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karate and tae kwon do are generic terms, represents several styles. karate is over 50 styles and tkd is over 75 styles.

karate is not just striking , karate contains both striking and grappling as well as stand up and ground, tkd is also the same. not all instructors teach this in there style, more because they dont know what is in there own style

effectiveness is depending upon how you train not what you train. even in the same style one person can be very effective and the other person completely ineffective

I've done both and I can honestly say it's going to greatly depend on the quality of instruction. They both have their pros and cons. With TKD it's a high risk, high reward style sometimes. Yes Those fancy high kicks of TKD can definitly work in a fight and will be a one hitter quitter, but you better hope you don't miss. TKD also tends to encourage full contact competition which is priceless for becoming an effective fighter. You will be much better off if you're used to getting hit. Now with karate, they usually have much more training with their hands for strikes and focus on blocking more. They use effective and low risk kicks. The downside is that I have often found it to be too defensive in nature and you need to be aggressive or have great technical ability. I am being very general and I know this doesn't apply to all forms of karate or taekwondo but it is the vast majority from my experience. You can go to a good karate school but if you're not used to getting hit and do no contact or light contact sparring, a lot of that is going to go out the window when you get in a real fight. In a perfect world find a place that is balanced. There are both TKD and karate schools that focus more on self defense.

This is a perpetual question. I sometimes don't bother answering it because it is asked so often.

Today I feel like pontificating.

I know in your sole you know the answer. The best art is the art you devote yourself to and train in as though your life depends on it. Taekwando, Karate, Wu Shu or you name it. All these arts were originally developed for hand to hand combat. The best one is the one you become masterful at. The victory goes to the best fighter not the art. Sure Some arts have their perceived flaws. Experience has shown me that with time and an open mind any art can be great and the student will when he learns enough be able to adapt it to himself and make it part of himself, adding tools as he learns to fit the art to his individual needs.

Dan you obviously do not train with me. In my TKD classes we punch a lot. I have the bruises every week to show for it. Grabbing the leg of a skilled martial artist can get you a lot of no ware fast and hit while you are busy holding a leg.

I, too, agree that either is effective - it boils down to the quality of instruction and your ability to learn.

But don't be misled: Taekwondo does not, has not, and never will forbid punching or grabbing. 80% of all taekwondo (and related style) forms are hand techniques to some degree.

Your job is to find a school that properly teaches you self-defense - be it Karate, Taekwondo, or any other style.

They are both effective. The one with the best instructor more so than the other.

Both were designed to fend off, by killing if necessary, armed assailants with the bare hands.

As Kokoro stated, there are about 50 styles of Japanese and Okinawan arts falling under the umbrella of "karate". And yes, they all contain a lot of grappling, as do all combat styles.

The guys above me are correct. Its not the style, but the teacher, . Either one can help you in life or in a fight. If you want a broad generalization, TKD focuses slightly more on kicks, so you'll probably learn more complicated kicks in the earlier phases of training, compared to Karate. If you prefer punches, I would say Karate.

No style is more effective than another, its all in the manner of how you use it.

Both Taekwondo and Karate systems are very effective in self defense because both use methods that give the practitioners more options in a fight.

karate is a general term for over 100 striking systems in japan. that being said, tae kwon do is a sport system. after the japanese occupation of korea, many government officials believed they needed something to unify the country. they combined many systems into tae kwon do with the intention to make a national sport. it was simultaneously used in their military as their hand to hand system, but modern day tkd is based more on the sport then traditional. that being said depending on your school of karate it may be based entirely on street. there are sport systems that focus on the competitive rule based fighting just as much as any sport, but you can also train in older versions of okinawan karate. all the systems are very similar with small differences, i was once told you can only hit so many ways. for good *** kicking fun i prefer they karate systems that end in ryu, i believe these are the okinawan styles of karate. shotokan is a bit more modern with slight variations in name and technique so that the japanese would accept the style easier and set up closer ties with okinawa.

really it all comes down to how hard you train, how you train, and how skilled your instructor is and more importantly how he is at teaching. look at the top students in the class and decide if their skill is something that you want for yourself. if they've been with him for a while (several years) and still aren't good you might want to assume he isn't a very good teacher. watch classes in both tkd and karate to see which you like more, speak with the instructor and ask about their street techniques.

i prefer karate to tkd for effectiveness. tkd uses a lot of kicks that are good but were more applicable in korea's early history.

In taekwondo you are not even allowed to punch, or to grab the opponent's legs when he kicks you. This means that the training is very impractical- you develop bad habits of leaving yourself open. Karate is better for self-defense by far.

just take muay thai