Starting Shotokan at the same time as Judo?

[Fearun9033]

In my humble opinion it is not beneficial to start to learn both at the same time ,it is not to your advantage in the long run .

By all means get competent in one and then start the other ,but there is simply too much to take starting both at the same time .

you should pick one as your main objective and use the other one to compliment your main choice .

I agree with Pers. This is my plan: to get a black belt in Shotokan then complement with ground fighting techniques in Judo or BJJ.

[Toptomcat]

Put me in the camp that says it can do nothing but good. There will always be a certain amount of confusion when sorting out how to integrate striking and grappling skills, figuring out which of your reflexes and instincts from one are counterproductive in the other: it can come when you come into striking from a grappling background, when you come into grappling from a striking background, or at the beginning when you're just working out both. You might as well get the confusion out of the way as soon as possible!

[Lupin1]

With all the people saying that it's too much to do both at the same time, it has me wondering how MMA fighters do it. Do they learn both striking and grappling at the same time or do they start with one and then move to the other? I mean in school they don't teach you math and then once you've mastered math they start teaching you reading-- you learn it all at the same time and at a very young age you start making connections between all the subjects-- knowing math helps you work out the dates in social studies, knowing science helps you find applications when you're in math class, etc. I'm with the side that says learning both of those arts at the same time will help your training more than hurt it. They're different enough that you shouldn't get confused, but one may fill in gaps in the other and give you a better understanding of movement, your oponent, force, etc that could give you the edge in both.

[Fearun9033]

With all the people saying that it's too much to do both at the same time, it has me wondering how MMA fighters do it. Do they learn both striking and grappling at the same time or do they start with one and then move to the other? I mean in school they don't teach you math and then once you've mastered math they start teaching you reading-- you learn it all at the same time and at a very young age you start making connections between all the subjects-- knowing math helps you work out the dates in social studies, knowing science helps you find applications when you're in math class, etc. I'm with the side that says learning both of those arts at the same time will help your training more than hurt it. They're different enough that you shouldn't get confused, but one may fill in gaps in the other and give you a better understanding of movement, your oponent, force, etc that could give you the edge in both.

Your analogy is very true Lupin and I would like to keep building on it from my point of view. I think MMA learn all at the same time but the advantage is that it is a style in itself that encompasses all rather than several different styles in one. Also, I don't think they have many katas to learn.

Also on that analogy with school, it is true that you learn many, many topics when you are young. You can learn a lot at the same time. But when you move onto university and graduate/post-graduate degrees, they all learn ONE thing at a time. It is nigh impossible to do many PhDs at the same time.

I'm saying that it's possible to do many styles at the same time, but mastering any of them will become harder and take longer. I'd personally rather have 1 mastered and strong martial art and a weak complementing art than 2 or more so-so martial skills.

[Lupin1]

I'm saying that it's possible to do many styles at the same time, but mastering any of them will become harder and take longer. I'd personally rather have 1 mastered and strong martial art and a weak complementing art than 2 or more so-so martial skills.

Hmmm... That's a good point. So I guess the question would be if the original poster is looking to master his art or not. See, I'm the opposite of you-- I don't have the drive to become a master of any martial art. I'm a jack of all trades and I'm happy that way (although I prefer the term "renaissance woman") and so for me I'd rather have a working knowledge (say shodan or nidan level) of several very different styles than become a very high up dan in any one. So I guess it depends on what he wants.

[Lupin1]

And let's not forget the ENTIRE "jack of all trades" phrase, which most people don't know:

Jack of all trades, master of none, though sometimes better than a master of one.

So being a jack of all trades isn't always a bad thing.

[Fearun9033]

Yup yup, Jack of all Trades, Master of None, though Oft time better, than a master of one

I love that quote.

You are right, it is completely up to the OP to decide what to do with the training regime. I personally would never have enough time for both martial arts at the moment.

From a practical point of view, I still believe mastering 1 art is more useful in self-defense than knowing many arts. Although I might be wrong! xD

[pers]

I have been doing shotokan since 1984 and I still don't consider myself anywhere near as master of the art and I am not jack of all trades either .

But I know for a fact that there is enough in shotokan to last me a life time to accomplished ,but I can say my shotokan foundation is so strong now that I can walk into any other art such as judo aikido or other styles of karate and build on what I already have and compliment it .

[Praesul]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Let me clarify a couple of things...

First, I have a lot of free time. I'm in a homeschool program, I do most of my work online and go visit the office every Monday for 4 hours as a regular class setting.

Second....I'm interested in MMA. It's not my MAIN focus or anything, but I see the possibility and I think eventually I'd like to give MMA a shot.

The club I'm in, Rising Sun Judo, is very informal. Not how I imagined it to be...It's also pretty MMA oriented.

The schedule is like this. Olympic Judo on Monday (Basically just tachi waza, randori, and a bit of ne waza towards the end.)

Nogi Judo on Tuesdays, which is our most MMA oriented training of the week. Throws and submissions that would work without a gi, etc.

Olympic Judo again on Wednesday, and then a day dedicated almost entirely to ne waza on Thursday.

The instructor also teaches MMA on Saturdays and Sundays (I haven't gone to these though) Along with Judo he also knows Boxing and BJJ.

I'm already in the type of mindset to do both a grappling and striking martial art at the same time...

And these martial arts aren't something I just plan on doing for a couple of years and then stopping, no. I'm sticking with Judo for the rest of my life. I also plan on doing the same with Shotokan if I ever start, and I'd also like to do some Boxing too.

Those are the three main things I want to learn, Judo, Shotokan, and Boxing. I think with all the years I have left in my life (I'm only 18 ) it can't be too difficult to become very good at all of them. Then again, I just started martial arts so I wouldn't know.

Sorry if my replies are a bit wordy.

[Toptomcat]

Wow. With the training opportunities you have, and with it so firmly in alignment with your goals, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it would border on foolish for you to refrain from starting a striking art as soon as possible.