I'm going to tell you something incredible but easy to do in this article. I am going to tell you how to make your style of Karate into Kung fu. And, of course, you should be able to make your style of Kung Fu into Karate.

The fact of the matter is that Karate developed from Kung fu. For hundreds of years Okinawa was the shipping center of the far east, and every art, soldier, ambassador, or whatever, came through the doors, and the arts gathered, were dissected, and reorganized to the extreme. Still, there are only so many things you can do with the body, and the main differences are stylistic.

A punch is a punch, a block is a block, a kick is a kick, and a technique is a technique. Uechi Ryu used to be Pan Gai Noon, Shotokan used to be Te, and so on. That said, let's look at the exact stylistic differences and what to do about them.

First one will find that the stances in Kung Fu arts are lower, have more show, and are badly altered by the students desire for artistic manifestation. What I am saying is that somebody will sink into his back stance, put the ball of the foot forward, and tweak the hell out of the stance just so they can put on a display of having more power. Nothing wrong with more power, but this is not really power, it is not the real thing, not the real chi power that is available to a student who delves into the true art.

The stances common to karate are usually a bit higher, and they put more emphasis on snapping the hips into the move being done. Nothing wrong with this, but in the case of the back stance, for instance, the back leg is usually turned out too far, splitting the intention, and immobilizing the stance. Now, if you want proof, take a gander at images of classical stances in kung fu and karate and see if I haven't described what is happening accurately.

Moving up to the arms, the kung fu people have smoother, more liquid motions, and they swing the arms in a more circular fashion. Karate people, on the other hand, turn the hips sharper and explode the power outward in a more linear fashion. So the motion, and the energy involved in the two arts, vary from explosive lines to swinging arcs.

So, if you want to change your karate to kung fu, simply align the turn of your stance with the turn of your hips and let the arms swing wider. If you want to change from kung fu into karate, push off the floor, snap the hips, and make the circle of the arms tighter and more efficient. Yes, I realize this is simplistic, but, done for a few weeks, and your eyes are going to open, you are going to tap into the power of a different art, and that power, karate if you are kung fu, kung fu if you are karate, is amazing.

Now, before the purists get ahold of me and raise a rant, let me make a point. There is ballet and there is jazz and there is ballroom and there is...and in the martial arts, scratch the surface of the styles, and you will find the fundamental principles that are heart and soul to the immense power and art the human being is capable of. So, whether you practice a style of karate like shotokan, or a kung fu like mantis, give yourself a chance, try what I've said here, and let your art flower.

Al Case has studied martial arts forty plus+ years, including several systems of Kenpo, Karate, Kung Fu, Pa Kua, Tai Chi, and more. He is a writer for the magazines with hundreds of articles and a column, and he is the originator of Matrixing and Neutonics. You can sample Matrixing Technology by getting his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

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