Do BETTER martial artists train ONE art or MANY arts?

[Tez3]

Kids grow up speaking 8 languages. There are a few who only learn one. Mostly us English speakers.

No it will be a lot harder learning two.

My shift partner spoke several languages as most of the Gurkhas do, they start with the native dialect, then Gurkali, then Hindi and English. Over the years he's picked up Cantonese from being posted to Hong Kong and a couple of other languages including Fijian 'pidgin'. He chats to one of the Sikh soldiers who speaks Hindi, we have a lot of bilingual people here, not all immigrants we have plenty of Welsh, Gaelic and Cornish speakers too.

 

[Jenna]

Looking at just ballroom dancing
Just Dance Ballroom Dance Styles

Yet we cant do karate and judo together?

Interesting analogy.. perhaps ballroom dancing is a certain style though.. like would those ballroom dancers also do street dance and hop hop dancing or ballet? certain styles have interchangeable aspects.. some others do not maybe

 

[Tez3]

Interesting analogy.. perhaps ballroom dancing is a certain style though.. like would those ballroom dancers also do street dance and hop hop dancing or ballet? certain styles have interchangeable aspects.. some others do not maybe[/QUOTE

Certainly ballet dancers can turn their hands (feet?) to any style, ballet, folk and tap is usually taught together anyway. I've watched a dance competition on television where the competitors from different aspects had to do different styles and most managed perfectly well, ballroom dancers included. The ones who didn't manage other styles were the self taught street dancers most often and the 'body poppers' who found what we usually accept as dance almost impossible.

 

[Jenna]

@Tez3 yeah I think his dancing analogy works pretty well then right?? though I have been in some Aiki clubs that were not so far from ballet their selves lols

 

[Tez3]

If ballet dancers also did martial arts we'd be in trouble lol, their fitness, flexibility and strength is amazingly good.

 

[Zero]

This question immediately reminds me of Leslie Fish's thoughts on the matter:

Chorus:
Better than who? (better than who)
The scores aren't in. (the scores aren't in)
Let the gods of evolution say who'll win.
Better at what? (better at what)
In what way? (in what way)
Let the gods of evolution have their say.

I'm better than you at shooting,
You're better than me with a knife.
Who's to say which tool works better when the punks come for your life?
You're better than me at karate,
I'm better than you with a stick.
Do you really want to walk through the slums tonight, let the old gods take their pick?

I'm better at breathing pollution,
You're better at avoiding colds.
Which of us will last the longer in the worst the future holds?
You're better at surviving bug bites,
I'm better at eating junk.
If civilization sinks tomorrow, which of us would be sunk?

I'm better at training horses,
You're better at fixing cars.
Which will be in more demand at the next turn of the stars?
You're better at hunting rabbits,
I'm better at making fire.
Which of those skills can better fulfill what tomorrow might require?

I'm better at growing gardens,
You're better at counting cash.
Which will serve us best tomorrow, the money or the stash?
You're better at working computers,
I'm better at making a song.
Which will put more food on the table if the world goes right or wrong?

(musical interlude)
You're better at playing dominance,
I'm better at making friends.
What works better, whether or not civilization ends?
Nobody knows the future,
Or what skill betters the odds.
So it's best to say we're all born equal and leave the rest to the gods.

Let the gods of evolution have their say

Thanks Tony, I have only just read over this Thread and seen your post. Had never heard of her or this whole "filk" thing before now but now getting into it. Thanks.

 

[Zero]

If ballet dancers also did martial arts we'd be in trouble lol, their fitness, flexibility and strength is amazingly good.

I'd feel so vulnerable fighting in those tights! : )

 

[Danny T]

I'd feel so vulnerable fighting in those tights! : )

What!! You don't train in Spandex??

 

[Zero]

What!! You don't train in Spandex??

ha! Only with the lights out!!

It's the one and only reason I gave up savate my man!!

 

[Tony Dismukes]

ha! Only with the lights out!!

It's the one and only reason I gave up savate my man!!

I thought the spandex for Savate was quite flattering. It was the constantly getting my butt kicked by Captain America that got me to quit.

 

[Cirdan]

I thought the spandex for Savate was quite flattering. It was the constantly getting my butt kicked by Captain America that got me to quit.

Uh oh gave away your secret identy there Tony.

 

[Limasogobudo]

I will admit I went thru some of the first page of this, I did not read what everyone put. But here is my thought on it. When the question is asked we have to look at what the martial arts mean. Martial arts the goal is not just physical technique it is the way of bettering ones self. I think that it does not take one or many arts. In reality it just takes the person and their mind to be the drive to perfect their way of life not just a technique. So in my opinion If their heart is open and their mind is ready they will always be a good martial artist.

 

[JohnnyEnglish]

To become a better martial artist do you train SEVERAL arts simultaneously (or change arts over the course of your MA lifespan) or do you train ONE art to the exclusion of all others? Thank you. Jx

To be honest, it depends! What is a good martial artist to you ? Someone who is very good at for example Karate,Taekwondo, or someone who is a good fighter in general ? Like knows what to do in every situation ?

Well, if you mean what I think you mean, I would say it is better to train ONE not more than TWO martial arts. If you can pick, pick a system which trains you several parts at the time, like Krav-Maga, Jiu-Jitsu or Gjogsul.

I personally stick with ONE, simply because my opinion is, why would I need to learn several martial arts ? One should be enough to cover all fields,striking,kicking,some angles and grips for self-defense. If you need more than one martial art to become a good martial artist, you should have a look for an other school.

I learn Taekwondo but did many other martial arts before, and I say there is no need for an extra martial art.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I'm old school on this one. Train and understand your martial art fighting style first before you go and train another fighting style. A martial artist should train and understand his or her style of martial arts, but study the movement of other martial artist for the purpose being more effective in fighting against those styles. You should only train in another style after you understand your own.

What you'll find in real life is that many traditional martial artists fail against MMA fighters because they fail to understand their style of martial arts as it refers to fighting an MMA fighter. Most martial artist understand martial arts from the perspective of fighting against someone who knows the same style or someone who doesn't know how to fight. You'll also discover that the better you understand your style of martial arts the more adaptive it becomes. An extra martial art at that point would just be another tool in the tool box that's there if you need it, but not necessary the tool you use the most.