Effective training method?

[datguy]

Hi. I'm new to this site and somewhat new to the world of martial arts. I was wondering if any of the more experienced martial artists could help out: I was an orange belt in taekwondo and found that taekwondo just wasn't the martial art I was looking for. Tomorrow I am trying a different place that teaches judo, juijitsu, and shotokan. the way they're set up is based on a 3 month cycle: one month dedicated to judo, another dedicated to juijitsu, and the 3rd month for shotokan. I'm just wondering, will this be an effective way of going about training because I'm afraid I will start getting mixed up and not quite remember fully about which art was taught previously.

Sorry for the long post

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[ps1]

IMO...my worry wouldn't be getting mixed up. My worry would be in not really getting good at any of the styles. To get really good at a martial art, it takes dedicated practice regularly. I would worry that going two months between each style would hinder that process. That said, there's only one way to find out. Go there and see if you like it. In the end...that's all that really matters anyway. Welcome to the forums by the way!

[JusticeZero]

Yeah, that seems like a very odd way to train. Maybe the instructor has a good plan with it, but.. if they did I doubt it would take the form of it like that. Color me dubious.

[tallgeese]

I concur with both of the above posters. You'll need to check it out and see if it meets your needs and if you like the vibe of the training there.

However, if progress in skill is your goal, regardless of your chosen art consistancy is your friend. A four week block followed by eight off is a lot of two steps forward one back kind of learning. By the time you have sufficiently reviewed your last block of material to start making gains again you'll only have maybe half of the period or less to move forward. Tough to build a foundation in that way.

I'd rather see smaller bits of each art taught regularly with no major time away from any. keep in mind that even this set up will mean that you progress less quickly in each than you would if you were only training in one. Maybe that's fine for you, each has their own goal for the arts. But just take that into consideration.

Good luck, keep us posted, and welcome to KF.

[sensei8]

Yeah...what the 3 posters above me said...I concur with ps1, JusticeZero, and Tallgeese.

[DWx]

Depends if they really do segregate the styles totally. It might be 3 months Judo then 3 months Juijitsu but we're going to apply that Judo to our Juijitsu practice? Unlikely though. Try it and see but I'd say if you wanted to learn 3 styles at once, best to 1 night a week in each rather than blocking off chunks or training.

[Dobbersky]

if it was a weekly basis, that would be easier, for example,

Monday & Thursday = Judo training

Tuesday & Friday = Jujitsu training

Wednesday & Saturday = Shotokan training

Would equal a better learning curve as the gaps between the training won't be as much. I can't understand Judo and Jujitsu being taught together. I would say one or the other myself, or have Judo and Shotokan together or just Jujitsu or Shotokan on their own.

Enjoy and keep us updated. I would love to know how they grade you etc.

Do they have a website?

Welcome to the Forum

[datguy]

Thanks for your input...I'll keep you posted on how it goes and I'll keep what you guys said in mind. Again, thanks!

Here is a link to their website:

http://zmakarate.com/base.htm

[Wastelander]

Thanks for your input...I'll keep you posted on how it goes and I'll keep what you guys said in mind. Again, thanks!

Here is a link to their website:

http://zmakarate.com/base.htm

So they really do cycle it the way you describe. Interesting. It sounds like, to me, they are trying to cash-in on the MMA craze by giving people samplings of everything and getting you to sign up for their MMA class where, in theory, you would put it all together. I don't feel this is conducive to truly learning any of the arts you would be studying, although it might be sufficient to win an amateur fight or two...maybe.

I really think you would be better off finding a more regular schedule.

[bushido_man96]

I agree with tallgeese, ps1, and JusticeZero. If they had some plan to really integrate all those styles into the training in a more inclusive manner (like an MMA gym...), then I think it would be more worth your while. I'm afraid that the way it is set up now, you'll be taking a long time to really retain anything from cycle to cycle.

That said, if you are an orange belt in TKD, which I think is a fairly low rank, indicates that you haven't been with it very long. Perhaps give it another testing cycle and see if things change about the way you feel about TKD.