You did crosstraing and........

[Manny]

I wanted to write about something but had not any idea about it, so I think talking about crosstraing with you guys can be a nice as many of you have did it. I did crosstaring in Kenpo Karate and liked very much, the concepts, ideas and self defense techs and... there were some things I disliked, for example the forms (kata).

Well doing crosstraining helped me, I wanted something new and fresh to ad to my TKD, I knowed I will never let go TKD because it's my thing however I wanted to improve it and truth to be told the year I had of kenpo classes was a very nice thing, but I returned to TKD and not stayed in Kenpo.

When you did crosstraining left your previus martial art? or do you come back to your roots?

Manny

 

[dancingalone]

TKD was my first MA. I got to 2nd dan before I left due to a combination of moving and other things... I could have found another TKD in the same lineage/style very easily where I initially moved to, but I elected to go in a different direction to become a better, more complete martial artist. I THOUGHT TKD had significant gaps in it, namely the medium and close range facets of fighting, and I was determined to address those weaknesses in my own training.

Years and years later, I have come back full circle. I now realize that TKD didn't have those gaps I found so exasperating. Rather they were gaps in my teacher's knowledge and thus by extension, in me as well. Training in other styles and methodologies was a great experience for me, but a different tae kwon do sabumnim likely could have trained me to the same endpoint or outcome even if technically the curriculum would have been different from what I learned. I now truly believe that TKD is as rich a martial training vehicle as we want it to be.

While I hold higher dan ranks these days in Japanese/Okinawan martial arts, I find myself renewed as a martial artist through designing a personalized TKD curriculum colored by all my MA training experiences. I have recently concluded the purchase of a tae kwon do dojang, and I look forward to unifying all my martial endeavors under one roof.

 

[MAist25]

I started out training in Jeet Kune Do Concepts and Muay Thai. I ended up switching to a school that taught Taekwondo and Hapkido and never looked back. I kept a lot of what I learned from my Thai Boxing and JKD skillset and added it into my training. Ive also trained in Judo as well as Silat Suffian Bela Diri. My personal style is just a jumble of what I have picked up over the years that work for me, but I never for a second even considered stopping my Taekwondo training. Every other style kind of came and went and I learned many good techniques and concepts that have definitely benefited me as a martial artist, but Taekwondo is what I love more than anything else.

 

[Blindside]

It took me a while to find a base art due to me moving around with being a student and then seasonal jobs, but I would consider Kenpo to be my first main base art. I started cross training in Pekiti-Tirsia Kali and that has really taken over my martial path, I can see myself teaching Kenpo again at some point but if I do it will be heavily influenced by my Kali.

 

[Thesemindz]

Manny! I'm so glad to hear from you on here! My wife and I have been so worried for your safety, it's good to see that you're still around. As for crosstraining, I do it whenever I can. I'm not concerned with stylistic loyalty. My instructor threw me out of his school because we didn't agree on how karate should be taught. I'm interested in learning and growing, and I'll take that anywhere I can get it. I've been ronin for six years now, I'm just hungry. I don't care if it's a bjj guy, or a hapkido guy, or a tkd guy, if he's got something to share I want it. Then I take it back to the lab, play with it, work it on the body and against resistance, and see where it fits with what I already know. My background in kenpo gives me a very analytical approach to martial arts, and I spend a lot of time breaking things apart and putting them back together. How does it work? Where would I use it? What are my entries? What are my finishes? Some things become a part of my method. Some things are neat and I keep them on the shelf like interesting knick knacks but don't bother teaching them to my students. Some things aren't as effective or useful as what I'm already doing, or are just junk, and I toss them aside and move on to the next thing. But I always learn from the experience. Either I learn a better way to do things, or I learn that I'm already doing things a better way.


-Rob

 

[Manny]

TKD was my first MA. I got to 2nd dan before I left due to a combination of moving and other things... I could have found another TKD in the same lineage/style very easily where I initially moved to, but I elected to go in a different direction to become a better, more complete martial artist. I THOUGHT TKD had significant gaps in it, namely the medium and close range facets of fighting, and I was determined to address those weaknesses in my own training.

You are a blessed man mi amigo.

Manny

Years and years later, I have come back full circle. I now realize that TKD didn't have those gaps I found so exasperating. Rather they were gaps in my teacher's knowledge and thus by extension, in me as well. Training in other styles and methodologies was a great experience for me, but a different tae kwon do sabumnim likely could have trained me to the same endpoint or outcome even if technically the curriculum would have been different from what I learned. I now truly believe that TKD is as rich a martial training vehicle as we want it to be.

While I hold higher dan ranks these days in Japanese/Okinawan martial arts, I find myself renewed as a martial artist through designing a personalized TKD curriculum colored by all my MA training experiences. I have recently concluded the purchase of a tae kwon do dojang, and I look forward to unifying all my martial endeavors under one roof.

You are a blessed man mi amigo.

Manny

 

[hungryninja]

I cross-trained in krav maga, bjj, and kendo. Taekwondo will always be my first love, and I still continue to practice it. I haven't completely left TKD, but most of my training time is devoted to krav maga now.

 

[Cyriacus]

Does Boxing count?
Because if so, Im still doing that.

 

[mastercole]

Cross training can certainly have some benefits, if you are training with the right teacher, and you are the right student. I think though there can be some undesirable pitfalls to cross training, especially for the practitioner who only really scratched the surface in their training.

 

[RobinTKD]

Does Boxing count?
Because if so, Im still doing that.

Most definitely! Boxing is as much a martial art as TKD, Karate, Kung-Fu etc.

I Train in Judo and Goju-Ryu karate alongside my TKD classes, the 3 arts are slotting nicely together now!

 

[Cyriacus]

Most definitely! Boxing is as much a martial art as TKD, Karate, Kung-Fu etc.

I Train in Judo and Goju-Ryu karate alongside my TKD classes, the 3 arts are slotting nicely together now!

I consider it to be - Im Pleased Im not the only one.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Does Boxing count?
Because if so, Im still doing that.

Boxing would definitely be cross training. Is it a M A? depends on how you define your terms. I have trained in boxing to improve my hand skills and footwork. However, I consider boxing to be a "Martial Sport" or perhaps of some have said "The sweet science." However, i feel certain elements are missing which are needed to have it be called a Martial Art. (But that's just me.)

 

[Cyriacus]

Boxing would definitely be cross training. Is it a M A? depends on how you define your terms. I have trained in boxing to improve my hand skills and footwork. However, I consider boxing to be a "Martial Sport" or perhaps of some have said "The sweet science." However, i feel certain elements are missing which are needed to have it be called a Martial Art. (But that's just me.)

Ah - This is where Perspective comes in. Boxing I consider to be a Martial Art of the Hands, that is all about the Hands. Its like how Judo Stances dont exactly suit Striking Exchanges; Boxing Stances work for Boxing. Its more Sport, surely. But then, does Kendo Teach You to Block Kicks?
Its perhaps a Martial Art, relating to using Hands against Hands, but nothing else.

I guess it depends on Your Definition.

 

[Gorilla]

My Kids Base Art TKD

They also train in Shotokan and Boxing. Shotokan has been a great experience. They compete in WTF-TKD and NKF-WKF Karate. If you are solid in your base art crosstraing can be a great thing.

 

[rainesr]

Why Shotokan and TKD? What are they getting from one that they don't get in the other?

I will probably get slammed or insight some violence but when I took Tand Soo Do (TSD) I worked out with both TKD and Shotokan guys regularly. Not a huge difference from my perspective. My lineage of TSD seemed to be right about in the middle of the two. Forms were nearly identical to Shotokan and execution of techniques were somewhat more similar to TKD.

~Rob

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Why Shotokan and TKD? What are they getting from one that they don't get in the other?

I will probably get slammed or insight some violence but when I took Tand Soo Do (TSD) I worked out with both TKD and Shotokan guys regularly. Not a huge difference from my perspective. My lineage of TSD seemed to be right about in the middle of the two. Forms were nearly identical to Shotokan and execution of techniques were somewhat more similar to TKD.

~Rob

Ive trained both shotokan and tkd. I found the stances to be different, a lot more emphasis on punching in shotokan and as a general rule I found tkd to have greater emphasis on speed and shotokan to have a greater emphasis on power. We just had a shotokan black belt come and train at our tkd club for a while. During sparring I noticed the tkd guys seemed a lot quicker and bounced around more, BUT if the shotokan guy connected with a punch or kick the tkd guys went down hard. The shotokan guy seems more patient, waits for the right second then 'bang!'. When I did shotokan we never did any tech that required both feet to be in the air at the same time i.e no jump spinning kicks or tornado kicks etc. Shotokan also had much deeper, lower stances. I train at a very 'old school' tkd club and are far removed from the new sporty tkd but even we still do a lot less punching than I did in shotokan. There is a lot less emphasis on kicking in shotokan compared to tkd. Tkd is about as similar to shotokan as baseball is to cricket in my opinion. Both great arts, but I can certainly see many differences between the two and they do compliment each other well I thought.

 

[Gorilla]

The Shotokan instructor is one of the best in the USA.

 

[Cyriacus]

Ill always find it Interesting when People talk about TKD Emphasizing Speed - I'm almost Interested to go find a KKW Dojang just so I can take a peek at that side of it, just out of Interest.
Ive really never seen it done that way.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Ill always find it Interesting when People talk about TKD Emphasizing Speed - I'm almost Interested to go find a KKW Dojang just so I can take a peek at that side of it, just out of Interest.
Ive really never seen it done that way.

I train at a very un-kkw club and yet we have a very big emphasis on speed, something our GM is big on. Tkd is known for its speed. I know a guy who just started in muay thai after 15 years of tkd and he said they tried to pick his technique apart and were largely negative toward tkd, but he also said they continually commented "damn you tkd guys are fast!".

 

[Haakon]

The first martial art I trained in was TKD, a long time ago. After a couple of years I moved and more or less started over in a different flavor of TKD, eventually getting to 1st dan. After that I moved again and decided to try something with more than just punching and kicking, I had done wrestling in high school and wanted something with a bit of grappling. So I tried aiki jujitsu, Aikido, very briefly kung fu and american Kempo none of which felt quite right for me. Eventually I got around to trying Hapkido, and I love it. Our school also has a TKD class, every once in a while I go to that class, I do have very fond memories of my years of TKD training, but it just doesn't satisfy me anymore the way HKD does. I do still practice my TKD forms every once in a while so I remember them, but I don't see myself actively training in TKD again.