Between comments on one thread about whether or not to wear a black belt as you start learning a new martial art, and the recent spate of "how do I choose a martial art/what is the best art/etc" threads, I thought I'd share my views about different approaches to learning martial arts. I'm coming from a lifelong fascination with martial arts combined with more than 20 years active training in a single, comprehensive, and vast system, and lots of discussions and reading over the years... And, of course, this is my opinion only. It's inherently right (or wrong); it's just what I think and what I've seen.
I'm not going to get into differences between end goals, either. Some folks are after combative skills; others are training for health or personal development; others are just plain having fun. Whatever the end goal -- they're all training! In a like vein, I'm not going to discuss what is or is not a "system."
And I'm going to use an analogy. Of course, analogies are never perfect. Work with me, please. The analogy is going to be simple; food and dining. We've all eaten; most of us have been to a variety of restaurants. So, I think that this analogy will work pretty well...
So... with all that out of the way, if you haven't left in boredom already... This is what I think:
There are many approaches to learning martial arts. Some people choose to learn one system, deeply and thoroughly. They commit to attending classes regularly, learning about the culture that underlies the system or art, the history and traditions that surround it, and making themselves a part of that art. If their training was to be compared to a restaurant, they're eating at a prie fixe (forgive my spelling) type of restuarant, where everything is decided on by the chef, and they simply go in, eat, and pay the bill.
Some others choose to focus on one art, but aren't quite so rigidly bound as the first group. They aren't really into the culture or other things beyond the system; they just want to "do it." (Some systems embody this approach; they don't bother requiring students to learn many foreign terms or artificial forms of behavior and ritual.) Going back to my analogy, these people are going to a restaurant, and choosing from the dinner platter/combination menus. Unlike the prie fixe, they choose what they want -- but they take the package they choose, even they don't really want the fries.
And others still don't care about a single art; they just want "what works." They jump from style to style, school to school, based on whatever catches and holds their interest and meets their personal definition of "useful." These people are ordering from the a la carte menu; they're only getting what they want, in the manner they want it. No fries for these guys... unless they want them! Some of these guys do use an underlying basis, so it's like they're only going to a particular type of restaurant -- but they're still only taking what they want.
Of course, the truth is that most of us are somewhere between the extremes. Me? I've chosen to train in one style for many years, and am continuing to train in it. But I'm also open to learning from and about other arts, and I haven't even tried to learn the language of my home style's nation of origin. (Nor have I been required to...) And I've been playing with spending some time learning Judo, just because it's interesting to me. So, it's kind of like I've been going to the same type of restaurants, eating from the combo meals -- but I'm thinking of going to a different place for a break...
I'm not going to get into differences between end goals, either. Some folks are after combative skills; others are training for health or personal development; others are just plain having fun. Whatever the end goal -- they're all training! In a like vein, I'm not going to discuss what is or is not a "system."
And I'm going to use an analogy. Of course, analogies are never perfect. Work with me, please. The analogy is going to be simple; food and dining. We've all eaten; most of us have been to a variety of restaurants. So, I think that this analogy will work pretty well...
So... with all that out of the way, if you haven't left in boredom already... This is what I think:
There are many approaches to learning martial arts. Some people choose to learn one system, deeply and thoroughly. They commit to attending classes regularly, learning about the culture that underlies the system or art, the history and traditions that surround it, and making themselves a part of that art. If their training was to be compared to a restaurant, they're eating at a prie fixe (forgive my spelling) type of restuarant, where everything is decided on by the chef, and they simply go in, eat, and pay the bill.
Some others choose to focus on one art, but aren't quite so rigidly bound as the first group. They aren't really into the culture or other things beyond the system; they just want to "do it." (Some systems embody this approach; they don't bother requiring students to learn many foreign terms or artificial forms of behavior and ritual.) Going back to my analogy, these people are going to a restaurant, and choosing from the dinner platter/combination menus. Unlike the prie fixe, they choose what they want -- but they take the package they choose, even they don't really want the fries.
And others still don't care about a single art; they just want "what works." They jump from style to style, school to school, based on whatever catches and holds their interest and meets their personal definition of "useful." These people are ordering from the a la carte menu; they're only getting what they want, in the manner they want it. No fries for these guys... unless they want them! Some of these guys do use an underlying basis, so it's like they're only going to a particular type of restaurant -- but they're still only taking what they want.
Of course, the truth is that most of us are somewhere between the extremes. Me? I've chosen to train in one style for many years, and am continuing to train in it. But I'm also open to learning from and about other arts, and I haven't even tried to learn the language of my home style's nation of origin. (Nor have I been required to...) And I've been playing with spending some time learning Judo, just because it's interesting to me. So, it's kind of like I've been going to the same type of restaurants, eating from the combo meals -- but I'm thinking of going to a different place for a break...