Should a Karateka know other Martial Arts?

[sensei8]

I firmly believe that it's not the style that's at fault for the "hindrance", but of the practitioner themselves. I've no problem putting blame where I believe it belongs, and the blame belongs to the practitioner, and not with said given style.

Imho!!

10000% TRUE!

the only problem i have is that a lot of instructors are feeding the "magic pill" of style to magically become a "killing machine" and being able to defend oneself with a one hour seminar ,NO TRAINING and watching videos of someone else highly trained in a ring and saying "see it works".

OUCH.

Solid post!!

Time oversees all things in the MA; nothing's overnight and/or that easy!

[Spartacus Maximus]

Knowing and training are two different things. While training in other systems is a matter of choice or personal goals, as a practicioner of martial arts one should have a familiarity with systems other than what one practises or at least a genuine interest.

Observing and comparing other systems is a valuable learning experience and greatly benefits one's understanding of the system one trains. This is most beneficial to instructors because it helps develop a good sense of analysis. There may be hundreds of different martial arts, but there are only a few ways in which the body can move. Different systems often share several core principles.

[Maybetrue]

Remember before reading this post.

I am only a person on the internet. Do not take what i post over what your own sensei/instructor. It is just my opinion.

My thoughts on Knowing other martial arts is that if one puts 100% effort and trains to the out most limits of any ONE STYLE, be it one punch, one kick, one throw or basically just on technique, there is less need to know anything else. If a person had a simple straight punch which was the fastest ,strongest and unblockable , that person would not need to study any other "art", the other people that he would face would need to study that person in order to figure out a defense.

It would be better time spent PERFECTING ONE TECHNIQUE and executing it 1000000's of times, instead of time looking for that magic technique,style or THEORY of doing many techniques 100's of times and being average.

It may sound boring, doing a punch,kick or technique over and over and over again and again. But the final result will be worth everything you put into that ONE technique with results that are worth every effort put into that ONE Technique.

[ShotokanGage]

Remember before reading this post.

I am only a person on the internet. Do not take what i post over what your own sensei/instructor. It is just my opinion.

My thoughts on Knowing other martial arts is that if one puts 100% effort and trains to the out most limits of any ONE STYLE, be it one punch, one kick, one throw or basically just on technique, there is less need to know anything else. If a person had a simple straight punch which was the fastest ,strongest and unblockable , that person would not need to study any other "art", the other people that he would face would need to study that person in order to figure out a defense.

It would be better time spent PERFECTING ONE TECHNIQUE and executing it 1000000's of times, instead of time looking for that magic technique,style or THEORY of doing many techniques 100's of times and being average.

It may sound boring, doing a punch,kick or technique over and over and over again and again. But the final result will be worth everything you put into that ONE technique with results that are worth every effort put into that ONE Technique.

Fantastic post, one that I wholeheartedly agree with. I think I failed in getting this point across in my previous post in this topic, so thankyou for saying that so eloquently!

[Luther unleashed]

Remember before reading this post.

I am only a person on the internet. Do not take what i post over what your own sensei/instructor. It is just my opinion.

My thoughts on Knowing other martial arts is that if one puts 100% effort and trains to the out most limits of any ONE STYLE, be it one punch, one kick, one throw or basically just on technique, there is less need to know anything else. If a person had a simple straight punch which was the fastest ,strongest and unblockable , that person would not need to study any other "art", the other people that he would face would need to study that person in order to figure out a defense.

It would be better time spent PERFECTING ONE TECHNIQUE and executing it 1000000's of times, instead of time looking for that magic technique,style or THEORY of doing many techniques 100's of times and being average.

It may sound boring, doing a punch,kick or technique over and over and over again and again. But the final result will be worth everything you put into that ONE technique with results that are worth every effort put into that ONE Technique.

As Bruce Lee said that he fears the man who knows one kick and practices it 1000 times, but does not fear the man who knows 1000 kicks and practices it once. This is a valid point, however you don't feel that if you learn how to fix a car that that knowledge will get in the way of you defending yourself will it? So what I mean to say is that whatever you practice, it can carry value. I know a great deal of techniques but there are a few select techniques that I practice for self-defense purposes, and these are the techniques I would likely use in a fight.

Again we move directly towards effectiveness being related to fighting alone, but what many fail to understand is that martial arts, unlike simply boxing, is a lifelong movement towards progression, and much of it is not intended for fighting. You see, if you use your mind to understand that some techniques should be your go-to techniques in a potentially violence situation, then I see nothing wrong with learning the entire art or many arts as long as you can differentiate between the techniques that are best for you to use in that situation.

[Luther unleashed]

This topic is something I'm very passionate about, as many of these topics are. Sometimes I'm better at putting it into words that I am writing it so I made a quick video in a spinoff thread. Check it out guys if you get time! What makes martial arts effective is sort of the topic and it applies to whether a martial artist should take many martial arts or what martial art they should take because in the end, what is effective?

http://www.karateforums.com/how-effective-is-your-martial-art-vt48930.html

[Maybetrue]

If anyone trains correctly, doing ONE PUNCH or TECHNIQUE 1,000,000's of times will have a life long learning effect. That one punch(tech) will have different "stages" of meaning. Just the process of and will of training by doing the same technique will develop patience,will power,trust,loyalty,endeavor,etc....

doing 1000's of different techniques might develop some type of shallow understanding but will be repeating the beginning stages of learning 1000's of times and never reach the higher level of any ONE technique.

Doing ONE TECHNIQUE will develop DEEP UNDERSTANDING of ones self or even a student.

just an opinion by a random person(me) posting on the internet.

PS: for the members that are training. If your instructor is doing something that you do not understand or seems "useless" , Maybe your instructor is actually teaching you something else like loyalty or will power which will benefit you more in the long run or even character development.

[Luther unleashed]

If anyone trains correctly, doing ONE PUNCH or TECHNIQUE 1,000,000's of times will have a life long learning effect. That one punch(tech) will have different "stages" of meaning. Just the process of and will of training by doing the same technique will develop patience,will power,trust,loyalty,endeavor,etc....

doing 1000's of different techniques might develop some type of shallow understanding but will be repeating the beginning stages of learning 1000's of times and never reach the higher level of any ONE technique.

Doing ONE TECHNIQUE will develop DEEP UNDERSTANDING of ones self or even a student.

just an opinion by a random person(me) posting on the internet.

PS: for the members that are training. If your instructor is doing something that you do not understand or seems "useless" , Maybe your instructor is actually teaching you something else like loyalty or will power which will benefit you more in the long run or even character development.

Well yes, I think that we agree about that as I stated. However, what we are not discussing is doing 100 techniques 1000 times, - a long time practitioner this is possible. If we are only comparing using one technique 1000 times or 1000 techniques once then this all makes perfect sense. What I am saying is we cannot assume that because somebody trains in different martial arts that they only have a limited understanding because it's just too much for them. How much one dedicate their time to training is very important and it is definitely possible to cross trained in martial arts and through time, gain a deep understanding as well

[sensei8]

As with any MA technique; Shu Ha Ri encapsulates them, thereby it defines them as well!!

[Luther unleashed]

Train in different martial arts that I am not as good at any one particular martial art as somebody who trains in just one of them? You do realize that A practitioner of tang soo do, that only practices that art twice a week for an average of 45 minutes is probably less skilled and knowlagabe even in a few techniques, then a person who crossed rains but dedicates 3 to 6 hours a week in each art!

Understanding what you can handle is important also.

Listen, I want to ask a question to my students, I ask if you make it to black belt and instead of learning new material for 2nd degree, you simply practiced everything you knew prior with you then be better than a person who went on to study second degree material? In some way I think obviously yes, there are two different beliefs and approaches, one believes in reinforcing what has already been learned and the other reinforces the concept of knowing more. The way I teach I introduce other martial arts in with tang soo do as a foundation. At each degree the martial art that we incorporate in to the system changes, eventually coming back to what we have already learned but just getting a deeper knowledge in what was learned and getting better at it. This is my believe so I am saying that I do agree with what you are saying, to some extent, but I'm also saying I do not believe that cross training takes away your ability to still focus on a certain amount of techniques. There is always a point in which you can try to cram too much knowledge in your head and when it becomes effective or ineffective. It really depends on the person and what they're looking for.

In essence I'm saying I don't completely disagree with you because if I did I would just teach everything I know all at once rather than breaking it up to introduce it in different stages, I think the entire conversation will revert back to balance and as a practitioner, learning what you are capable of to produce the best outcome, as a teacher I think it is a similar task