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I know people are going to be disparaging about both arts before I even read the comments. Honestly, it *depends*. Kung Fu is usually taught really impractically, and really badly. However, when it's taught and utilised properly, it is extremely powerful and can certainly alleviate the problems that women and people with smaller frames have when dealing with big male attackers.
Whereever you go, make sure there is some resistance training and some physical orientation. Make sure you spa/wrestle with people of different sizes, and make sure you meet some *realistic* resistance. Forms are nice, but they're only archetypes. They only give you ideas. Make sure you don't learn to defend yourself solely in that way, with a pliant and slow attacker. In Kung Fu, you would traditionally do things like Iron Body/Iron Palm and body weight strengthening such as Fu Hu Gong. All of that is not strictly necessary, but the point is, people just do the soft aspects of Kung Fu, and then say it is ineffective. Work with a heavy bag, condition yourself, make sure your partner comes at you with realistic attacks, and Kung Fu is a wonderful thing :) It has tremendous depth to it, and the real traditional Kung Fu practitioners are healers. We really know, and are interested, in how to look after our bodies. A merging of the hard and soft. The disparaging and sneering ones will say that Kung Fu is shite. But they neglect the soft side to their detriment. The Kung Fu guys will favour the soft, and the reverse is true. Balance yin and yang :)
Most people also say that they should focus on wrestling. That just indicates that they can't hit with any real power...
You might like to consider other suggestions too. Certainly, what most people suggest are more efficient. They're just boring and prosaic to me though. So it depends on your personality. What are you interested in? Look at school websites and they should give you a flavour of what they do, maybe have some videos of demonstrations. See what captures your imagination, and trust in that.
Either would work but if you do it you need to stick with it all the way through don't do just a few classes then stop because at that point if you ever got into a situation you wouldn't be able to do much.
It depends on what you think would best suit you.
Karate focuses on a lower center of gravity and making your self unmovable as well as being able to break through enemy defenses and just go on a offensive onslaught. It's more rigid and focuses more on power then speed.
Kung Fu is much more agile and quick you rely more on being faster, dodging and using circular movements ( blocks ) to deflect and redirect enemy attacks, the attacks focus on speed over raw power.
Now keep in mind though that I am not a practitioner of Kung Fu
I am however a practitioner of Original and Traditional Kyokushin Karate The Ultimate Truth.
If I had to suggest a martial art best suited for women though I'd say it was Wing Chun since according to the legends it was created by a woman and the style was created to allow smaller weaker people to overcome stronger people in fights since it's highly offensive and you attack so fast and quickly and at such a fast repetition that you can actually cause the body to spasm out due to how many strikes you hit the body with and it just can't keep up, it's also great at whittling down an enemy's defenses to the point were they are so weak they can't even fight back or defend.
I tried boxing and brazilian jiu jitsuand tbh i am so physically weak i gave up and went for pepper spray... i suggest that you try these but if they don't work really just go for pepper spray , a whistle, a taser , a fake gun, nails, and screaming. And remember of you are wearing high heels take them off and run and/or use them as a weapon as well.
I took karate when I was younger and I really enjoyed it. I would like to get back into it one day.
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Rapists don't box, they wrestle.
Learn an art that emphasizes escaping holds and developing a solid base and good balance and footwork and using trips and throws to off-balance your opponents, and sweeps to reverse positions and create scrambles so you can get back up to your feet quick, fast, and in a hurry when someone takes YOU down, because in a real fight, that will almost CERTAINLY happen.
I recommend Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Freestyle Wrestling, Combat Sambo, Judo, and Krav Maga in that order, take a look at each and find a school near you that you like. If the school isn't friendly and accepting and encouraging, then look elsewhere for a different gym.
If you really insist on a striking art, I still think you need a grappling base, but I recommend boxing, Muay Thai, and kickboxing in that order. Boxing is great because it teaches footwork, angles, and movement for escaping and evading attackers, if you refuse to learn a grappling base, definitely look into boxing instead, because it actually teaches many of the same principles and keeping both feet on the ground is always better for balance and movement anyway.
I can speak only of karate, specifically Shotokan, as taught by the Japan Karate Association.
Shotokan is suited to the female physique, because the stances and centre of gravity are lower than those of other styles of karate.
Speed and power come from learning how to flick the hips in the required way. It is a simple fact that women have bigger and heavier hips and that their major muscle mass is in their arse and thighs.
This means that women are faster than men and can hit almost as hard as a man (mass x velocity = impact energy). In karate it is more about speed than muscle mass.
A competent female black belt is an extremely dangerous opponent.
I spar with women at a Japan Karate Association dojo. I can handle any of the other males (even the young ones, some of whom are much faster than this old man), but some of the women are simply too fast for me to win a fight with them. One of them is among the top 10 in the world. She has a reverse punch that is faster than a striking snake. We used a speed camera to time it.
I would encourage everyone, but especially women, to become students of traditional Shotokan karate.
Aside from the self-evident benefits of self defence and fitness, karate will develop your mind and your character. You will learn to focus, to control your mind and to get your mind and body to do things that those outside of the world of martial arts would not think possible.
If there is not a Japan Karate Association dojo in your area, here is a tip from an old black belt: if the average time of students at the dojo, between day one and passing their black belt grading, is less than 10 years, go somewhere else. It really does take that long to become competent and involves a lot of hard work and physical pain, all of which is character building.
Kung fu: not an actual martial arts but it means martial arts together.
Karate: Empty hand? Fairly powerful martial arts if you want to train to kill. It has moves for self defense but I don't really recommend it for purely defense. Because down to its core, karate is about killing the other guy before he can harm you. So unless you really are learning how to kill people, don't learn karate - most of the stuff they teach are watered down moves anyways.
Krav Maga with Jujitsu as the back up will be your best bet if you have to fight. They are practical with Krav Maga handling most of the situations while Jujitsu handles it when you are either pinned or just need to subdue someone. Start with Krav Maga then learn Jujitsu.
And don't learn Judo for self defense. A lot of its moves come from armored fighting. Not the most practical defense martial arts.
Akido shouldn't be learn at all unless you want to reach master status or are too old to have enough strength for Krav Maga.
I took Tae Kwon Do which is the same sort of style. To be honest, these are very slow to learn anything that could actually help you in a street fight. Like @GraveTruth said, they do not really teach you self defense fast enough. They are more for mind focus and concentration. The specific fighting techniques taught are more for combat with other martial artists, not street thugs. There are lots of great courses designed for women that focus solely on self defense and ways to protect your person and belongings. This is what I would recommend. As far taking a martial art, it can be a great way to get some exercise and stay in shape, and also meet new people. I would recommend Jujitsu or Aikido because those arts focus on self defense where you use your attackers momentum against them to block and counter. Aikido is a form of Jujitsu, which is what Steven Seagal is a master in, for example.
As a former soldier & having been an exponent in martial arts for many years , it MUST be as simple & instinctive as possible , otherwise it is useless , don't just do a few " self defence classes " that give you a false sense of security. As per a previous post mentioning Shotokan Karate , which is good if kept boiled down & simple , women tend to kick better than men , due to hip design & greater female flexibility.
None. If you want self defense go for what has been proven to work again and again and again.
Number one choice is BJJ. No question about it. Next are boxing, muay thai, judo and wrestling. UFC 1 to 10 proved it and decades ago Vale Tudo challenges had proved it.
Forget about all this Special Forces/Spec Ops /Combatives specific self defense systems. They look fancy and will have their asses kicked by anyone with 6 months training in Bjj.
You can learn a few but if your afraid of Rape or something like that id recommend maybe brazilian jujitsu as they run a course for women's defence and the fact that most fights eventually end up on the ground. Karate and kung fu demand years of practice to be effective in self defense, boxing or krav maga might be better. There are a lot mcdojos out there so most important is you find a good instructor.
Neither.
Kung Fu really ought to be renamed "attempted weaponized dance" as far as I'm concerned. As for Karate, there are some very practical and very effective variations that have been developed, but instructors are getting rarer with each day.
Try Krav Mga (lord knows I didn't spell that right). It's not as flashy as other martial arts, but unlike other martial arts, it's really good for if you want to... you know... protect yourself.
Those types of martial arts do not teach you self defense quickly enough.
The main purpose of those two are self discipline.
If you want to learn self defense then research on street fighting, how to hit, where to hit, ways to block, etc, etc.
Niether Are good for women. (Kung Fu ) is a variety of different arts fused together. JKD ) jeet ken do )... is a great art to perform. Truethfully , self defense is ok... although if you really want a good art to learn...(Hard Offensive arts ) are the ultimate way of brutal kick ass.
One school of martial arts is not better than the other, depends on the individual, the trainer and how well their body attunes to a certain fighting style. That being said if what you are looking for is actual self defence capability then i'd recommend muay thai, krav maga or MMA for a more practical approach in dishing out a proper ass whopping.
If you were to do Kung Fu I'd recommend Wing Chun which I think trumps any Karate art.
However, for practical use I strongly urge you to go with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), Muay Thai, or Krav Maga.
Those three I think are the best self defense. If you're worried about rape I strongly urge BJJ as it is one of the only arts that teaches you to break away from someone who has mounted you.
Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu is better. Kung Fu and Karate teach you stances and routines, but aren't worth a damn in an actual fight.
Both are useless in reality for most people. Take far to long to become good enough to actually make it worthwhile. Train in a real combat sport, try kickboxing or jiu jitsu.
If you only care about protecting yourself then join a Self Defence Class. My next bet is boxing as its really straightforward and involves strength as well.
If you just looking for a sport then any martial art will do.
You've gotta go with Krav Maga. It's used by the world's best secret agents.
Gong fu is more an overall self defense training; karate tends to be oriented toward aggression!
I do Tae Kwon Do, which borrows a lot of technique from Karate.
Kung foo - it helps more in inner peace and anger management in addition to self defence
Karate would be the best to get into first than maybe choose Kung Fu
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