Creating your own style.

[jarrettmeyer]

I've been watching this thread since it started. Let's suppose that you are really fortuneate and you have the following conditions being met.

 

1. You have the time and energy to train, both at home and at the dojo.

 

2. You have instructors who really care about you doing well.

 

3. Your instructors know how to teach. (Knowledge and the ability to teach knowledge are two different skills.)

 

4. Your instructors are knowledgeable about what they do. They point out differences between sparring vs. self-defense, and they teach both independently. My Sensai is very good about distinguishing between martial art and martial sport.

 

5. You are open to learning, criticism, and improvement.

 

I think that every student will develop his or her own personal style. That doesn't mean that my style is no longer Shorei Goju Ryu. Instead, it means that Shorei Goju Ryu is part of me. No matter how long I train, I probably won't take in the entire skill set of my style. Instead, I will extract the techniques that work well for me. With time, I will get better at those techniques, and I will incorporate more. But I will never be good at all of them.

 

Also, I would love to study a ground grappling style. I'm ashamed to admit that I've been in two fights in my life, both of stupid crap in high school. But in both of those fights, I took the fight to the ground. If that's what I did on instinct, without training, maybe getting some training in such a style would benefit me.

 

Anyway, my point follows something close to Shorin Ryuu. I don't think that there will be too much new to bring to martial arts. There are limits to what the human body can do and still be effective. If I integrate the strikes, locks, etc. from Goju and the ground work of BJJ, I didn't come up with a new style. Instead, those two styles have become part of me. And I wouldn't say that everyone should go out and learn Meyer Ryu. I would say that you need a good striking art and a good grappling art. Get a good foundation, know yourself, and use what works for you.