My style of MA A is not your style of MA A...

[bushido_man96]

Ok, the title is a bit clumsy, but I want all comers in here to discuss it, so I just made up a style. The idea pegs from a piece of a quote made by unkownstyle in the Sweeps thread on page 3:

mma is just one mans collection of many styles techniques. so my system of mma would not be the same as yours.

I think this brings up an interesting concept. It is easy to see in MMA that each fighter has an individual style. Likewise, Bruce Lee stated the same idea. But, can't we translate this to any style of MA, regardless?

I do TKD, a primarily kicking art. I do kick quite a bit, but I don't count it as my strength. I like to get in and punch a lot, and then kick in close as they back away. I don't jump much any more either, but some TKDers do. So, in your style of MA, what "styles" do you see pop up between fellow students and competitors?

Edited September 19, 2008 by bushido_man96

[DWx]

I think a lot of it does come down to individuals. You'll get people who prefer to be counter-strikers or people who prefer, like you say, their punches over their legs. But I think the system(s) you train under will influence your game in any case due to the way you are taught to do things. As a TKDer I punch slightly differently to how a boxer would; your style will teach you to do things differently to other styles. IMO its how you piece the techniques together that make you as an individual have style.

TKDTutor has a good article on some on the more common TKD sparring styles (it is useful to other MAs too) and how to fight them.

[tallgeese]

It's a good point to ponder bushido man. I think some will split hairs about what's a "system" and whats not. What is just a dirivitive or a bending of a style to fit ones physiology. There is real vaule in that arguement.

I tend to look at ma's as very individualized in nature. We are all a little different physiologically, therefore, our application of learned patterns of combat will be different as well. That's fine and necissary. I do think that every figher from every system should look a bit different. That's just the sign of a good instructor helping each student find the most effective path.

As for a "system", I think that a new system as a work would have to deviate from the major principles of its root art. Those are truely what define the methodology of training and the overall strategy. In my mind, they are the art. Therefore, anything that dosent' radically alter these or deviate from the stated purpose of the art is probibly just a variation within the system itself. Again, not a bad thing at all.

Interesting question.

[bushido_man96]

I think a lot of it does come down to individuals. You'll get people who prefer to be counter-strikers or people who prefer, like you say, their punches over their legs. But I think the system(s) you train under will influence your game in any case due to the way you are taught to do things. As a TKDer I punch slightly differently to how a boxer would; your style will teach you to do things differently to other styles. IMO its how you piece the techniques together that make you as an individual have style.

Good points, DWx. I do think that individuals make the difference. I also think you are right in that TKD punchers will usually punch differently than Boxers do, just due to the amount of training and the methodology that goes into each style.

As for the types of fighters in a style, Olympic TKD is known for seeing the aggressive fighters, the counter fighters, front leg kickers and back leg kickers.

[DWx]

I think a lot of it does come down to individuals. You'll get people who prefer to be counter-strikers or people who prefer, like you say, their punches over their legs. But I think the system(s) you train under will influence your game in any case due to the way you are taught to do things. As a TKDer I punch slightly differently to how a boxer would; your style will teach you to do things differently to other styles. IMO its how you piece the techniques together that make you as an individual have style.

Good points, DWx. I do think that individuals make the difference. I also think you are right in that TKD punchers will usually punch differently than Boxers do, just due to the amount of training and the methodology that goes into each style.

As for the types of fighters in a style, Olympic TKD is known for seeing the aggressive fighters, the counter fighters, front leg kickers and back leg kickers.

See that raises another point. Do you think the (sport) rules that you train under promote a certain style of fighting overall? Like under Olympic TKD its harder to fight closer in because of the constraints on hand techniques so most fighters tend to adhere to a personal style orientated around the legs. Because you do spend so much time practicing and working a particular strategy for the sport side of it, when in an uncontrolled fight situation you'd be tempted to fight a similar way.

[Adonis]

Sportive rules do change an indviduals game. I like watching MMA so I will use that as an example

When PrideFC fighter Kasushui Sakraba (sp?) faught in the early prides there was no knees to the heads of fighters who were on there elbows and knees. However later on the rules chaged saying it was okay to knee the fighter in the head. They changed alot for Sakraba as he loved single legs and he would shoot in low if he got stuck in that postion kept moving around working it until he got a better postion.

However when he faught Wandereli Silva it didn't work out to well for him since h was a sitting duck to those brutal strikes.

So I do believe sportive rules will change the game.

[tallgeese]

Yes they will. Any rule set will. I think that's why it's important to forcus on what you wnat to do and train that way. Doing other kinds of trining is fine, just remember that your body will respond the way it trained.

Different types of sparring should be used to train different aspects of the fight game. Just make certain that your doing integration training thru the whole process if you want a well round threat response.

[bushido_man96]

All good points.

Yes, DWx, I do think that sport training can affect the way you will train and fight. Now, if you don't train for sport as much, like me, then it is easier for me to get away with a not-as-much kicking style.

[James Bullock]

The individual is far more important than the style. Effectiveness is measured by the skill of the individual not the style.

When you break down any system or style to its most basic elements what exists is tools and targets and how we implement them into the various ranges of combat.

[joesteph]

Do you think the (sport) rules that you train under promote a certain style of fighting overall? . . . Because you do spend so much time practicing and working a particular strategy for the sport side of it, when in an uncontrolled fight situation you'd be tempted to fight a similar way.

This is how I feel as well, DWx, and is likely the cause of times of friction in the past, when I did Tae Kwon Do, and in the present, doing Soo Bahk Do.

Combining the two experiences for this posting . . . There's no grabbing, so you can foolishly leave your hands hanging out there, and since there's no grabbing, you who recognize what you can do--but may not--give up on it. If you're chided for using open-hand blocks, even though they fit the situation and you know how to use them, or that you spar like a boxer and not what is in the art, or if you practice tournament-style kicks with regularity, you have spent so much time in this mode that it becomes the only way you can think and react.

Unless you break the rules.

Only if you practice what is contrary to the rules when outside the dojo/dojang, and if you try what works for you whenever possible inside the dojo/dojang and risk admonishment, will you be able to defend yourself in a real-life situation. You won't do as well in tournaments, because your mind is not set that way, and it is possible you will decline to enter them as foreign to reality.