Practising multiple styles?

[ninjanurse]

It's not really who you train with but how you train. I am always wary of those who promote only their style rather than martial arts as a whole. This is not to say the loyalty is not important but given our modern society and demographics it is not always possible to train under the same master your whole life. My loyalty extends to all the Masters I have studied under and they are all supportive of that-otherwise I would not be training with them.

Edited August 21, 2006 by ninjanurse

[ff100]

After seeing how effective Ju-jitsu was on the ground I started training in it to complement Karate. I havent had any issues so far and I'm sure you wont either!

[Jiffy]

I think this is very true. There is much politics in Martial Arts. Unfortunately, some of those people we highly respect have this closed minded attitude, which I am strongly against.

I think it's up to us as students, instructors and masters of the next generation to promote open mindedness in our teaching and when studying to only study with those that are open minded, thus eliminating business from those poor closed minded souls in the hope to re-educate them.

[Zorbasan]

recently i was trying to find another TKD school and i emailed 1 particular school who told me that if i wanted to join them, i would have to give up Shotokan so i can focus "100%" on my TKD.

Jiffy mentioned to me (outside the forum) to ask if they had issues with me going to a gym to train outside TKD. if not then it is only because its a different art that they are against it and nothing to do with TKD concentration.

[Jiffy]

Did you ask them?

[l32]

I trained in Shotokan for 12 years and taught for 6 of those years. Three years ago, the school where I taught went out of business and I was left with nowhere to train. This year, a CTF Taekwondo School opened in my area. I have tried ATA in the past, and it wasn't for me, but I went to this CTF school and tried it anyway. I won't lie, it is very hard trying to train in two styles if they are similar. While Shotokan and TKD are quite different, they are also quite similar, and I've been having trouble trying to "relearn" the way to do some techniques because they are thrown different in TKD than they are in Shotokan. At the same time, I have to continue practicing my Shotokan techniques because my TKD instructor wants to learn Shotokan, so I am teaching her Shotokan as she is teaching me TKD.

Before you decide to train in more than one MA at a time, just be sure you are mentally prepared for it, because it can get frustrating. If you decide to do it, you will get to work on perseverence.

[bushido_man96]

It's not really who you train with but how you train. I am always wary of those who promote only their style rather than martial arts as a whole. This is not to say the loyalty is not important but given our modern society and demographics it is not always possible to train under the same master your whole life. My loyalty extends to all the Masters I have studied under and they are all supportive of that-otherwise I would not be training with them.

I agree with you whole-heartedly here. In my situation, I plan on learning everything that I can to help myself out, and then if I ever do leave, I will take with me not only what I have learned, but also what I have learned that I don't want to be associated with.

[RichardHangHong]

Cross training can be good for you, provided you have a solid foundation in what you're already doing.

As well as running my own karate club, I also train in Shotokan, Goju Ryu, Wado Ryu and Iaido. Although the 3 karate styles are different, they all have something to offer and I incorporate them into my own karate. The Iaido helps to develop the soft side of my training and keeps my mind quiet too.

[ninjanurse]

Another 2 cents here-just a thought for consideration:

Jack of all trades master of none...

Has a certain ring of truth when it comes to the martial arts however it does depend on your personal goals. If you are not interested in maintaing the integrity of your art and preserving it as a whole so that it can be passed on to your students then it may make no difference whether you cross train or not. For example, those that are interested in developing their own style may include several arts or styles in the final product. On the other hand, it is difficult to internalize and (dare I say) "master" a style when your attention is constantly drawn away from it and techniques have too many variations, i.e., "Today I am karate so I do it this way, tomorrow I am tae kwon do so I do it this way"....it can be confusing for some and can lead to a degredation in technique.

This is not to say that you can't make something better while maintaining it's integrity-I cross train selectively to enhance my physical skills...but (to use another old and worn out cliche') too much of a good thing can be bad.

[RichardHangHong]

Jack of all trades is a perfectly valid conclusion if the person is doing "a bit of this and a bit of that". But if one is cross training in order to improve areas of their technique and understanding then it can be very useful. For example, my style is a mixture of Shotokan and Goju Ryu but I continue to train with instructors in those styles in order to deepen my understanding of their respective styles. I also train in Wado Ryu and Iaido for a slightly different insight as to how others do things from both a karate and a weapons point of view. It helps me to get a more rounded view of things.