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Note: All styles have a history and, within each style, you will find many versions of its history. Much of the history of styles is traditional and has passed down through the generations, rather than being verifiable history. Much of the history of styles is myth and legends, so some of the histories should be taken lightly. The descriptions of styles that are presented in this topic are a compilation of descriptions and histories I discovered during my research on styles. Practitioners of each style will probably disagree with something presented in the description and history of the style. This site is dedicated to Taekwondo, if you interested in a more detailed description and history of a style, research that style for yourself.

Commonly, people think of a martial art style as a specific martial art that is unique from other martial arts, however, the dictionary definition of style is that it is "a way, manner, method, or way of doing something," it not necessarily unique. Therefore, a martial art style should be correctly be viewed as an artistic expression of a particular martial art with characteristics particular to the martial artist's interpretation. It would be more correct to classify unique, individual martial arts as "systems." A system is a set of separate, but related, elements that come together to form a complex orderly way of accomplishing something. Therefore, a collection of facts, principles, theories, or beliefs that make up a unique martial art should correctly be called a system.

Many times martial artists use the terms "system" and "style" interchangeably, but they are not the same. A system is a collection of techniques, while a style is a variation of the way of performing techniques within the system. Therefore, a style is not a unique art, it is merely a variation of a system. It is just a system's artist's personal interpretation of one or more elements of the system.

A martial art system is consistent and permanent, while a style changes at the whim of the martial artist who performs the techniques within the  style. A system adheres to a consistent philosophy, and its training methodologies, principles, concepts, strategies, and tactics are consistent with that philosophy. Therefore, a system's philosophy is what makes it truly unique. Many of today's martial arts lack an overriding philosophy that guarantees consistency throughout its training and application. Examples of styles are the mixed martial arts and martial arts that are a combination of two or more other martial arts. Since their only philosophy is the combining of what they believe are the best parts of other martial arts, they are best classified as styles rather than as systems.

Many so called styles are merely the result of power struggles within the controlling organization of an existing system or style. As a result of a struggle for control within an organization, a person, or group of persons, breaks away from it and forms his or her own organization in which the person may have total control. For legal reasons (because a person wants to be called a soke, or as a way to differentiate themselves from the original organization), they make minor changes to the old style and give the new "style" another name.

There are few unique martial art systems, but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of martial art styles. Examples of martial art systems are Karate, Kung-fu, Jujutsu, and Aikido. Some consider Karate and other martial arts to be styles of Kung-fu that have grown into their own systems, but that is another story. Judo was created from Jujutsu, so it is a style of Jujutsu. Shotokan is one of many styles of Karate. Taekwondo was style of Shotokan that combined Japanese Shotokan with the remnants of Korean Taekkyon. However, over the last 50 years, Taekwondo has evolved into its own unique system. As a system, it has had styles branch from it, the primary ones being the Olympic style of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and the traditional style of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). There are numerous other Taekwondo organizations, while not considering themselves a part of the WTF or ITF, that have adopted the philosophy of Taekwondo and the principles, concepts, and techniques of either the WTF or ITF.

Most of the martial arts systems are what as known as the classical martial arts, those which have been around in one form or another for centuries. From these classical systems have sprung many modern styles that are based upon the ancient arts but have changed the old techniques that were designed for fighting against staffs, armor, and swords into techniques that are useful against today's threats. These styles have retained much of the attire, terminology, and basic movements of their classical forerunners, but they have also added modern innovations such as the rank system and belt colors. In ancient times, warriors were physically fit because of the rigors of daily life required it. Modern styles reflect the demand for physical fitness training  and the need for constant new techniques to help defeat training boredom.

Some styles try to imitate animals. We are human beings not animals, so we should not try to imitate animal movements. We are not constructed like animals, so trying to intimidate their movements is ineffective. Use human movements and techniques. We have our own instincts and attack techniques that are different from animals. Specific techniques used for animal imitation are usually not as effective as purely human techniques.

Some styles use a lot of mumbo jumbo that makes simple things sound mystic and complicated. If you want to sound impressive, train in these styles. If you want to be impressive, choosing a simple and effective style would be a better choice.

A style that considers itself a variation of a system may be considered a valid style, such as the various variations of Taekwondo. However, a style that uses the principles, concepts, and techniques of an existing system or another style, but considers itself a separate system, may be considered invalid, since it is not a unique system but merely a variation of an existing system or style.

When correctly used, the Japanese term "Soke"  refers not to the founder of a specific martial arts system but to a student who has inherited or is named by the predecessor as the successor of the leadership of the system. However, nowadays, the term is often used to refer to the founders of martial art systems themselves as well as to the "founders" of martial art styles. The founder of a system is a valid soke. The "founder" of a style of a system should not be considered a valid soke. He or she is just a malcontent of the system who wanted his or her own style. In the business world, the president of General Motors could be considered to be a soke. The president of Saturn, even if he or she is considered the founder of Saturn,  would not be considered a soke since Saturn is just a division of General Motors.

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