Why are there so many different kinds of karate?

Many of these styles originated in different countries. There are still ancient writing and pictures of people using Martial Arts found on entombed walls that have been lost or forgot of thousands of years. In the recent past, however, there seem to be more and more groups breaking away from larger organizations and forming their own styles or clubs. This can be a good thing to some degree as at times larger organizations have different agendas than smaller organizations. But it can also be a troublesome thing as well when groups splinter and break because of problems relating to the egos of the instructors involved. Karate teachers are human too, full of the same worries and faults as everyone else. When you begin looking around into karate clubs try to find out how they are related to other organizations.

Read a little more about the different groups of karate and see where you would like to begin your training. There are many karate men and women who drift from one karate style to another. This is all right but of course if you find a good organization with good instructors you might want to stick with them. I feel you should really try and promote to black belt level before trying to tackle more than one style. The purpose for this is that as you train in one style you learn specific stances and moves, and in another style these may be somewhat different. This can lead to extreme confusion.

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