Both karate and BJJ are self-defense systems whose origins come from Japan. But that’s as far as the similarities go. From uniform to rules and ranking systems, the divide between both sports couldn’t be any wider.
Karate is more focused on punching, kicking, and using elbows and knees, BJJ is mostly about grappling and controlling the movement of the opponent. But that’s not the only difference. Even the ranking system varies widely. While BJJ has only 5 belts, karate has 8 belts and keeps progressing after the black belt with degrees or dans.
Each sport has its advantages and disadvantages. Based on your goal, you might choose one of them over the other. This article helps you make the right decision and join the system you feel is more relatable or helps you achieve your goals.
Origins
While BJJ is a relatively new sport that was developed a little over a hundred years ago in Brazil, most of its rules and philosophy are built upon Judo. When Mitsuyo Maeda traveled to Brazil to introduce that ancient discipline to Latin America, little did he know that he would inadvertently help establish a new sport. The Brazilians absorbed the new system and created BJJ out of it.
The Gracie brothers are credited for developing that new sport. One of the brothers, Helio, was too short to perform all the Judo techniques and resorted to developing a parallel system that didn’t require the player to have an athletic body type to perform it well. So in a way BJJ is a sport that lets people of all sizes defend themselves against aggressors who outweigh them.
Karate is a much older system. It’s also a self-defense discipline that allows the practitioner to fight off an opponent who might or might not be armed. In the 17th century, the Japanese government banned weapons including swords and knives. So karate, which means “empty hands” was the response to that ban.
Karate was influenced by Kenpo, a Chinese discipline that was introduced to Japan when some Chinese families migrated there. Whatever the origins of karate are, one thing is for sure, it took a long time to evolve and become the sport we know it today.
Modern karate has a lot to thank Itoso Anko for. He’s the grandfather of karate who helped shape it and even introduce it into Japanese schools. Many variations of the sport sprouted all over Japan including Goju, Wado, and Shito systems.
Ranking System
Your progress throughout either sport is marked by belts with different colors. While they both start with a white belt the ranking system in Karate is more complex. Both BJJ and Karate use a black belt to signify the ultimate pinnacle of the belt system, although Karate still offers more progress markers, called dans, even after a player has earned their black belt.
Karate follows a rather more rigorous path for its practitioners to earn their belts, get promoted, and level up. For adults in the sport, there are 8 belts to be won. They start from white and progress to yellow, orange, green, purple, blue, and brown before the players reach the black stage of their journey.
But black isn’t the end of the road for Karate players. There are degrees to black belts that players progress through. These degrees are known as dans and the more dans a player earns the better their status in Karate is. To get promoted in Karate, a test is provided which the player or student has to ace much like in the educational systems worldwide.
As for BJJ, it’s a different story not much in the belt system but also in how belts are awarded to students who merit a promotion. In BJJ, there are only 5 belts to go through. They are white, blue, purple, brown, and finally black. It takes on average about 2 years to make it to the next belt which puts the journey of the player in BJJ to roughly about 10 years in total. It’s the same story in Karate.
But unlike Karate with its well-defined testing rules, BJJ is more laid back as far as promotions are concerned. Some academies have tests in place, but many just leave that step to the discretion of the teacher. If the teacher is satisfied with the progress of the student, they might award them the promotion at the end of the class. It’s as simple as that.
Rules
For two sports that originated at different times and for different purposes, you can expect the rules to be distinct and unique for each discipline. So let’s talk about BJJ and its competition rules first.
BJJ is a point-based system much like Judo. The goal of the competition is to secure a submission. The competition has a time limit which grows smaller as the player levels up. In general, a takedown, knee on belly, or sweep earns the player 2 points, a guard pass is valued at 3 points, and a mount is a top scorer with 4 points.
Under this point-system, only a limited number of submissions are allowed. However, there’s another type of BJJ competition that is submission-based. This one allows all types of submissions and points don’t matter.
While Karate is also a point-based system, you earn your points for a different type of fighting. Rather than securing a submission or controlling the opponent you straight out punch or kick them. Some of the points you earn are for Jodan kicks, Chudan kicks, and punches to the seven areas that we’ll get into more detail below.
Not all Karate competitions are about full body contact. Some are meant to show the player’s skills and techniques in a solo session. These types of competitions test the player based on their athletic performance in areas such as speed, balance, and strength. They also check their technical side of their game including timing, breathing, stance, and transition.
Fight Techniques
We already touched on the fighting differences between the two sports in passing. So let’s elaborate and detail the differences a little bit more.
In BJJ the focus is on grappling. While the Japanese Jiu-Jitsu allows some form of striking the opponent, BJJ is purely a non-striking sport. Remember, that BJJ was developed to allow people of small size to take down opponents much larger than them. So in this sense, trying to strike a bigger opponent is both futile and leaves one vulnerable to a counterattack.
This is why BJJ teaches one about choke-holds, takedowns, and joint locks. These three areas are what you’ll be spending most of your time learning about and mastering. BJJ is about grappling and controlling the movement of the opponent using one’s body weight. This is more effective when there’s a big size or weight disparity between the opponents.
In Karate, it’s a totally different story. As we said, Karate was the response to the weapons ban in Japan. It’s essentially a fighting discipline, where you try to take down your opponent by striking or punching their body. The golden rule here is that you need to aim for the upper part of the opponent’s body. This includes their face and torso.
Kicks and punches are taught at Karate classes. And using your elbows and knees to strike down the opponent is not only allowed but embraced with enthusiasm. The force of your strike can tip the balance of power in your favor even if your opponent is a lot heavier than you or has a much bulkier frame.
Gear
In BJJ you step on the mat with nothing but your Gi and belt on. You rely on your skills and techniques to see you through the competition. But Karate is a little different. You still have to wear your Gi and belt during a tournament or in class, but some weapons, such as the famous bo, are allowed.
The Karate Gi is also different from the BJJ Gi. For one thing, in Karate, your Gi is always white, loose, and made of light material. It’s designed to give you plenty of room to perform your kicks and punches without coming in the way of your movement.
BJJ is a little different. The Gi can be of different colors but it has to be made of sturdy fabric. It needs to withstand all the grappling and pulling that the sport is famous for. Without the need to kick someone or raise your feet to the opponent’s face level, your Gi doesn’t have to be loose. Durability is the main feature of the BJJ Gi.
Both BJJ and Karate are popular sports that have their followers worldwide. While Karate is an older and a well-established discipline than BJJ, the latter is taking wide strides in conquering the hearts and minds of MMA practitioners everywhere.