Learning different MAs - Your experience

[T3chnopsycho]

Hello guys

Well maybe a bit a funny story. But anyway. I myself do Karate for now about 10 years or so.

I also like to read mangas (Japanese comics) one of them I'm currently reading is "History's strongest disciple Kenichi". It's about a young guy who always gets bullied and then learns martial arts in a dojo with masters from different martial arts (Karate, Jiujitsu, Muay Thai, Kung Fu...).

Well anyway reading that manga brought me the thought of how it would be doing different martial arts. Also a reason why I came across this forum ^^ (you see everythings connected).

I already noticed that there are a lot of guys here who do more than one type of martial art. I'd like to hear your experience.

Now I have some questions to those guys:

- Why did you start doing a different martial art?

- Did you have an criteria for the new one (should it extend your MA skills: Like first Karate (focus on striking) then Aikido (focus on joint locks throws etc.)

- Do you practice different martial arts at the same time or did you quit one and started another one?

Also I'd like to hear the opinion of others. Do you think you should try and practice different martial arts or should you stay with just one?

Thank you for your answers and the (hopefully) upcoming discussion

Cheers

T3chnopsycho

Reason for edit:

Reformatting for better viewability.

[Wastelander]

Cross-training or changing styles can be a very valuable experience for a martial artist, but I highly recommend developing a solid base in one art before you start dabbling in others. How strong that base should be depends on your skill level and ability to learn, as well as on how similar the arts are. For example, I started training in judo after only training in karate for 6 months, but I didn't have any problem with that. On the other hand, if I had tried taking up another striking art, it would have been much more difficult because I was still just learning the basics of my style of karate.

[lowereastside]

I started with Boxing - @ a Boxing Gym - my uncle got me involved - I was 9 1/2 years old - this year will mark 50 years of involvement - where have the years gone. I then switched to Karate ( my uncle was not to happy about that ). Next stop was a School that taught only Self - Defense - the Teacher was a former Hand to Hand Combat instructor for the US Marines during WW 2. My next stop was Kung Fu - Then Kali. I never trained in more than 1 art at a time. All of my Teachers had something to offer - some more than others.

[FangPwnsAll7]

I only take Tang Soo Do but I find other martial arts interesting. I took 10 TKD classes once

[Tzu-Logic]

Ha ha I haven't read the manga, but I have watched the anime adaptation of Kenichi. It was a fun show.

I study two martial arts currently. They are taught at the same school by the same teacher.

We have Eskrima techniques, and we have Shaolin Kempo Techniques. I think they work together very well. But I will admit that out side of some tai-chi excersises I don't have any other training to compare it to.

I feel as if learning the two arts together has been nothing but useful. The Shaolin for sheer striking and kicking power (plus some WICKED combos) and the Eskrima for up close, in your face, down and dirty survival fighting.

It's like if someone attacks me the Eskrima techs will come out first as a survival instinct, then if the fight continues past the first flurry of blows, the Shaolin part will make itself useful for a longer fight.

I hope that makes sense. Thank you.

[lowereastside]

My experience in learning different Martial Arts - In a nutshell - * Boxing was geared for sport but it was taken to a different level. - *Karate the school I attended was meat and potatoes - *Self Defense School was dirty tricks - *Kung Fu - was both mental and physically frustration - Kali filled in some of the gaps. However, I tend to lean toward Kung Fu.

[T3chnopsycho]

Cross-training or changing styles can be a very valuable experience for a martial artist, but I highly recommend developing a solid base in one art before you start dabbling in others. How strong that base should be depends on your skill level and ability to learn, as well as on how similar the arts are. For example, I started training in judo after only training in karate for 6 months, but I didn't have any problem with that. On the other hand, if I had tried taking up another striking art, it would have been much more difficult because I was still just learning the basics of my style of karate.

I see it the same way. That is also a reason why I'm thinking that if I intend to begin with a new martial art it will probably be something in the direction of jiujitsu or Aikido or maybe BJJ or other grappling / throwing MAs.

Ha ha I haven't read the manga, but I have watched the anime adaptation of Kenichi. It was a fun show.

I tend more to reading the mangas. Somehow I like it more than animes ^^

I study two martial arts currently. They are taught at the same school by the same teacher.

We have Eskrima techniques, and we have Shaolin Kempo Techniques. I think they work together very well. But I will admit that out side of some tai-chi excersises I don't have any other training to compare it to.

I feel as if learning the two arts together has been nothing but useful. The Shaolin for sheer striking and kicking power (plus some WICKED combos) and the Eskrima for up close, in your face, down and dirty survival fighting.

It's like if someone attacks me the Eskrima techs will come out first as a survival instinct, then if the fight continues past the first flurry of blows, the Shaolin part will make itself useful for a longer fight.

I hope that makes sense. Thank you.

That is also a thinking I have. Of course a master can use his MA in almost every situation. But what I think is the same as you, that if you have different MAs in your bag then you can also react better to more situations.

Another point is that all martial arts are divided in different groups (like i wrote in my first post. --> striking / throwing...) So I think learning something that is basically different than your first one is sure to be an interesting thing.

Thanks already for your replies and opinions

Cheers

T3chnopsycho

[kensei]

Just my feeling here but traditionally the Shodan means you have mastered the basics of a style only. Then you move on and should be (theoretically this is) learning the advanced skills of the style. Now I KNOW that is not always the case, but my feelings are that one should dedicate themselves to learning a style through and through and then when they reach Shodan and have a firm grasp of the style, then you can start cross training.

Given the time frame that we have as a modern society and our training habits of working out two to three times a week...and most people dont work on Karate stuff or other martial arts stuff much at home...give yoursevle 4-5 years to really learn the basics of a style and to learn the charactoristics of the system before you go in a completely different direction.

Just my thoughts, but I have seen alot of guys jump from one style to another really early and end up being kind of weak in both styles.

Also, I think you need to have a solid "foundation" or "Focus" Style that you call Home when you are training. I do some BJJ to keep/Get in shape and I do my Karate as I have for over 40 years now. I find BJJ fun and interesting and different but when I am at home and want a work out I dont roll, I do Kata.

[T3chnopsycho]

Just my feeling here but traditionally the Shodan means you have mastered the basics of a style only. Then you move on and should be (theoretically this is) learning the advanced skills of the style. Now I KNOW that is not always the case, but my feelings are that one should dedicate themselves to learning a style through and through and then when they reach Shodan and have a firm grasp of the style, then you can start cross training.

Given the time frame that we have as a modern society and our training habits of working out two to three times a week...and most people dont work on Karate stuff or other martial arts stuff much at home...give yoursevle 4-5 years to really learn the basics of a style and to learn the charactoristics of the system before you go in a completely different direction.

Just my thoughts, but I have seen alot of guys jump from one style to another really early and end up being kind of weak in both styles.

Also, I think you need to have a solid "foundation" or "Focus" Style that you call Home when you are training. I do some BJJ to keep/Get in shape and I do my Karate as I have for over 40 years now. I find BJJ fun and interesting and different but when I am at home and want a work out I dont roll, I do Kata.

Nicely written

I like the way you point it out. I see it the same way that being a shodan means you know the basics and can then start to build up on them. Thinking like that it clearly makes sense that you should at least be shodan before trying out something different.

Over the part with the "home-style" well it is an interesting idea. For me that sounds quite natural because I think you can't master that many different styles given the way our society works because mostly you still have to work during the week and then there isn't that much time to learn many different styles to the same degree.

Cheers

T3chnopsycho

[Wastelander]

I completely agree that you should have a style that you call "home" and should have a "solid base" in that art before you cross-train, but I think it is a mistake to put a rank on it.

Everyone has a different idea of what shodan means, and what is required of someone in order to become a shodan. For example, I know someone who won't test you for shodan until you have been training for a minimum of 15 years. Similarly, I've known people who earned shodan in one or two years in Japan.

Every martial artist is going to have different levels of skill, knowledge and comprehension, as well as different levels of dedication. Because of those factors, I don't think we can't even really put a time limit on it. A martial arts prodigy may be able to start cross-training after two years and do very well, and someone else may not have any success with cross-training after 8 years.

I suppose that what I'm saying is that what constitutes a "solid base" in an art is subjective, whether you base it on rank or time. When I say "solid base" I think of it like this; you understand the basics of how your art work and can physically demonstrate them naturally (without thinking about it), and you are able to filter new martial arts experiences through the lens of your base art to determine what is useful to you, what might be useful to others, what doesn't fit your style, etc. I realize that my description somewhat goes against the "empty your cup" mentality, but I suppose I have a different outlook on things.