Hey guys.

I remember training in an organization once in England that has a rather poor reputation (GKR karate). Whilst I was training there we were looked down upon if we practiced any other martial arts whilst being part of the club. One instructor I knew gave me a lecture because I did a TKD axe kick at a GKR class because "it wasnt in the syllabus."

After I left this club on a permanent basis due to them refusing to allow me to grade past 3rd kyu without opening a dojo somewhere to bring in more victims, I started training with the Leeds University TKD Club. I learned a lot of techniques here and it was an excellent club to train at. Many of the instructors do a lot of cross training, mainly mixing it up with Kickboxing and PMA so no one in the club ever said to me "thou shalt not cross train."

Now I am in Japan I have been practicing Wado Ryu Karate, for quite some time and have recently started kendo. My instructor told me that it may be good for improving my karate technique as the the styles are kind of related, especially when we have to learn body positioning in Wado Ryu by avoiding kendo style strikes.

All in all my cross training has been very successful. However, when I think about it, I am wondering if I would have been better devoting all my time and energy to a single style instead of moving around so much (I would be a higher grade anyway thats for sure).

Do you guys have any thoughts on cross training or peoples (sometimes narrow minded) attitude towards it?

Thanks for asking this question!

As a newbie, my teachers encourage me to experience as broad a range of tai chi and MA as possible; but not to try to take on too many different styles so as not to get confused.

I'd also like to learn Aikido, and I keep hearing the same kind of things. (i.e., it could complement my training, and it shouldn't be mixed...very confusing!)

I was worried about cross training mma with my kung fu. Had been studying kf a few years but as I didn't have many classes a week I was keen to do something else, plus I wanted to add some groundwork into my game. I am so glad I started as the mma has really started informing my kf too. We have started introducing full contact sparring into kung fu and I feel I have become more confident imoving forward and sticking with my opponent even in standup as that's how it works on the ground.
If my kung fu teacher didn't allow me cross train I would leave, I don't like narrow minded attitudes. However he is really pleased that my fighting is coming along. It has also made me think about strength training and I now have a 5-6 day routine including kung fu,mma and strength training in the gym. He is really keen to see our techniques and is pleased when we put everything together to become a better fighter.
I suppose it all depends what you want out of it. For those people interested in the "art" side they may be more purist and prefer to focus on one style. I however am motivated by the "martial" aspect and want to do whatever makes me a more rounded fighter.

I think it depends on the individual in this sense. I think that clubs should not stop you from learning different arts.

My club teaches, Ryusui-ryu, this is Aikido and Karate with wing chun and kyudo influences. So my Doshu never has a problem with cross training and it allowed him to develope a new style.
So mixing it up can produce great results.
He has been training a long time obviously and I think the Aikido and Karate was probably the key elements he worked on in his early days. We also learn jodo, Iaido which it all compliments.

We say all MA is one and the same. The styles are slightly differant but the principles are similar. I think that so long as your commited to 1 or 2 styles to really grasp the concepts of the art anything else will only help you understand MA as a whole.
I think if you did a differant MA every day the priciples behind the arts may take longer to become clear... Maybe!

People learn in different ways, I myself have always been versatile, in music in MA and my profession... So Jack of all trades master of none? I think jack of all trades master of himself/herself!!

I think cross training is great, however, as with all training I think you have to have a reason for doing it.

As Tony has said our uni TKD club never discouraged students from training with other people. We also welcomed students who had trained in other arts. My instructors always brought in techniques from other arts they had trained including Boxing, Kickboxing and Aikido .

If you do two unconnected martial arts and enjoy doing them then that is one thing, but is it cross training? Does doing classes in Aikido and Capoeira mean you cross train or are they as separate as doing football and swimming?

I personally think that there needs to be a bit of cross over in the arts you cross train or you have to make them blend. So if you do BJJ, doing Judo will give you a different slant on some similar positions.

After getting my black belt in TKD, I really got into looking at other styles, going to seminars and training with other people. At that time, my main driver was looking at bunkai in my TKD forms. My interest was stimulated by reading a George Dillman book (yes, I know!), but swifty moved on to Iain Abernethy's take on the subject, though I didn't have much scope in the TKD syllabus to do kata based sparring unfortunately.

During this process, I became aware that I was less interested in looking at the bunkai and more in the techniques and concepts themselves. So rather than looking at what a section of a form geared at defending a haymaker showed, I became more interested in how I would realistically defend the attack.

Now my training is broken up into what works for me in sparring, be that Kickboxing, MMA or submission grappling and my self defence. If I see something that I can add to my toolkit, I learn it and then work at it until I own the technique by doing it against a non compliant partner. Some I give up on in the learning phase as I find they have limited use for me at that time.

I'm really interested in this subject as i'm hoping to take my black belt in Tae Kwon Do this October, after that i want to continue my training at my club but would also like to get involved in another style. Do any of you have any suggestions?
My intention was to try Judo or Jujitsu as i think it would suit my upper body strength, or should i look to another kicking and punching style to hopefully compliment my Tae Kwon Do training?
I've also thought about reality based like Krav Maga. It's really important to me that i get this decision correct as i started in Martial arts at a more advanced age than most ( i'm 40 next year ) but i'm still quite fit and really enjoy my training. I'd appreciate your help.

I would say take on something you can actually use and combine with what you have learned so far. It's always good to add to your arsenal, so yeah maybe adding judo or jjj would be good. You'll be surprised how much lower body strength you need too for the ground stuff. At the moment I do kung fu- predominantly stand up ,where I have learned a good range of stuff, full contact work, forms etc and am also training in mma which allows me to not only improve my striking but has added the groundwork too.
The advice I received when I was looking to add muay thai with my kung fu was to do something more ground based and I am glad I did really. I suggest you go and try a few styles and the one that is the best fit will probably become immediately apparent.
A lot of people have been surprised at my combination of kung fu and mma but it appears to be working for me so go for it!

It's ALL Kung Fu.

lol Well we all know that everything you learn in lau can be used on the ground.

Su Lin wrote:
lol Well we all know that everything you learn in lau can be used on the ground.

Indeed.
If you want to end up in the ground, it's the best style around.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

dajack9 wrote:
It's really important to me that i get this decision correct as i started in Martial arts at a more advanced age than most ( i'm 40 next year ) but i'm still quite fit and really enjoy my training. I'd appreciate your help.

Life begins at 40 as they say.

There are some really old guys at my dojo (50-60) that are only just starting Karate. There is one REALLY old guy (73) who is a Judo 7th dan and a Karate 1st dan that gives me one hell of a run for my money when we are toe to toe (with no Judo allowed) .

Being you become old when you accept that you are old. Don't let it inhibit your training. Think of it as being two twenty year olds in one .