Kukkiwon system yes, between WT and ITF we have not been able to confirm it |
When moving or changing club, what matters is which organisation the new club belongs to.
Switching and combining
- Stances, punches and kicks from kihon.
- Experience of forms, gradings and etiquette.
- For WT sparring, unlearning hand strikes to the head.
- Getting used to full contact in protectors and electronic scoring.
- Kicks and footwork, including spinning techniques.
- Experience of forms and grades.
- For WKF kumite, reducing contact to the head to a light touch.
- Developing hand strikes as a scoring technique.
The left column describes the move from karate to taekwondo, the right from taekwondo to karate.
Philosophy
- Suffix do: a way of self-improvement.
- Dojo kun: character, effort, courtesy.
- Funakoshi's Niju kun: humility, respect, patience.
- Japanese terminology.
- Five tenets: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit.
- Reference to the five commandments of hwarang.
- Choi's theory of power: speed before mass.
- Korean terminology.
Forms and terminology
Forms are part of gradings in both arts. Karate has roughly one hundred across styles and the official WKF list around one hundred. Kukkiwon uses eight Taegeuk forms for coloured belts and nine for dan holders, ITF 24 Chang Hon forms.
Common misconceptions
- Taekwondo is not a continuation of the ancient taekkyeon, and the Korean taekkyeon association denies a connection.
- Karate does not have one set of rules: WKF point kumite and full-contact Kyokushin differ in contact and permitted techniques.
- Taekwondo is not only an Olympic sport: alongside WT there is ITF, with light contact and its own forms.
- The white uniform and coloured belts are not an Okinawan tradition, Funakoshi adopted them from judo in 1924.
Which to choose
Frequently asked questions
Did taekwondo originate from karate?
The prevailing historical interpretation says so: the founders of the Korean schools practised karate and the first taekwondo forms corresponded to the Heian kata. The official Korean interpretation stresses a domestic origin.
Which of them is Olympic?
Taekwondo has been Olympic since 2000. Karate was on the programme only in Tokyo 2020, and the 2024 and 2028 Games do not include it.
How long does the path to a black belt take?
We have not been able to confirm a typical duration. Only the waiting periods between dan grades and the age limits are fixed, for example 1 year between 1st and 2nd dan in both JKA and Kukkiwon.
Where is there more kicking?
In WT taekwondo: a kick to the head and spinning kicks give more points than a punch, which may only target the trunk. WKF karate scores punches and kicks in a more balanced way.