i already make a research about this. i know many would say that it depends on the fighter and the teacher. but how about the art itself? im 17 and want to take martial art and i still cant decide which one to choose. my goal is for fitness and self defense. its either WTF taekwondo or karate. i know many would say go for ITF but i cant found any ITF class around me. and WTF is not bad, it also got punches... and it can really give me benefits in fitness and flexibility. i live in malaysia and generally, many take the taekwondo class. taekwondo will benefits me more in fitness, flexibility and leg strength while karate will benefits me more in strength especially upper body strength. actually, i want to take martial arts class for fitness more than self defense but self defense also important which means karate is more suitable. actually, through out 17 years of my life, i never involved in fighting. so, learning self defense is also crucial for me coz anything can happen to me. my friends that took taekwondo said taekwondo is fun and from watching it on youtube, taekwondo do look funnier and more interesting compared to karate which a little bit boring. but i do admit karate is more practical in street fight. since there are more people learning taekwondo in malaysia, learning karate will be more 'Wow' here coz there is less karate people than taekwond people here. im really confused which one to learn... i hope someone that really has experienced in learning both arts can give me some info and help me..