When to start a second Martial Art?

[geezer]

OK, I know that nobody will agree on this, but I'm hoping the discussion wil be helpful anyway. I'm a WT guy with NWTO and also an Escrima practitioner. My WT brother is planning on going public and opening a school again after not publicly teaching for many years. I've offered to help in any way I can, including teaching an Escrima class. My question is, how long should a student devote themselves exclusively to their base art (WT/WC for this conversation) before they should be allowed to take up another art?

I know that both the EBMAS system of WT and the EWTO also teach Escrima, the Kamon system of WC offers BJJ, Si Je's "Hubby" does Zapote... For all of you who aren't totally opposed to training in more than one art, when do you allow or encourage your students to begin a second style?

 

[profesormental]

Greetings.

First.

If you don't tell them that they're learning a "different" martial art, tehy probably won't notice.

Second, there are ways to teach WC and Escrima in a synergistic fashion. it all depends on your skill as a teacher, the curriculum used and the interests of the students.

Some won't even like playing with sticks...

Yet the most important thing is to drill fundamentals and not expose them to contradictory methods, specially at the beginner stages, when development of correct structure should be emphasized.

In my case, after they are fluent in basic WC forms and drills, I show them the basics of escrima as to create a vocabulary of movements. Then it is up to them. I give escrima once a week, since it is much easier to become lethal with a weapon, than to become dominant and controlling with natural weapons.

Yet, it all boils down to personal preference, and the fact that the learning methods from WC and Escrima are very similar.

Juan M. Mercado

 

[jarrod]

all depends on the similarity or differences of the art. i study judo, jujitsu, & sambo simultaneously because it's all just jacket grappling with different emphasis & rules. also, kickboxing is far enough removed from the styles i mentioned that training it doesn't really affect my grappling. so if you're cross training in things that are either absolutely complimentary (judo/jujitsu) or completely different (wc/bjj) you'll be fine to start anytime. however, i would hesitate to take up two similar but different styles at any point. for instance, i think if you took wc with another linear focused cma, it might get confusing at best, or even be a pointless overlap.

jf

 

[tshadowchaser]

As has been said if there is a close similarity the student most likely not know the difference unless told. If there is a big difference then I say wait a minimum of a year

 

[KamonGuy2]

OK, I know that nobody will agree on this, but I'm hoping the discussion wil be helpful anyway. I'm a WT guy with NWTO and also an Escrima practitioner. My WT brother is planning on going public and opening a school again after not publicly teaching for many years. I've offered to help in any way I can, including teaching an Escrima class. My question is, how long should a student devote themselves exclusively to their base art (WT/WC for this conversation) before they should be allowed to take up another art?

I know that both the EBMAS system of WT and the EWTO also teach Escrima, the Kamon system of WC offers BJJ, Si Je's "Hubby" does Zapote... For all of you who aren't totally opposed to training in more than one art, when do you allow or encourage your students to begin a second style?

I never 'disallow' my students pursuing anything they want to do
I try to discourage or give advice where I can, but you should never feel forced into doing or not doing a martial art
In Kamon, although we encourage simple training in BJJ, it is not compulsory. If a person can show that he can handle himself on the floor then it doesn't matter if he takes it up or not

Also different students enjoy different things. Some of my students want to explore long range kicks, while other want to work on grappling. Some want to do weapon arts (escrima) and others want to do more relaxed arts (tai chi, qi gong)

It is solely dependant on the student

Personally, I have done Wing chun , boxing, karate, kickboxing, BJJ, wrestling, judo (little bit), praying mantis, tai chi, choi kwang do (similar to tae kwon do) and I have found it didn't ruin my wing chun, but helped me understand the viwepoints of different martial arts

It also helped to show how good wing chun is!! And how lucky we are to find such a great art