At What Point To Start Training Other Arts?

[Psilent Knight]

Hello everybody,

I am presently training in Kyokushin Karate but I would like to explore a couple of other arts in order to incorporate certain principles into my MA practice. I am not a BB yet and will not be for another couple of years. At some point I would like to explore Tai Chi Chu'an, Shaolin Chin-na, Bagua and Goju ryu Karate because I want to learn, understand and incorporate their respective principles of movement, power generation and using an opponent's force against him.

For the veteran martial artists here I wanna know at what point would it be best to start learning and studying these other arts? Would it be best to wait until I am a BB in the style that I am studying now or can I start learning even before reaching BB?

Thanks everyone and Take Care,
Osu!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

at what point would it be best to start learning and studying these other arts?

After you have used your primary MA system to build up your solid foundation. May be 6 years is a good time period.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hello everybody,

I am presently training in Kyokushin Karate but I would like to explore a couple of other arts in order to incorporate certain principles into my MA practice. I am not a BB yet and will not be for another couple of years. At some point I would like to explore Tai Chi Chu'an, Shaolin Chin-na, Bagua and Goju ryu Karate because I want to learn, understand and incorporate their respective principles of movement, power generation and using an opponent's force against him.

For the veteran martial artists here I wanna know at what point would it be best to start learning and studying these other arts? Would it be best to wait until I am a BB in the style that I am studying now or can I start learning even before reaching BB?

Thanks everyone and Take Care,
Osu!

I'll outline the three major viewpoints I've run into.

1. Train in your primary art until you "master" it (usually 5-10 years), then add other arts to supplement. This presumes you know what your "primary" art is when you only have experience in one. That's not always wrong. This has the advantage that you learn just one art with some depth (assuming you've found the right instructor for you), and it becomes the base for your future learning. The disadvantage is that there's no cross-training benefit to your primary art.
2. Go ahead and start two arts at the same time, so long as there are no major conflicts between them. This usually means not two striking arts at the same time, nor two grappling arts. This has the benefit of the concepts bleeding together a bit in your brain as you learn both arts. The downside is that you're not focusing on either one, so you could find yourself part-learning both.
3. Start one art and get a few fundamentals (a year or two), then add your cross-training. This is my advice. It has the benefit that you don't have to know what your primary art is up front (if you find a new primary, you've already "cross-trained" for a year or two). The downside is similar to #2, but reduced, since you did focus for a couple of years, and could decide to focus for a couple of years on a new art now.

I've seen all of these (and variations of them) work for people. There is no one set answer to this. I like #3 because it provides most of the benefits of the other two. If you want to find out if it's too early to cross-train, go take some seminars in other arts. If you get better at your primary art from those seminars, it's not too early.

 

[DanT]

I had 5 years of solid Wing Chun training before starting Northern Shaolin. If you build a good foundation in one art, learning more will be easy. If it takes let's say 10 years to "master" your first art, it might take only 9 for your second, 8 for your third, etc, because you have already developed so many fundamental skills. Learning a second art before you have a solid foundation will be hard. If you want my advice, get your Second Dan first, then explore something very different, like BJJ or tai chi.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

30 to 40 years, then another 20 to be safe.

 

[Headhunter]

Whenever you want

 

[drop bear]

Seize the day.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Studying a grappling art while studying a striking art is fine, but don't take two different striking arts, unless they are almost the same.

 

[Tames D]

30 to 40 hours, then another 20 to be safe.

 

[Dirty Dog]

It's not like there's any science to base this stuff on, so it's really nothing more (or less) than individuals personal experience and opinion.
Personally, I think it's best to have a solid grounding in your primary art before cross training. How long that takes is going to vary quite a bit depending on the person and the art.

 

[Psilent Knight]

Thank You Everyone for the valuable feedback. You all have given me much to weigh and consider.

Take Care Everyone and Have A Great Day,
Osu!

 

[wingerjim]

My teacher calls that reading from another book. I almost exclusively read from one book as I study Wing Chun, though I have also learned some basic Tai Chi and Xing I forms. I think it depends completely what your long-term goal is. I find any time away from Wing Chun is time lost to reaching the highest level I can as I only have a finite amount of time to study. I usually tell the newer student to not get what I call the "Look...squirrel" attitude and to become very good at one art before exploring others. Once proficient at one I think it helps to explore other if you so choose. My teacher's techer also studies several but all are Chinese arts as he says they compliment the others, but interestingly his Wing Chun teachers have only studies Wing Chun as has his Tai CHi and Bagua teachers.

 

[marques]

In theory, perhaps after black belt / +5yrs.

In real life, whenever you have enough time and motivation. Because the perfect moment and conditions may never happen...

 

[kuniggety]

Gpseymour really broke it down but I think one significant factor is time. Any time you spend training another martial art, you're not training the first one. They say it's a marathon and not a sprint but if you're only training a couple of days a week and want to divide that up more then you will see your progress slow waaay down.

I keep thinking of picking up some Muay Thai (having a combined few years experience in karate and kung fu over the years, so other striking arts) but my current main art is BJJ and there is just soooo much to learn. Being a dad (on top of a full time job and some other obligations), time is at a premium.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

This might sound like a cop-out but I will wait until my instructor says I'm ready to branch out into other styles. I've discussed this with him before with regards to learning staff forms from other systems and he said I'm not ready for that yet. When the time came that he thought I was ready he would help me along the way.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Gpseymour really broke it down but I think one significant factor is time. Any time you spend training another martial art, you're not training the first one. They say it's a marathon and not a sprint but if you're only training a couple of days a week and want to divide that up more then you will see your progress slow waaay down.

I keep thinking of picking up some Muay Thai (having a combined few years experience in karate and kung fu over the years, so other striking arts) but my current main art is BJJ and there is just soooo much to learn. Being a dad (on top of a full time job and some other obligations), time is at a premium.

Agreed. Time is the best reason not to do serious cross-training. I don't go around suggesting all my students start a second art after a year or two. If they are committing all the time their priorities allow, and that's just two days a week, then full cross-training will actually inhibit their development. For those folks, I'll suggest going to some seminars, instead.

One more thought on cross-training: visiting other schools in the same art from time to time is also useful. You'll get a different perspective on the art, and this will likely advance your learning. The more different the perspective, the more useful the visit and the more often you should probably return.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This might sound like a cop-out but I will wait until my instructor says I'm ready to branch out into other styles. I've discussed this with him before with regards to learning staff forms from other systems and he said I'm not ready for that yet. When the time came that he thought I was ready he would help me along the way.

Not really a cop-out. It sounds like your instructor is more in group #1 or #3 from my first post. If you don't have a driving desire to get out and cross-train, then working with him to plan your cross-training is a good idea. Having your primary instructor involved in that process means he'll be able to help you make the most of that new learning (and reduce any confusion it could cause).

 

[drop bear]

How long will the window of opportunity last to train in this other style with the right guy?

 

[Kong Soo Do]

Hello everybody,

I am presently training in Kyokushin Karate but I would like to explore a couple of other arts in order to incorporate certain principles into my MA practice. I am not a BB yet and will not be for another couple of years. At some point I would like to explore Tai Chi Chu'an, Shaolin Chin-na, Bagua and Goju ryu Karate because I want to learn, understand and incorporate their respective principles of movement, power generation and using an opponent's force against him.

For the veteran martial artists here I wanna know at what point would it be best to start learning and studying these other arts? Would it be best to wait until I am a BB in the style that I am studying now or can I start learning even before reaching BB?

Thanks everyone and Take Care,
Osu!

A lot depends on your reason for training. Is it a hobby? Is it academic (as in to study for the experience)? Is it for self defense?

If it's a hobby and/or academic then train what you want, when you're able to and enjoy it. The notion that you need to be in an art for X amount of time is esoteric nonsense that is used to pad the art and keep income flowing for the school.

Is it for self defense? If yes, then I'd suggest the Karate you're taking isn't the right Karate. True Karate is striking, kicking, grappling, throwing, sweeping, joint locks, cavity pressing, ground defense etc. There should be no reason to seek other arts as all you need for self defense should be in the art your training.

 

[Psilent Knight]

my current main art is BJJ and there is just soooo much to learn. Being a dad (on top of a full time job and some other obligations), time is at a premium.

This is an interesting point because I think a lot has to do with the primary art that one is training currently and as you said there most definitely is so much to learn in BJJ, ESPECIALLY if you learning gi as well as no gi. But I also agree wholeheartedly with @Dirty Dog that it also depends on the person as well as the art which should determine when one has a solid grounding in his primary art and when he can begin cross training.

Thank You for your input.

Take Care and Have A Great Day,
Osu!