How do Chinese martial arts and Japanese martial arts differ?

Chinese martial arts are much older than Japanese martial arts (some dating over 2000 years), and in popular legend are the inspiration at least for karate, through Okinawa. According to Chinese martial arts lore, the origins of different styles lay in studying the movements of animals, and incorporating these into striking techniques. read more

Bruce Lee was the iconic international superstar that popularized Chinese martial arts in the West with his own variation of Chinese martial arts called Jeet Kune Do. It is a hybrid style of martial art that Bruce Lee practiced and mastered. read more

Chinese martial arts do seem to have a very theoretical and artistic approach to combat. That is not to say that Japanese traditional martial arts do not suffer from the same problem. I concur that Japanese martial arts in general are more realistic in comparison although I have to disagree about Aikido being in any way the ultimate martial art. read more