What do you think?

[Lil_ol_Ninja]

i just wanted to get everyones opinion on this. okay so my friends and I were discussing, and they say that its a bad idea to try to create your own style of martial arts before you have a black belt. i disaggree, i think that no matter what belt you are,as long as you have the proper understanding of martial arts, then you should be able to. because in my dojo im a blue belt which is 3 away from black and i have been studying martial arts for several years and i also believe i am good enough to start studying my own style. what do you guys think?

[AngelaG]

What would your style give that another martial art out there doesn't already have? Have you cross trained? If not then surely your own style could only ever be a version of what you already do?

[GojuGal]

I agree. Unless you have studied at the very least one more style of karate, you wouldn't be doing anything more than teaching what you have been taught.

[Fairfax_Uechi]

i just wanted to get everyones opinion on this. okay so my friends and I were discussing, and they say that its a bad idea to try to create your own style of martial arts before you have a black belt. i disaggree, i think that no matter what belt you are,as long as you have the proper understanding of martial arts, then you should be able to. because in my dojo im a blue belt which is 3 away from black and i have been studying martial arts for several years and i also believe i am good enough to start studying my own style. what do you guys think?

Shodan means beginner. Meaning a 1st degree blackbelt is just beginning to understand their art. They have a long way to go. In most traditional arts you're not considered a Master until you reach 5th degree. SO with that said, you haven't even mastered one art let alone learned enough to create a new art if you haven't even earned your Black belt.

At your level, you're probably at the point where you feel you know quite a bit. And you're probably right. But you also have a great deal to learn. I didn't see a style next to your name, so I have no idea what you study. But I'm willing to bet, you have a lot to learn in that style.

As others have said or implied, what can you teach/create that others haven't? Why do you want to start a new style? What benefit do you get from it (besides ego)? And what benefit will it give to others? Also if you leave where you're studying, and start your own style, how do you expect to continue to learn and get more proficent, or do you think you know all you'll ever need to know?

Now, I ask these questions, not to flame you. I ask them for you to think about them honestly. You don't have to respond to them if you don't want to. But I would hope that you'd look at each question and seriously think about them.

Based on your post, I'm also guessing you're fairly young. Again, this isn't ment to be a slight. But I'm guessing that after a few years, and some more experience you'll see that there is so much for you to learn, and starting a style now could keep you from learning a lot of things that could benefit you throughout your life. So don't forget to think about the long run and not the present.

No matter what you do, best of luck.

[man thing]

Hehe, that thought has crossed my mind before: only because I think I know what I personally need to work on(what I consider to be the most important MA aspects). But: I can't teach those things because I haven't studied them. Maybe one day if I train diligently in say, BJJ, boxing, Muay Thai, and wrestling I'll create my own style. But I know that's not going to happen.

[MartialArthur]

What belt will you give yourself in your new style?

You do not truly have a proper understanding of martial arts until you have taught martial arts for a long time. Until you teach for a while, you don't realize how much you need to learn.

I have been teaching for almost 5 years, and I have a much better understanding of how much I need to learn than I did when I earned my first degree black belt many years ago. I thought I knew a lot.

[Fairfax_Uechi]

What belt will you give yourself in your new style?

I have been teaching for almost 5 years, and I have a much better understanding of how much I need to learn than I did when I earned my first degree black belt many years ago. I thought I knew a lot.

Ah, but you did. You did know a lot. And now you know a lot more. You also learned that you don't know alot! And you now know that you have an awful lot more to learn!

BTW, I'm in the same boat. But, I've resolved to the fact that I can only learn so much. So today I learn some things, and tomorrow I'll learn more. And so on. And one day I'll be wise.

[Jay]

Everybody has more to learn as a human being we learn everyday even if you are still trying to learn something that you have already been taught. I agree that when you teach another person you tend to think more about everything in the technique where as when your learning it you think of one thing at a time. I dont teach although i have taught some friends some shotokan in exchange for some other techniques. If you wish you can invent your own style however its one thing learning it and another teaching someone else to do it. I have expanded my knowledge from other sources and have learned about other styles through research and then applying that information to help me. Thus in a way i have created my own style. Im not going to teach anybody as i need to learn more. Im quite young and can sometimes get a bit arrogant and think I know everything (everyone does this once in a while for some reason). But after making a mistake or not doing as well as i think i should (be able to beat everyone due to thinking i knew it all) I realise I have more to learn and thats the fun part thinking about it i would never want to know everything because i think that would be boring. if you think you knwo everything you might as well stop because you go to learn.

[marie curie]

Maybe you could read up on the founders of other styles and see what they had done before starting their styles. I think that you will find years and years of studying and thinking about many types of martial arts, but I don't really know as I have not read most systems' histories. Maybe you could check that out.

Another thought- How do you know that what you are looking for isn't already in existance with masters and grandmasters who have tried and trained in it for years and years. Would you want your students to be getting inferior training?

[Lil_ol_Ninja]

First of all, i have cross trained, in terms of martial arts, i have trained in Kung fu, Jeet kune do, Ju Jitsu, Hapkido, and Chin Na. and i was also a high school wrestler, and yes i am quite young. if 17 in considered so. but everywhere i go all i hear about is how i need to learn more, but i really dont feel that the styles i have learned have been the right styles for me. and in addition the reason i cant really research on the style id like to learn is because there arent many dojo's in my area, personally, id like to do ninjitsu, but the only place ive heard of that teaches ninjitsu is someone in another nearby town. but im not sure if it was the truth so...