Whats The Diffrence Between Karate & Jujitsu?

Karate is mostly a striking based style and Jujitsu is mostly grappling by and large.

I have about 7 years of Karate experience and about 5 months of Jits experience. I would recommend Jits for a female wanting to learn self-defense. The style very much empowers the small and the weak, and it is a style where you can defeat an attacker from your back. It is also a very demanding training regiment which will push your fitness level higher and higher.

The karate guys are sick of the bjj guys saying they wouldn't stand a chance, so they like to defend the fact that they can't compete in grappling. ju jitsu guys know there standup can't compare but don't care, so karate guys never bring it up. although karate has grappling its going to be substandard, and ju jitsu does have strikes but its is substandard to karate. as for learning to restrain someone that is grappling and ju jitsu is the more revelant of the two.

edit: nope they can grapple just not compete, any more than a grappler can compete in stand up imo. but seriously i think the asker is looking for jjj or bjj

Jujitsu is better. I hear that Hapkido and Krav Maga are to of the best for self defense they deal with joint locks and how to break free from people grabbing you and different things like that. Karate is more of kicking and punching.

Jujitsu is more ground based with strikes
Karate is more standing based with grappling

Sorta 70:30 ratio I'd like to think off.
Karate would be good for restraining and a lot of the grapples, grabs, sweeps and joint manipulation keep you on your feet, ready for your next opponent or a strike. Also with standing you don't have to do as many transitions so it's visually cleaner and faster to learn. Less contact the other person with you, the harder it is for them to reverse, especially an amateur. But there is usually always an escape. I don't see how karate is basic considering it's deeper than boxing, kick boxing or muay thai as the number of techniques far exceed them all.

Jiu jitsu is great for restraining, throwing, and submitting individuals. it is more critical of a ground game rather then the striking game but there are strikes Incorporated in some of it. i prefer this as a self defense art because it is quick to end a fight, if some one gets to close (which they generally will) you can control them and break them if they want to continue struggling.

Karate on the other hand is more striking intensive and is good for defense in my opinion but not great, i mean its better then nothing. some of the blocks and strikes are impractical and A lot of your sparring is point based so you learn to touch your opponent rather then fallow through. karate focuses a lot and i mean a lot on form rather then function some times.

There are differences in the arts. The differences may not be as much as many think. In karate and in jujitsu you should learn strikes, kicks and joint locks standing, kneeling, and on the ground. That is if you have a good knowledgeable instructor. You should learn self defense and how to restrain others. The biggest difference in my opinion and there may be others is that in jujitsu we learn more joint locks and more on how to transition from one joint lock or manipulation to another. We also have more throws in jujitsu. I can speak on this subject since I have years of personal experience in both. I know others like pugspaw has many years of experience in both.

It does not matter. both are good arts. The question is this..... Are the instructors really knowledgeable? And Does the instructor teach the whole art? The instruction and it quality are more important than the style. There are good and bad students in all styles. You have to determine if the schools available to you are good or not based on the instructors and the adult black belts.


Darb ..... would you lay off on the karate guys can't grapple comments. you obviously have not been exposed to those that can. I would be happy to show you some of the grappling from karate, and I'm sure that the other senior members here would too.

the depends on the style and teach, they both have the same techniques in them. japanese jujutsu teaches strikes and grappling, and so does okinawan and japanese karate.
the problem is not all instructor realize what is in there own style.
brazilian jujitsu comes from judo which came from japanese jujutsu. and is mostly ground grappling.


what is important is finding a good instructor and how you train. just because a person is a black belt doesn't mean they know how to teach

karate is just a word and cannot define one style. I prefer harder styles of karate such as kyokushin, shidokan, enshin, and seidokan. It would be best to study these arts because they add realism, good conditioning, and are less sport oriented but do have tournaments and teams. jujitsu is a art of grappling, joint locks, throws, and striking. this is a good art but takes a lot of discipline for it takes 5-6 years to achieve a black belt. In terms of self defense go for jujitsu because the styles of karate I mentioned above may not located around your area to learn.

simply put. karate is stand up and jiu jitsu is ground submissions. in self defense go with jiu jitsu. you will develop unreal moving power much like a chimp.

karate is a very basic form of martial arts. teaches you a basic stand up, nothing i'd really rely on in a fight.

Jujitsu is a bit more complicated. traditional jujitsu teaches you stand up, throws, and ground fighting. Brazillian jujitsu teaches just ground fighting.

If you want to learn self defense, i would take up traditional jujitsu and muay thai. You will be unstoppable.