Practitcing one karate style and one kung fu style...

[Himokiri Karate]

So in the chinese martial arts circle. Its said that many martial artist practice different styles of kung fu " to compliment" there main style of kung fu that they specialize in.

Such as,push hands, xing li,hung gar, various animal styles,wing chung,chin na and etc...

Now with that being said, Karate came from kung fu and assuming most of us are from canada/america or the UK means that we just got to deal with what we have which brings me to this question.

Is it acceptable to practice one style of kung fu and one style of karate at the same time on the side to compliment my boxing OR would this be a conflict of interest?

My situation is this, I made decent money from work which I am laid off, I live with parents and after 5:30 I go to boxing 4 to 5 times a week. So basicly this leaves morning/noon free. I have been doing chi kung on tuesday/thursday morning and on noon of monday/wedsnday I have access to Karate. (All 3 disciplines are super inexpensive and contract free on all)

Now with that being said, should I inform the kung fu/chi kung instructor about the karate situation out of respect for both culture or am I making a big deal out of it? My boxing coach said its ok as long as I dont end up square up like a kickboxer.

But want to make sure if I should explain to kung fu/tai chi guy about my interest in karate?

[Dobbersky]

Strange, I would recommend a Grappling art to train with you striking art as your skills are not being messed with as punching is dare I say rather different between Boxing and Karate/Kung Fu.

Can I just say you don't have to train in another art if you don't want to. If you enjoy your boxing etc, stick to it.

Judo or Jujitsu or Wrestling is what I would recomend

[yamesu]

I say go for it.

You may find it really enjoyable across the board, or conversely, you may find that one or more of the styles just does not "mesh" well with your existing skills.

Only one way to find out!

Best of luck.

[Himokiri Karate]

Strange, I would recommend a Grappling art to train with you striking art as your skills are not being messed with as punching is dare I say rather different between Boxing and Karate/Kung Fu.

Can I just say you don't have to train in another art if you don't want to. If you enjoy your boxing etc, stick to it.

Judo or Jujitsu or Wrestling is what I would recomend

To be honest, I know two grappling places, one is expensive with long contract, the other one is known for ppl getting injured and not having clean mats.

With kung fu and karate, I am more interested in the benefits of the physical excercises they offer thats not in boxing. For example, the balancing excecises as well shifting weight/stretching in the kungfu/chi kung is not explored deeply in my boxing gyms.

In the karate place, kyokushin to be exact, I find there hard body conditioning can be beneficial when it comes to infighting/getting swarmed in boxing.

But yeah I just wanted to know that its not taboo or wrong to be doing kung fu and karate due to cultural clash and the old thinking of older instructors!

[Dobbersky]

Strange, I would recommend a Grappling art to train with you striking art as your skills are not being messed with as punching is dare I say rather different between Boxing and Karate/Kung Fu.

Can I just say you don't have to train in another art if you don't want to. If you enjoy your boxing etc, stick to it.

Judo or Jujitsu or Wrestling is what I would recomend

To be honest, I know two grappling places, one is expensive with long contract, the other one is known for ppl getting injured and not having clean mats.

With kung fu and karate, I am more interested in the benefits of the physical excercises they offer thats not in boxing. For example, the balancing excecises as well shifting weight/stretching in the kungfu/chi kung is not explored deeply in my boxing gyms.

In the karate place, kyokushin to be exact, I find there hard body conditioning can be beneficial when it comes to infighting/getting swarmed in boxing.

But yeah I just wanted to know that its not taboo or wrong to be doing kung fu and karate due to cultural clash and the old thinking of older instructors!

Well if the Karate place is Kyokushin, PLEASE you'll enjoy it so much. and it WILL fit well with your boxing

When the Instructor asks you if you've done anything before, just let them know but be humble with your response.

Welcome to Knockdown Karate

[Zaine]

But yeah I just wanted to know that its not taboo or wrong to be doing kung fu and karate due to cultural clash and the old thinking of older instructors!

Sometimes it is, that really depends on the instructor. I would just talk to them, but remember that just because they don't approve doesn't mean you don't have to do it. If you think that it will further you in what your do go for it.

[Wastelander]

Generally there is nothing wrong with that--many karate masters of old cross-trained in Chinese martial arts to complement their karate, after all. Whether it will be okay with the instructor is another matter entirely, so be sure to ask. I know of a karate instructor in my area that will let you come and cross-train at their dojo, but they will make a point of "correcting" everything that you do. When you talk to the instructor, just be clear about what your goals are and where your primary focus in the martial arts lies and hopefully they will be willing to adapt their training to your goals, rather than trying to fight with the skills you are building in those other styles.

[ninjanurse]

Talk to your master and see what he has to say-he may offer you some good advice on which style would complement your training or he may advise you otherwise. One can advise a student against cross-training for various reasons but should not forbid it.

[yamesu]

Well if the Karate place is Kyokushin, PLEASE you'll enjoy it so much. and it WILL fit well with your boxing

When the Instructor asks you if you've done anything before, just let them know but be humble with your response.

Welcome to Knockdown Karate

Solid - three words = George St Pierre

[Himokiri Karate]

Well if the Karate place is Kyokushin, PLEASE you'll enjoy it so much. and it WILL fit well with your boxing

When the Instructor asks you if you've done anything before, just let them know but be humble with your response.

Welcome to Knockdown Karate

Solid - three words = George St Pierre

Isnt he a Wrestler?

Anyway, thank you so much guys for the reply, what I am going to do is, talk to the karate instructor to see what kind of instructor he is, idealy, I am not going to change my boxing stance, the chi kung/kung fu is more so a conditioning regimen then an actual combat delivery system like a muay thai/boxing.

I am a bliever in specializing in a martial arts, mine is boxing and at the end of the day, no matter which martial art I learn on the side, it has to be delivered within my boxing mechanic.

So far I have learned through kung fu that, lots of boxers/combat fighters get injured because they have strong fast twitch muscles but weak hand conditioning that is unable to protect them from there own fast twitch muscles they gain through athletic training, ofcourse they neglect the traditional martial arts hand conditioning.

With me, I have had crappy punching power, so the iron palm that I learned has helped my hands feeling less brittle after a spar or any friction from hitting the bag.

But most importantly my accuracy has increased through the kung fu training due to one legged squats,performing various postures thats helping my form and body mechanics perform a more stable boxing techniques.

Perhaps Im just getting greedy here, I think I should just stick with kungfu and the days that there are no kung fu I can just drill the hell out the forms,iron palms and other excercises from strong man world...