Hi I'm 18 years old (turning 19), and I am half way to getting my second degree black belt in WTF Taekwondo in Canada. After I get my second degree next March I would like to try gaining another discipline. In my town there is a boxing gym, jujitsu club, and a few karate clubs. In the town I'm going to be going to university for 2 months there are also muay thai gyms along with the others. I would love to try all of them but I also have to work full time (and go to school in the other city for 2 months). I was wondering what would be recommended for me.
Adding more disciplines under my belt
- Thread starter JujuPet
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Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Visit the schools and see what you like best. And don't try to do it all.
jobo
Grandmaster
if I was doing something different, I would be tempted to make it a different as possible, so jujitsu or boxing seem as far away from tkd as you can get from the options you have given
I've tried both Muay Thai and Boxing, I just can't decide which is more suitable for me. I would like to do boxing to improve my upper body work and punches, and muay Thai because I enjoy it. In taekwondo I am an infighter but my punches are less than desirable. I'm unsure of what to do.
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jobo
Grandmaster
you are ether making a,choice based on what's best for your development or which you most enjoy
pick one then the answer will be obvious
Midnight-shadow
3rd Black Belt
Before you can decide which new discipline to take, first you must figure out the reason. Most of the time people change disciplines for 4 main reasons:
1. They are moving and cannot do their original discipline at their new location.
2. They are bored or have achieved their goal with their main discipline and are wishing to expand to spice things up a bit.
3. They are looking to enhance their skill set with cross-training to make them more effective at their primary discipline.
4. They have fallen out with the instructor/organisation/fellow students and have quit because of it.
From the OP it looks like you fall into the second category, meaning you are likely looking for something different. In this case, our outsider opinions on this don't matter because we don't know what you will enjoy, and what's fun for us may not be fun for you. So my advice to you is to go to as many different places as possible and see what takes your fancy.
1. They are moving and cannot do their original discipline at their new location.
2. They are bored or have achieved their goal with their main discipline and are wishing to expand to spice things up a bit.
3. They are looking to enhance their skill set with cross-training to make them more effective at their primary discipline.
4. They have fallen out with the instructor/organisation/fellow students and have quit because of it.
From the OP it looks like you fall into the second category, meaning you are likely looking for something different. In this case, our outsider opinions on this don't matter because we don't know what you will enjoy, and what's fun for us may not be fun for you. So my advice to you is to go to as many different places as possible and see what takes your fancy.
Headhunter
Senior Master
Yeah I've always believed a taekwondo guy should do a few boxing classes at least but it's up to you completely
Yeah when I was in high school I did a couple drop in classes and it was really helpful. I think that I'm going to start doing drop in boxing on some of the days I'm not doing taekwondo.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Be aware that if you change or attempt or improve your punching by taking some training in boxing, it may conflict with how you train your punches in TKD. You may be happy with that, but it may cause problems if you also continue with TKD.
I personally do not feel that boxing offers me a better punching method than what I already train in White Crane. In fact, to train in boxing style punches would actually be a bad idea and would interfere with my training and undermine my progress with my White Crane. But other people may feel differently about what they do. The problem is, you might end up with a system that is kind of cobbled together with boxing style punches and TKD style kicks, mixed with Muay Thai kicks that conflict with your TKD kicks, and doing TKD poomsae that use TKD punches that conflict with your boxing punches that have become your standard method. In short, you end up doing a bunch of things that conflict each other and it creates real problems with you training. That's a funny place to end up when you thought you were actually going to improve by training in multiple styles.
Inconsistency in your methods will undermine your training. Consistency is actually very important.
Martial D
Senior Master
A good boxer with tkd kicks can be pretty deadly.
Martial D
Senior Master
Respectfully, my experience leads me in the other direction. Use what works, discard the rest.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
With which part?
Martial D
Senior Master
I actually agree with your last statement, just not the context.
"Inconsistency in your methods will undermine your training. Consistency is actually very important"
It is important to be consistent in your training, but that in and of itself doesn't mean you have to be loyal to any prescribed system. There's no reason you couldn't learn to shift between attacks and footwork patterns of say, boxing and tkd, and be the better for it. Now you can be dangerous at 2 different ranges.
I know I know, tkd has punches too. So does brasilian jui jitsu. Let's keep it real.
If you had tkd kicks, boxing punches, wing chun traps, and wrestling or BJJ for when it goes to the ground, you'll be ready for anything, at any range. Why limit yourself?
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Anybody should pursue the best quality training that they have available to them.
I am pointing out to the OP that if he mixes things, he may run into difficulties. His TKD teacher may take issue with some things. His teacher may say, hey why are your punches all screwy now? That may become a problem. He can decide for himself if that matters, but I am pointing out the possibility.
Now as far as consistency goes, believe it or not there are some methods that are built in a systematic way and are designed to function on a certain foundation. If you remove the foundation, or try to use the techniques without understanding the foundation, or use the techniques on a significantly different foundation, they really don't work well. Some things actually do not mix well. Chinese martial arts are usually built in this way.
So, caveate emptor. Everyone thinks they can mix whatever they want. Well sure, do what you want, it's your life. But I am pointing out that you may not get what you thought you were going to get.
Most people don't think this through the way they should, and most people mix things poorly.
But hey, everyone can do what they want. Hopefully he will be happy with his results.
You can get very good at one thing or suck at a lot of them. Your call.
drop bear
Sr. Grandmaster
Conflict is good. It forces you to adapt and to gain control of your body. It is the inconsistentcies that make you a better martial artist.
like footballers doing ballet.
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DanT
2nd Black Belt
You could be really good at a couple of styles if you have the time. Most people don't that's the problem.
Martial D
Senior Master
My foundation is in a cma, and I have taken a lot from it. In trapping range, my first instinct is to make contact and redirect energy to get strikes through and not get hit. This is why I laugh when people say Wing Chun doesn't work. And I'm not even that great at chi sau, not compared to real WC guys..I just know when and when not to use it.
Like, I'd never use wc to bridge, at least not hand techniques(unless I'm countering something..but in that case the other guy has already bridged.). I'll bridge with boxing strikes and low kicks, lots of head movement. The second those punches turn to grabs, it's wc style. Trap the hands and strike to the head. If those grabs turn to wrestling, then I start thinking throw or submission, where my(admittedly limited) BJJ comes in handy.
Your milage may vary, but this is how it works for me.
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