Does the Style Make the Man

[StormShadow]

I've been pondering whether some people are naturally (physically & possible mentally) suited for one style over another. Like a fish taking to water. What brought these thoughts about were the teachings of bruce lee and how he states being formless, feeling the opponent ect. I think it can be argued that bruce lee was just a natural fighter since birth. Just as people are born with a greater athletic ability over others. Nurturing his fighting talents through practice and study made him great. As opposed to someone else, with a lesser natural instinct for fighting, practicing and studying just as much and not achieving the level of greatness bruce did. I say this in regards to styles and how what make work for someone may not work for someone else. For instance, the tall semi athletic guy might flourish in Tae Kwon Do as opposed to judo and vice versa with a shorter guy. In other words, what worked for bruce likely would not work for others as they don't posses his natural ability to begin with. And possible an art with forms would in fact suite them better. I'm interested in what my kung fu brothers think???

 

[sfs982000]

I absolutely think that a person can be more suited towards one martial arts than another. With that being said that's not to say that just because you may not be suited towards a particular style that you can't gleam things from that said style. I started off studying Poekelan and the more flowing style was difficult for me to grasp, but I really found my niche when I switched to Shotokan. I found that I'm particularly more suited towards the harder styles of martial arts.

 

[geezer]

Your body type and mental disposition will definitely favor some MA over others. And this changes with age. For example, I'd really love to do more grappling, but at my age and with my past injuries, I've discovered that that is a poor choice for me.

On the other hand, sometimes studying something that is difficult for you can be very helpful. My son, like me, has a certain natural inclination toward grappling. He's also short like me, and shares my congenital ankle defect that makes static balancing on one leg difficult. So when he began training with an instructor who taught both ju-jutsu and TKD I assumed he'd focus on the ju-jutsu. But the instructor steered him into the TKD for now, saying that it might help him compensate and strengthen his weak areas. It seems to be working. He does well, and more importantly, he loves it!

 

[Domino]

Whatever your training, work very hard, make it your own within the confines of the art and the magic number is 10,000.

 

[mook jong man]

Whatever your training, work very hard, make it your own within the confines of the art and the magic number is 10,000.

Within Wing Chun there is enough scope to cater for different physique types .
I used to find that tall long limbed individuals were quite good at the close range thrust kick , you would be rolling away in chi sau and then you would have this heel planted on your chest .

Being a short chunky individual with shocking flexibility I always found the kick quite difficult , I just didn't have the flexibility to get my knee in that close to my chest.
After quite a bit of practice I can now kick with useful power from fingertip distance at a bit lower than my own chest height , but due to my genetics that is probably as good as it's going to get. , I accept that I will probably never be able to do a proper close range thrust kick at chest height from within punching range.
Consequently I tend to favor low heel kicks , hook kicks , and knee and elbow strikes.

 

[Domino]

Within Wing Chun there is enough scope to cater for different physique types .
I used to find that tall long limbed individuals were quite good at the close range thrust kick , you would be rolling away in chi sau and then you would have this heel planted on your chest .

Being a short chunky individual with shocking flexibility I always found the kick quite difficult , I just didn't have the flexibility to get my knee in that close to my chest.
After quite a bit of practice I can now kick with useful power from fingertip distance at a bit lower than my own chest height , but due to my genetics that is probably as good as it's going to get. , I accept that I will probably never be able to do a proper close range thrust kick at chest height from within punching range.
Consequently I tend to favor low heel kicks , hook kicks , and knee and elbow strikes.

Haha a nice suprise to your opponents.
Im not sure you should accept its down to genetic, push yourself with stretching, I use my fridge and anything I can find to stretch. Little by little although I dont like high kicks much to be honest.
My sifu does yoga and is like a rubber band.

 

[mook jong man]

Haha a nice suprise to your opponents.
Im not sure you should accept its down to genetic, push yourself with stretching, I use my fridge and anything I can find to stretch. Little by little although I dont like high kicks much to be honest.
My sifu does yoga and is like a rubber band.

Thrust kick to the sternum can be absolutely devastating , especially when you latch down both the opponents arms , say off something like an attempted double throat grab.
Another application is for when the opponent is charging in , it's like running into the end of a steel pole sticking out from a brick wall , tends to have quite a jarring whiplash effect on the neck too.