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

[bushido_man96]

I think that is also another trap that the non-contact style of sparring leads one into. There is a very false sense of security that he is developing there, by not having to actually respect the hand techniques that you are throwing.

Yes, being flexible in style is a very good thing.

[tallgeese]

I agree. And that fasle sense of security can get alot of people in trouble. One of the best things about the mma boom is that it's got people thinking about how they would deal with contact if they aren't from a contact oriented style.

As to joe, Black belts shouldn't be carbon copies of one another. It's a good thing that you and you're friend fight differently. You each have differently physiologies and skills and more importantly, mindsets. Different is good, it means you're capatailzing on your traits.

[bushido_man96]

This last month's Black Belt Magazine featured an article on the Judo that Toshikazu Okada taught and used. He was a bit different from Kano in that he focused more on the ground fighting aspects of the style than Kano did. I thought it was another good example of differentiation within a style.