Recommendation

[Just4Kicks]

I am currently practising TKD and I plan to visit japan at the end of the year for a few months. I was wondering which martial art would be sutiable to take up over there to give my style more rounded abilities.

Suggestions?

 

[wade]

First master TKD then worry about rounding out your abilities.

 

[crushing]

I am currently practising TKD and I plan to visit japan at the end of the year for a few months. I was wondering which martial art would be sutiable to take up over there to give my style more rounded abilities.

Suggestions?

I started and continue to train in TKD, and I've added Hapkido to my training regimen. I think it is working out nicely. Maybe you could consider Aikido during your visit to Japan?

That may 'round' out your abilities. I'm being a little PUNny here. Please excuse me.

 

[searcher]

Any of the JMAs would be a nice addition to your skillset. You should look into ju-jitsu, aikido, judo, kendo, kenjitsu, etc. Go find a school that will work for what you are wanting. Go visit and let the experience dictate what you will study.

 

[Just4Kicks]

First master TKD then worry about rounding out your abilities.

Oh this is only for the trip, just so I can learn some different techniques. And by mastering do you mean black belt?

 

[exile]

First master TKD then worry about rounding out your abilities.

Oh this is only for the trip, just so I can learn some different techniques. And by mastering do you mean black belt?

You have to be careful about this. I agree with Wade. The problem with picking an art like jiujutsu or aikido to `round out' your abilities is that any MA consists not just of a set of techniques but a general strategy for applying them, and TKD is strategically very different from those two arts. In a given combat situation, it's a very bad idea to try to apply two different strategies at once, but since the techs in jj or aikido serve the particular strategies of those two arts, you are very likely to wind up doing just that. On the other hand, TKD and Shotokan karate, say, are strategically compatible, so anything you learned in one is going to be applicable to the other—but then, since the two are technically so close, it's hard to see much point in `studying' one of them for a brief period if you're already doing the other; both are hard linear striking arts predicated on the overal strategy that each move should either end the fight or set up a move to end the fight, sometimes abbreviated a little misleadingly as `one strike/one kill'. If they're both taught in terms of maximum street applicability, they will look very similar to each other. So it's hard to see what the advantage to studying Shotokan would be, as vs. finding a TKD dojang while you're over there and getting some extra TKD training in while you're there...

Bear in mind to that since it's just going to be for the length of the trip, you aren't likely to get far enough in whatever the art is to get anything really useful technically anyway.

 

[jks9199]

On the other hand, TKD and Shotokan karate, say, are strategically compatible, so anything you learned in one is going to be applicable to the other—but then, since the two are technically so close, it's hard to see much point in `studying' one of them for a brief period if you're already doing the other; both are hard linear striking arts predicated on the overal strategy that each move should either end the fight or set up a move to end the fight, sometimes abbreviated a little misleadingly as `one strike/one kill'. If they're both taught in terms of maximum street applicability, they will look very similar to each other. So it's hard to see what the advantage to studying Shotokan would be, as vs. finding a TKD dojang while you're over there and getting some extra TKD training in while you're there...

Bear in mind to that since it's just going to be for the length of the trip, you aren't likely to get far enough in whatever the art is to get anything really useful technically anyway.

I'd second this. Training in something is better than nothing... but why not see if there's a TKD dojang to train at instead? Then you can continue your development in your chosen art, rather than spend several months on a side trip...

However, I could see where you might choose to take the opportunity to experience Shotokan karate, which (if I recall correctly) has been found to have contributed significantly to the formation of TKD.

Another idea would be to check what Japanese arts are available in your area, and try one of them out during your visit. That way, if you decide you like it better -- you can come back and continue. Wouldn't it just suck spend a few months learning Yoshinkan Aikido or at the Bujinkan (just picking two examples), discover you really like it -- and have no way to continue when you come home?

Have you sought guidance from your instructor?

 

[ArmorOfGod]

First master TKD then worry about rounding out your abilities.

Is it really possible to master tkd, or any style for that matter?
Wade, are you saying she should not try other styles until she is a tkd master? When would that be? My idea of tkd master would be someone who has around 25 years of training, and that is a long time to do one art without exposing yourself to other styles.

AoG

 

[exile]

However, I could see where you might choose to take the opportunity to experience Shotokan karate, which (if I recall correctly) has been found to have contributed significantly to the formation of TKD.

Hi jks, yes, you're right—Shotokan was probably the single biggest contributor, by a lot, to the technical content of TKD, and was the source of almost all of its forms (though the latter represent somewhat `mixmastered' versions and reconstructing of the subsequences in the Shotokan kata; but there are, as well, whole chunks of the latter that have simply been borrowed into TKD hyungs basically unchanged).

 

[tellner]

Find something else to work out with while you're there. It's not going to ruin your TKD. It would be daft to go all the way to Japan and then search for something you could find at any strip mall in America. Judo, Kendo and Aikido are all great. Naginata-do (since I'm assuming you're a woman) is supposed to be a lot of fun, and it's almost impossible to find in North America. If you like archery there's Kyudo.

Have fun. Experience another aspect of Japanese culture first-hand. Widen your horizons. Go back to TKD when you get back home.

 

[bignick]

Actually, from what I hear, TKD is actually pretty popular in Japan, why not stick with your training?

 

[wade]

To AOG, no, at least I haven't. I have dabbled in a few other styles and systems but I am still working on TKD. After all this time I think I am starting to see some improvement, not much, but some.

 

[Carol]

See if you can get some recommendations for the best teacher in the area. Japan isn't that different from the west when it comes to MA schools in that some are really good and some are dreck.

Have a GREAT time! It's a wonderful trip to make.

 

[Don Roley]

Actually, from what I hear, TKD is actually pretty popular in Japan, why not stick with your training?

Not from what I have seen.

I think you should be very careful. You might want to read the following article about martial arts pirates irateton and consider how even a well meaning person such as yourself might end up like them. If you don't stick around long enough to get, or even recognize the basics that make a JMA different from a KMA, then you will be doing things you think are JMA, but actually look like Frankenstein's monster to someone more experienced.

Maybe you might want to try to sit in and just watch a lot of different arts rather than train in any one of them. You can see what they do, try to find differences and ask yourself and the teacher why they approach the problem on way while your art approaches things from another angle. You will get a new outlook while minimzing the chance of becoming a pirate without meaning to.

I might be willing to help you find some places to observe training. It depends on where you will be and my mood. I can be a pain sometimes.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

I am currently practising TKD and I plan to visit japan at the end of the year for a few months. I was wondering which martial art would be sutiable to take up over there to give my style more rounded abilities.

Suggestions?

I would consider looking into Judo because it is SO different from TKD that you won't get a lot of learning interference and Judo is one of those arts where even a few months of training is valuable (learn how to fall correctly and what it is like to throw and be thrown). What I would avoid would be arts similiar (but oh so different to the non-layperson) to TKD or those complex such as Aikido (which take longer than you have on your trip to get much out of).

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Just4Kicks]

I never thought that this could make a serious impact on my training, I thought that training briefly in an art that taught the throwing, grappling and how to fall aspect would not be so potentially detrimental.

Is training in a weapon style better then?

 

[Shaderon]

I've come to realise that at at our low ranks, we don't know what we'll be learning as we get higher, so learning something to "round out your art" at this stage might be a waste of time and money unless you go for the Judo idea or a little weapons training (e.g. a self defence class against knife attacks).

What might be useful and appropriate, and possibly helpful to your future training and your class as a whole, is a short self defense course which is based on Aikido or something similar. Even the one day courses targeted at women can teach you some ideas to work with.

I would suggest you have a quick chat with your instructor and tell them what you plan to do, they might have some stuff already in your future curriculum that you are not aware of and they might also have some gaps in it that they are willing to have you help fill. (If they are open to that sort of thing).

 

[tellner]

Judo is good stuff. Learning to fall, throw, get thrown and getting used to the closer contact are all good. Plus it's as much fun as you can have in public with all your clothes on. Don't worry about 'rounding out' your practice. Take the oppotunity to do something different because you have a chance to.

 

[bignick]

Don't get me wrong. Japanese martial arts are great. As someone who trains in TKD and has experience in other japanese martial arts, I highly recommend it to anyone that has the chance. I don't think there's going to be any detriment to your TKD, at least nothing that can't be attributed to rust for not practicing for the time period you're in Japan. The thing for me is that I don't you'd really get anything out of it, depending on how long you were in Japan for. Even basics, I don't think I really had a grasp on ukemi, falling, until after at least two years. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems and if you're just going to do it for some excersize and "see" something new, go ahead. Just don't expect to actually retain anything.