Black belt ranks in more than one style

wade

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I'm just curious about this. I was talking to a guy a while back and he said he felt sorry for me cause I only have BB rank in one style, TKD. He him self claimed BB rank in TKD, Karate, Kenjutsu, Kenpo and something else, I can't remember what. Anyway, I talked to a couple friends of mine who have been training in TKD for quite a while and they hold BB rank in TKD but nothing else either. One asked me how well I knew TKD, well, I've been in it since 68 and there are so many people that know more about it than me it's scary. He said it was the same with him. He's been in TKD for over 26 years and has played in other styles, like me, but has never been able to devote the time and effort to truly know them and earn BB rank in them. So, my question is for all the people out there that have BB ranks in more than one style or system, how did you do it.
 

Rich Parsons

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I'm just curious about this. I was talking to a guy a while back and he said he felt sorry for me cause I only have BB rank in one style, TKD. He him self claimed BB rank in TKD, Karate, Kenjutsu, Kenpo and something else, I can't remember what. Anyway, I talked to a couple friends of mine who have been training in TKD for quite a while and they hold BB rank in TKD but nothing else either. One asked me how well I knew TKD, well, I've been in it since 68 and there are so many people that know more about it than me it's scary. He said it was the same with him. He's been in TKD for over 26 years and has played in other styles, like me, but has never been able to devote the time and effort to truly know them and earn BB rank in them. So, my question is for all the people out there that have BB ranks in more than one style or system, how did you do it.


Many years ago we had a low ranked colored belt who left our club and went across town to get higher rank and faster to Black Belt as we did nto promote fast enough and were holding him back. After 6 months at the other place he tested for his BB and then left there for something else. Once he had this BB he would go places and try to short cut even more to get more rank.

A few years after that (* Early - Mid 90's - 93/94 *) I was invited to stop by a Jujitsu club that was also looking into some BJJ. The person who invited me I thought was a student of the class. I showed up and got ready for class, but put on a white belt instead of my black belt. (* I have not rank in Jujitsu and have no problems wearing white. *) As the person who invited me did not show I started to change in the locker rooms back into street clothes to leave. The instructor (* highest ranked BB *) asked me to stay so I did. I saw this same student who had left us and he asked me how where things and what I was doing in Martial Arts. I told him I was still teaching/studying just my first art. He laughed and said I mastered that years ago and have moved onto BB rank in (* Insert list I did not listen too here *). He was really confused by my answer of just striking 1 through 12 and the same old things. He could not understand just wanting to study one system. The only reason I was there as I was invited to stop by and I did so.

I do teach two systems now, but both are FMA's.
 

Steel Tiger

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I have to say I have met a number of people with BB in more than one art. Of those only one has had a genuine interest in the three arts he studies, the others were nothing more than collectors. I have been studying my own art for 22 years now and I am still discovering new things about it.
 

CHA3Kenpo

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I hold one BB and I am working down a long road to one in BJJ. Its not all about the belts. Just because he has 75 BB doesn't mean some brown belt in one style can't hang with him or beat him in competition/fight. I figure that if I can "master" a stand up style and a ground style of fighting, that will pretty much cover it.
 

tellner

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I got a black belt in one style which I stopped doing long ago. I later got a teaching credential in another.
 

Grenadier

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I really didn't have much of a choice. I would have gladly stuck with any one of the styles that I studied, but living like a gypsy, packing up every few years, and having to move, made it impossible to stay with a particular system for a long time. College / grad school / postdoctoral fellowship progression will do that to you!

I've been settled down for four years now, with my first "real job" (not a postdoc), and have stuck with the current system for about 2.75 years, and anticipate on sticking around for a long time. It's awfully nice to be living in a house that I (or more precisely, the bank) own, and to be able to buy furniture, knowing I'll be here for a long time.

I'm not angry about having to switch systems by any means. If anything, studying other systems gave me a good insight into other methods, and that sometimes, there were truly better ways of doing specific things.
 

searcher

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I started training at a young age and had the chance to train in different schools. So that is where it started. I have had several BBs in other styles come through my school and had them train me in their style and I train them in mine(or their child). I also take classes from another instructor at another school though I don't teach him my style. I have been accused of having a natural ability to pick up MA techniques and the like very easily. This has helped me out tremendously. Also you already have down the basics so your training can be accelerated. I train in other styles for particular reasons and not for the rank. I just happen to be willing to test and advance like any other student.
 

chinto01

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I'm just curious about this. I was talking to a guy a while back and he said he felt sorry for me cause I only have BB rank in one style, TKD. He him self claimed BB rank in TKD, Karate, Kenjutsu, Kenpo and something else, I can't remember what. Anyway, I talked to a couple friends of mine who have been training in TKD for quite a while and they hold BB rank in TKD but nothing else either. One asked me how well I knew TKD, well, I've been in it since 68 and there are so many people that know more about it than me it's scary. He said it was the same with him. He's been in TKD for over 26 years and has played in other styles, like me, but has never been able to devote the time and effort to truly know them and earn BB rank in them. So, my question is for all the people out there that have BB ranks in more than one style or system, how did you do it.

I would have to say do not worry about it. A belt just keeps your gi top from opening up while working out. There are a lot of people out there who hold multiple black belts and are not worth their salt. if you are happy with your TKD then go with that. Quantity will never beat quality.

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob
 

Tez3

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I really didn't have much of a choice. I would have gladly stuck with any one of the styles that I studied, but living like a gypsy, packing up every few years, and having to move, made it impossible to stay with a particular system for a long time. College / grad school / postdoctoral fellowship progression will do that to you!


I know quite a few martial artists with several blackbelts for much the same reasons. They are all forces personnel and have moved around a lot and trained wherever they were stationed. My instructor is one such, he as five blackbelts. He's been doing martial arts for over 30 years, in a lot of differnt places. He's always though, started from white and worked his way up. We have children from different styles training with us too, we don't take their belts off them and make them start again though.It's very dispiriting to have to go back to white every time you have to move.
 

jdinca

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Not there yet but for me, I don't know that I will pursue a belt in anything other than what I now study. There are 10 degrees of BB in our system and once you get to BB, the scope of the material expands dramatically. There's enough to easily last me the rest of my martial arts life.

I can understand why others would want to experience different systems though.
 

tom fox

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I was one of those who trained where and when I could,being in the military you move around alot. The good thing now is I have my own school and can teach a variety of styles. Just like soneone else said, one style can keep you busy training, because there is always something new to learn.
 

Robert Lee

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I made balck belt in more then 1 style. And liked the exposer. You find othere styles are really just slightly different. And find some things more useful. Beyond style is the person which makes no style Sure 1 art offers a lifetime of study And really learning any M/A is a lifetime also. Its choice and should be. Confine your self to 1 one way thats fine look and try other aspects that to is fine. The belt only demonstrates you met the required levels. But further you can give no belt for the knowledge you have learned be it 1 or more then 1 art.
 

Mariachi Joe

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I would think it would be best to first get your foundation in one art and then cross train. I've thought about cross traing to fill gaps in my training after I've advanced a bit more in my training
 

Mark Lynn

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I'm just curious about this. I was talking to a guy a while back and he said he felt sorry for me cause I only have BB rank in one style, TKD. He him self claimed BB rank in TKD, Karate, Kenjutsu, Kenpo and something else, I can't remember what.

Why should he feel sorry for you? If you have a high level of understanding of your art (which I imagine you would have studying it for 38 years), I think this shows a lack of maturity on his part.

Anyway, I talked to a couple friends of mine who have been training in TKD for quite a while and they hold BB rank in TKD but nothing else either. One asked me how well I knew TKD, well, I've been in it since 68 and there are so many people that know more about it than me it's scary. He said it was the same with him. He's been in TKD for over 26 years and has played in other styles, like me, but has never been able to devote the time and effort to truly know them and earn BB rank in them.

The similarites between some arts can allow the student to pick up the 2nd, or 3rd art more easily than an art that has no or very little similarity to the primary system. TKD and Karate (certain styles) have similarites, Judo and Jujitsu or Aikido and Akijujitsu, or different FMA styles can similarites between them. However studying say Akijujitsu and TKD that would be hard and take longer. Especially if the foundations and principles of the arts are completely different.

Also is the person just learning the basics and becoming a black belt and then moving on or are they staying with the art and studying another at the same time? Meaning are they growing and maturing in their primary art, or getting the BB and running onto the next system.

So, my question is for all the people out there that have BB ranks in more than one style or system, how did you do it.

I like others have moved around and so I studied in several different places and different schools and instructors. I have also had training in different systems and BB rank in some of them. I have BB ranks of various degrees in four main systems.
American TKD/Karate
Kombatan Arnis
Modern Arnis
Filipno Combatives/Archipeligo Combatives (under Hock Hochheim).

Now out of this the two Arnis systems and Hock's programs are very similar so it was easy to cross train from one to another. In fact it was Hock who introduced me to the Presas brothers (the GMs of Modern Arnis and Kombatan Arnis). However the TKD program was where I started and I fortunately had a excellent instructor who taught me well so I had an excellent foundation from which to build upon. Although I still spend time training in and teaching some in the TKD my emphasis for the past 15 years has really been on the FMA.

Mark
 

bushidomartialarts

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my organization requires black belt in another art to receive higher dan ranks. it's another part of mastery.

look at any professional musician, say a concert pianist. it's a certainty that she can play something else very well and that she has studied that other instrument seriously. but not because she wanted to switch over to becoming a concert violinist. it's because learning how the violin was similar and different from the piano helps her understand music in general and the piano in particular.

personally, i have my 3rd dan in kenpo and am closing in on my shodan in goju shorei. i have plans to get shodan in one other art as fulfillment of further advancement requirements. but kenpo is my home and i have no plans on leaving.
 

Blindside

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I am studying a second art; Pekiti Tirsia Kali, and eventually I hope to have a good understanding of the art. I searched for it because I thought it gave me something my kenpo didn't (I'm still active in kenpo) and that it would make me a better martial artist. Right now my training time is split evenly between the two arts, but my main focus is on my Kali, and my Kenpo is getting better because of the attributes I am developing from Kali, but I don't have the time to spend equally on both arts.

I also think that specialization in one art is unusual for historical martial artists, because the arts exist in larger context. A samurai knew ranged and melee weapons as well as unarmed martial arts and similarly so did the european knight. If you simply look at the histories of any of the bigwigs in martial arts, it is unusual to find someone who just trained one art; Jigoro Kano, Mas Oyama, Gichin Funakoshi, Morihei Ueshiba, Edmund Parker all trained in multiple arts. Personally, I think all martial artists interested in self-defense should have knowledge of all ranges (projectile, melee weapons, unarmed striking, grappling). I'm not saying mastery, I'm saying knowledge, and if that takes learning multiple arts, so be it.

Lamont
 

zDom

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I started hapkido about two months after I started taekwondo.

I managed to study both for nearly four years — HKD on Monday nights, training TKD on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also was an assistant instructor for TKD in the kids' class on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Later on there was a Wednesday class I also helped out in.

After nearly four years, I was at red belt (last belt before black) in TKD and blue belt (intermediate level rank) in HKD. I stopped going to HKD so I could focus on my black belt test.

About two or three months after I got my TKD black belt, marriage and job situations conspired to keep me out of martial arts for about a year.

After the break, I started TKD again and worked toward and achieved second dan TKD.

I got burnt out on instructing TKD about a year after that and thought I should probably work on getting my HKD first dan while still young enough to hit the mat and get back up.

So I "retired" from TKD to focus on HKD, achieving first dan on Dec. 3, 2006, after something like another four years of training.

That's how I did it. Of course, there is some overlap between HKD and TKD — kicking, to be specific.

I don't "feel sorry" for those who only study one art. Better to be a master of one than a jack-of-all-arts, IMO.
 

shrek

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What does learning more than one martial art give one?? OPTIONS. TKD is great for clobbering someone, but it is limited in effectiveness for say...a bouncer...it doesn't look good when you give a jump side kick to some schmuck's head right when the cops pull up. Aikido was my second art, and it didn't get me fired for excessive use of force ;)

Bruce Lee said it best in his interviews, there is no one WAY, there is only YOUR WAY. Use what works best for you.

In almost every chinese martial arts film there is a young guy learning one art who gets his butt kicked and goes out to learn a new art so he can clobber the bad guy. Does that mean his original art is wrong or bad?? NO!! It just means that it hasn't evolved a defense to the new threat. You learn, you change, you advance. Anything else leads to stagnation.
 

Haze

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I have a BB in what the school called Shorin Goju Karate.
It was a combination of Shorin Ryu and Goju Ryu. The school changed associations and with some work the BB's all re-certified with the new association in GojuRyu. But I do not consider this as another BB. My BB is in karate, period.

So I have the basics of the standup game and have now studied some jujitsu and have a little knowledge of the ground game.

For me to master any art I think would take more lives than I have left.

BB in 1991 and have had no need to test for higher grade yet. It is about knowledge, not about belts.
 

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