In the end there is little differance between any martial arts the only differance is the way of teach it. and the reasons for teach it the way the do. example; some system wear shoes some don't. the ones that do originated in a rocky country the do nots sandy ground. the lower stances are for hill country the more up right stance are for flat gound. the long  reaching strike and kicks of Gung fu were formed because when this system was created, it was to fight a larger enemy. the Okinawa have shorter stances, strikes and kicks because there enemys were the same size, at the time of creation. and on it goes.

Sir; You should be able to find some of the answers to your questions on the youtube Just type your question in the search engine

Master Lambert; I do not have a working knowledge of the History of the Arts - So correct me, if i'm wrong --- In general terms the word (Karate) is a general term connected to the "Hard" Styles , And the Word (Kung Fu) would be connected to the "Soft Styles"

Well here we go again! karate is a hard art. some styles like GoJu ryu claim hard and soft mixed, but I think thats not really true.King Fu Some are hard some are soft and some are mixed. The soft styles are known by the use of QI Gung exercise's early in the program, and focus on change. karate styles focus on power (muscle) And in the late stages of practice ( around 4th Degree) Qi Gung (Nai Kung) is shown to the top ranked students. But that practice has been dropped from most systems of Karate today. most students don't know that Qi Gung is a part of daily practice.
  So, the soft arts start off soft using the power of Qi Gung and slowly become fast and hard. Karate starts off with power from body strength and later become soft as Qi Gung is explained to only higher ranked students in Okinawa only! In the end (if you go to the end) all becomes the same thing. the differents is the methods used to get there! Soft arts start with QI knowledge and circular motions hard arts, body power and straight on movements and in time exchange methods as the teaching progresses. My personal feeling is that one is not better than another. If we have been around, we know that, some times soft beats hard and some times hard beats soft. So the best martial art is to Practice soft and hard and learn to switch back and forth.
I was just lucky, I practiced hard styles with soft styles in different schools at the same time. I am in an area were that could happen. I could see first hand the differents and how to use one against the other. Which would piss every body off. I mean that if my practice partner got in to a hard rythem, I would go soft and visa vesa. Understanding your opponents rythem is the secret. I don't know if I explained this well enough But this is just my take on the subject. Ex ample simply put, if a attack come on hard and forceful, the mind move slower, and the movements in real time have to be In a one , two three, motion. and come in a straight charge forward. the answer is two mechine gun blows in a circular motion. and when the opposite happens, a striaght line force overcome it! and many modern martial arts are based on this fact. it is not that simple but it can be learned. The trick is to turn soft and hard on and off like a light switch. In this way all arts come down to the same thing in the end. you can only know this when you come to the end of training in any style or art, It's just a way to find certain truths about control, how to not loss yours or to stop a person from controling you physiclly By using control or stealth isn't it?

Great explanation.

Thanks,
Tom