syaoran's fighting style synopsis:
kung fu: no- not fluid enough. chinese kung fu is usually very... what's the word... loose and relaxed compared to the next two
karate: no- while karate and tae kwon do share some of the basics, karate does not emphasis kicks as much as tae kwon do.
tae kwon do: yes and no- kicking is a BIG asset in tae kwon do but we also use punches (tho i hate using punches because it requires you to get closer to your opponent and closes the striking distance) most of the kicks that syaoran does are very tae kwon do-esque but he never does a roundhouse kick which is the staple of any good tae kwon do fighter. it's always a side or an axe strike he does. effective but becomes very predictable after awhile. throw in a couple of flips and you no longer have tae kwon do but an anime version of tae kwon do.
i know for a fact that in tae kwon do we do not have flips that can be turned into a kick (refer to the oni-slaying syaoran). it's impossible to do a backflip and kick someone in the process AND at the same time and land perfectly. the first time we see his flying jump kick (ep.
it defin. reminds me of a tae kwon do flying axe kick. as for the rest, they all take after some tae kwon do kicks but at times, it looks like CLAMP may have added a little flare to it. the episode where syaoran is confronted by that stupid son who gets really jacked because of hijitsu for example- when he grabs syaoran's leg and then syaoran uses it to his advantage, that is more of a hwa rang do (different form of korean martial arts) than a tae kwon do move.
sorry for the long-winded talk but i got interested in this particular anime because a friend kept annoying me about these "awesome" kicks that this character kept doing. glad i saw this post. hope this clarifies things.