Adept
Master Black Belt
Howdy all. I stumbled across this site while trawling the internet for various MA related goodness, and it seems like a pretty good little on-line community so I think I'll stick around.
I got into the martial arts about eight years ago. At first I thought I was doing Tae Kwon Do. I mean, that's what the school was called. Southern Tae Kwon Do. But when I became exposed to other martial arts, especially other TKD schools, I realised that what I was being taught, although we called it TKD, was much more broad than the syllabus of most other schools. We were incorporating submissions and wrestling as well as grapples and throws, not to mention extensive work on hands as well as the standard TKD kicking thing.
Then a few years ago I discovered Bruce Lee as a martial artist and not just a movie fan. I was very taken by the philosophy of JKD, especially by the phrase "It's just a name. Dont fuss over it." At the same time we got an influx of senior black belts from a Ju Jitsu school, which had an impact on our training.
At around this point I came to my own personal conclusion about the martial arts, which is that there is only one. Whatever you call it, there is only one way of fighting. All the different styles and arts and schools simply focus on teaching different areas of speciality. No single art is better than another because they are all lacking. No one art covers everything. So I find it simpler these days to simply train in anything I can, rather than to limit myself. I study the martial arts as a whole, rather than a single focus of them.
I got into the martial arts about eight years ago. At first I thought I was doing Tae Kwon Do. I mean, that's what the school was called. Southern Tae Kwon Do. But when I became exposed to other martial arts, especially other TKD schools, I realised that what I was being taught, although we called it TKD, was much more broad than the syllabus of most other schools. We were incorporating submissions and wrestling as well as grapples and throws, not to mention extensive work on hands as well as the standard TKD kicking thing.
Then a few years ago I discovered Bruce Lee as a martial artist and not just a movie fan. I was very taken by the philosophy of JKD, especially by the phrase "It's just a name. Dont fuss over it." At the same time we got an influx of senior black belts from a Ju Jitsu school, which had an impact on our training.
At around this point I came to my own personal conclusion about the martial arts, which is that there is only one. Whatever you call it, there is only one way of fighting. All the different styles and arts and schools simply focus on teaching different areas of speciality. No single art is better than another because they are all lacking. No one art covers everything. So I find it simpler these days to simply train in anything I can, rather than to limit myself. I study the martial arts as a whole, rather than a single focus of them.
. Good to have you aboard. 
