Some people who may be just getting into karate don’t understand there are actually many styles. Karate has gone through many iterations over the years, and here are four modern schools you need or want to know about. It’s going to be best to go over each of them to get a short overview before moving forward. Read on to learn about the four modern schools of karate and what makes them different.

Shito-Ryu

The Shito-Ryu style of karate has been around since 1928, and it was created by Kenwa Mabuni. This style emphasizes the practice of kata, and it is very popular in Japan. This style is named Shito-Ryu because Mabuni decided to honor his first two teachers by combining their names. Overall, this is a style that manages to blend both power and finesse.

Goju-Ryu

Goju-Ryu is another karate style that originates from Japan, but this was created in Okinawa in 1930. The founder of this school of karate is named Chojun Miyagi, and it was influenced greatly by Chinese martial arts. One distinct thing about this style of karate is that it utilizes soft circular blocking techniques. In many ways, this school of karate has things in common with jujitsu.

Wado-Ryu

Wado-Ryu is a style of karate that is influenced greatly by classical jujitsu techniques. Hironori Otsuka created it in 1939, and it focuses mostly on dodging your opponent’s attacks. With this karate style, you can focus on learning how to dodge your opponent or make your opponent’s attacks less effective. This is a very fluid style of karate that is as defensive as it gets.

Shotokan

Shotokan is a style of karate that was created in 1938, and it was founded by Gichin Funakoshi. Many people consider this man to be the father of modern karate, and this is the most commonly taught style around the world. When you use this karate style, you’re going to be making use of wide stances and powerful strikes. It’s a highly effective style of karate that is good for both offense and defense.