When you changed from your first style to the 2nd one what was the hardest part of the transition?
What was the easiest?
What was the easiest?
For those who studied multiple arts
- Thread starter tshadowchaser
- Start date
Going from Karate to Arnis--the biggest one was moving instead of holding a stance.
Easiest? When we did work on stances, I was ahead of the game!
Easiest? When we did work on stances, I was ahead of the game!
tradrockrat
2nd Black Belt
Well, I don't feel that I "changed" so much as added to. I never stopped training and learning Bando until 5 years ago, but when I recieved my first level blackbelt in 1993, I was encouraged by my teacher to seek out other systems to augment my learning and to see how other styles worked. Sort of "expand my horizons" time. I started training in Jiu Jitsu. The biggest adjustment I had to make was a mental one. Jiu Jitsu requires a different attitude about mobility and comfort zones as far as combat is concerned. Bando was all about initial avoidance followed by a nonstop attack until the opponent no longer has the ability to move. Jui Jitsu gets right in there, tears the guy a new one, and tosses the opponent out of his circle or takes him to the ground - right up close and personal (this was NOT BJJ - it was a traditional school of Japanese Jiu Jitsu).
When I began studying Kenpo, I actually could not make the adjustment - the philosophy was too far emoved from what I had already learned and assimilated about combat for me to learn effectively. With much regret, I stopped after two months. I know Kenpo is a great system, but it doesn't work for me.
After that I went back to Bando, but began studying both Cobra and Python systems at the same time. Total opposites of the spectrum! The Python is an almost totally ground based fighting with combat decided by chokes and locks, while the Cobra is all speed and accuracy applied to vital targets such as throat, eyes, and groin. Total schizo, but I loved everyminute of it. The hard part here was that Python is all about sparing and fighting, and the Cobra is primarily form based (hard to spar when the techniques involve blinding and tearing of throats)
When I began studying Kenpo, I actually could not make the adjustment - the philosophy was too far emoved from what I had already learned and assimilated about combat for me to learn effectively. With much regret, I stopped after two months. I know Kenpo is a great system, but it doesn't work for me.
After that I went back to Bando, but began studying both Cobra and Python systems at the same time. Total opposites of the spectrum! The Python is an almost totally ground based fighting with combat decided by chokes and locks, while the Cobra is all speed and accuracy applied to vital targets such as throat, eyes, and groin. Total schizo, but I loved everyminute of it. The hard part here was that Python is all about sparing and fighting, and the Cobra is primarily form based (hard to spar when the techniques involve blinding and tearing of throats)
karatekid1975
Master Black Belt
When I went from Tang Soo Do to Taekwondo, the hardest for me was the sparring rules. I went from point sparring where hand contact to the head is allowed to full contact non-stop sparring where no hand contact was allowed to the head. Very weird. In TSD, we also applied Thai boxing into the mix of the way we sparred (in class), and take-downs were allowed. In TKD, no take-downs, and no check kicks, or shin blocks are allowed. But I still do shin blocks, and I got used to not using my hands (we do that stuff in self defense training, though).
The easiest was the techniques and forms. I have always picked up stuff quickly in TSD, so it just continued in TKD. I already knew how to kick, punch, stance work, ect. The forms were a bit easier than TSD, but I found ways to improve them. The blocks were executed a bit different, but it didn't take me long to adjust.
But I still do TSD techniques within my forms and I never lost my "TSD side kick or TSD round house" as my boyfriend says hehehehe. I don't do the "the quick 45 degree roundhouse" except in sparring. I still turn my hip all the way over, and I kick with the ball of my foot. I kick with my heal with side kicks (in our school they teach side kicks with the blade of the foot). But I was never corrected on it, so I keep doing it.
As far as Jujitsu goes, I did a bit of that in TSD also. Plus I dabbled in Judo (I love throws hehehehe), so I adjusted pretty quickly. I love the "down and dirty" self defense within Jujistu. It is also improving my self defense techniques in TKD, so both styles "mesh" well.
The easiest was the techniques and forms. I have always picked up stuff quickly in TSD, so it just continued in TKD. I already knew how to kick, punch, stance work, ect. The forms were a bit easier than TSD, but I found ways to improve them. The blocks were executed a bit different, but it didn't take me long to adjust.
But I still do TSD techniques within my forms and I never lost my "TSD side kick or TSD round house" as my boyfriend says hehehehe. I don't do the "the quick 45 degree roundhouse" except in sparring. I still turn my hip all the way over, and I kick with the ball of my foot. I kick with my heal with side kicks (in our school they teach side kicks with the blade of the foot). But I was never corrected on it, so I keep doing it.
As far as Jujitsu goes, I did a bit of that in TSD also. Plus I dabbled in Judo (I love throws hehehehe), so I adjusted pretty quickly. I love the "down and dirty" self defense within Jujistu. It is also improving my self defense techniques in TKD, so both styles "mesh" well.
C
CrankyDragon
Guest
Shotokan Karate -> Nihon Goshin Aikido
To move in circular movments, to not block strikes, to step into an aggresor rather than stand still or back up, blending with the energy, avoid contact of strikes, controlling an aggressor after you took them down rather than keep hitting/kicking, using Ki... really using Ki, really using your aggresor's energy to your advantage, not going to a horse riding stance or other Karate stance (Doah!), this stuff takes a lot more patience!!
Theres a few more, but thats the top of the list...
Andrew
To move in circular movments, to not block strikes, to step into an aggresor rather than stand still or back up, blending with the energy, avoid contact of strikes, controlling an aggressor after you took them down rather than keep hitting/kicking, using Ki... really using Ki, really using your aggresor's energy to your advantage, not going to a horse riding stance or other Karate stance (Doah!), this stuff takes a lot more patience!!
Theres a few more, but thats the top of the list...
Andrew
Shaolinwind
2nd Black Belt
I changed from Tang Soo Do after 6 months to Northern Kung Fu. The hardest part of the transition was the breathing, in TSD they taught us in thru the nose and out through the mouth, while in KF they teach us to breathe exclusively through the nose.. The next hardest thing was not letting out a good kiup with every strike.tshadowchaser said:
The easiest part was going from a standard Do-bok to baggy pants and a t-shirt.. That's just wonderful.
Hardest part of the transition: Going from Kenpo to BJJ. I had never done any sort of grappling prior, so it took a bit to get used to moving on the ground, having to deal with an opp. while holding you down, etc.
Easiest: Going from Kenpo to Arnis.
Easiest: Going from Kenpo to Arnis.
ap Oweyn
Brown Belt
Like arnisador, I went from karate (taekwondo technically) to arnis. The hardest parts were, as he said, the emphasis on dynamic footwork rather than stancework and the idea of flow. My taekwondo training (and I'm not saying this is true of everyone's) was very segmented. Distinct movements rather than flow from one thing to the next. Arnis was very much about continuous movement. Took a while to get used to.
The easiest? Hmm... The empty hand I guess. In my experience, FMA empty hand tends to be informed by whatever that teacher had done previously. So some people's "mano mano" or "pangamot" is more influenced by karate, judo, and aikido and others' might be more influenced by boxing and muay thai. I tend to think of mano mano as an overlay you put over an existing framework. A set of considerations partly based on FMA's assumption that there will be a knife involved, for example.
It's not always a formalized system, but I was able to draw on my taekwondo experience and say "what changes would I make to the way I fight now IF I knew that the other person was able to tackle me or might be carrying a knife in his other hand?" From there I was able to say "keep your kicks low and move away from that back hand using your footwork because there might be a blade in it."
So taking what I already knew and filtering it through the additional considerations presented by arnis was the "easiest" part.
Stuart
The easiest? Hmm... The empty hand I guess. In my experience, FMA empty hand tends to be informed by whatever that teacher had done previously. So some people's "mano mano" or "pangamot" is more influenced by karate, judo, and aikido and others' might be more influenced by boxing and muay thai. I tend to think of mano mano as an overlay you put over an existing framework. A set of considerations partly based on FMA's assumption that there will be a knife involved, for example.
It's not always a formalized system, but I was able to draw on my taekwondo experience and say "what changes would I make to the way I fight now IF I knew that the other person was able to tackle me or might be carrying a knife in his other hand?" From there I was able to say "keep your kicks low and move away from that back hand using your footwork because there might be a blade in it."
So taking what I already knew and filtering it through the additional considerations presented by arnis was the "easiest" part.
Stuart
Learning to flow through an opponents energy instead of crashing against it. Second toughest was learning to feel my opponents energy and adapt my technique to it instead of deciding on a technique and going through the motions by rote.
Easiest was the warm up. The aikido warm up is no where near what the physical side of kenpo was. Falls and rolls were easier for me than for someone who'd never studied before as well since I'd already been exposed to them.
Easiest was the warm up. The aikido warm up is no where near what the physical side of kenpo was. Falls and rolls were easier for me than for someone who'd never studied before as well since I'd already been exposed to them.
karatekid1975
Master Black Belt
searcher said:The hardest part was leaving behind my classmates and the style that I had invested so much time in.Here here. I totally agree. I didn't want to leave my TSD dojang
Mark Lynn
Master Black Belt
Going from a American TKD/karate background to filipino martial arts based systems JKDC kali to Presas Arnis (Kombatan and Modern Arnis blend) the hardest transition was the free flowing movement and form.
Being brought up in the do as the instructor does enviroment in TKD/karate (trying to have perfect form and such) and then to go to the keep flowing no matter if you make a mistake or not was hard at first. I use to want to stop in a drill and start over if I made a mistake instead of correcting the mistake and staying in the drill.
For me the easiest was the foot work, especially moving in and out since I hard spent a lot of time doing that in TKD.
Mark
Being brought up in the do as the instructor does enviroment in TKD/karate (trying to have perfect form and such) and then to go to the keep flowing no matter if you make a mistake or not was hard at first. I use to want to stop in a drill and start over if I made a mistake instead of correcting the mistake and staying in the drill.
For me the easiest was the foot work, especially moving in and out since I hard spent a lot of time doing that in TKD.
Mark
The hardest for me was transitioning footwork, stances, and the variations in blocking.
The easiest part was because I already had the basics but I just needed to polish them up.
The easiest part was because I already had the basics but I just needed to polish them up.
evenflow1121
2nd Black Belt
Going from TKD to Kenpo I'd have to say movement. Continuity of motion for example. At first it was hard for me to grasp that concept.
In my travels I studied a wide variety of arts utilizing a Wing Chun base. From there I've had exposure/training from Kenpo to TKD (more recently a lot of exposure to Kenpo { :wink1: to Ceicei}to a bit of this and a bit of that and a long period of good ole' American Street fighting, with that one being the longest period of training...though it's not really a Martial Art. The time period of learning/training for all the other (real) MA's ranged from a few weeks to a six or eight month stretch. I've never held a belt in any art what-so-ever. Does that make me less of a "martial artist?"tshadowchaser said:
Transitions from one art to another weren't that difficult as I've found that I happen to have the ability to rapidly adapt to whatever situations, cirumstances, teachings I find myself in at the time.
I've made friends with dozens of people who have studied a particular style/art of MA and their rankings have rarely been below brown belt levels in their respective art. The experiences have broaden my perspective quite a bit. Thus like Bruce Lee I can't say this style is better than that one because they all have their plusses and minuses. I've learned to appreciate his point of view that the style that suits me best is the one that I've learned how to incorporate all that I've learned (physically and mentally from each) to a "style" that suits me... or simply put "My Style". I still love his "...art of fighting without fighting..." best however.
I do want to get (back) into a formal school and re-learn or unlearn all that I've learned and go from there. A fresh start you might say.
What was easiest? None of them, and all of them. The variety has taught me to appreciate the value that each art has in the realm of actual combative situations.
The art that I really would like to start studying (formally) is Aikido but since there is a lack of real schools in my immediate area ... I'll have to go back to either Wing Chun or take up Kenpo and go from there. There is an Aikido school near where I live but it also advertises that they teach JJ, and a couple of others. While it may (or may NOT) be a McDojo, I'd prefer to be in a school where they teach ONE art and not several. This way, I feel, I will get instruction from exactly the art that I'm paying for. I plan to check it out either way just to talk to the instructor or head of the school in question and make my decison there.
Personal finances have improved to where this is now possible. Before my finacial situation was the greatest barrier to my attending a school on a regular basis. In other words, sometimes it just sucked to be me.
:asian:
C
CrankyDragon
Guest
Dang Jeff... That was our secret! Now everyone is either gonna wanna do Aikido or call us soft! HAHAH!theletch1 said:
Andrew
The most important part of our warm-up is the stretching. The cardio is simply not an absolute must for our training beyond just getting our muscles loose enough not to snap during a throw or lock. Most of the other folks on this site are familiar enough with aikido training to know that a couple hours of joint locks, throws and falls is anything but soft. I wouldn't want everyone to do aikido. To those to whom the art is suited, welcome. If the art doesn't fit your personality or needs then it's time to move on. That's the underlying current to this thread...folks who've moved on and (hopefully) found a home.NGAzone said:
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From Judo to TKD and Karate, no problem. From Karate and TKD to Tai Chi, BIG PROBLEM. I had to learn how to relax better and the stances were different enough to cause interference (differing habits) problems. I also had difficulty, at first, learning boxing jabs because they are SO different from the traditional lunge and reverse punches of karate and tkd. My experience is that the closer the arts, the bigger the initial problems; meaning that from karate to grappling, no interference, from boxing to karate, interference problems. However, ultimately, if you don't dilute your efforts too much, crosstraining is a great way to expand your horizons after gaining a SOLID BASE in your first art.tshadowchaser said:
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Several transitions, since I had been living like a gypsy for the last decade and a half before finally settling down...
There were a few difficult transitions when going from Shotokan to Tae Kwon Do. For some reason, this particular TKD school didn't like the way I would advance / retreat in semicircles, where the foot that's moving advances or retreats in an arc. Instead, they would tell me that it was wasted motion, and that I should be going straight forward and backward.
We were taught the jumping kicks, the spinning kicks, and yes, the jumping and spinning kicks. This was stuff that wasn't really covered at the old Shotokan dojo (although we did have some spinning kicks, such as back, hook, side, and crescent, and a couple of jumping kicks).
My teacher was more of a practical fellow, though. While he would teach us the high kicks, the spinning kicks, etc., he always made it clear that such things weren't for real life confrontations.
Going from Tae Kwon Do back to Shotokan later on, wasn't a problem, since it was like using an old baseball glove.
Going from Shotokan to an Okinawan style presented a very good challenge. There was a significantly greater content of circular motions involved in this style, and practicing the bunkai with the kata at the lower ranks took some getting used to, along with the greater incorporation of throws and grappling. Such material wasn't covered in either of the Shotokan dojos that I was at until someone reached 3rd kyu brown belt.
Going from the Okinawan style to my current style (Wado) wasn't too difficult, since my current school was quite similar to the Shotokan schools, and that the jiu-jitsu moves incorporated into the Wado system were already familiar, thanks to my former teachers in the Okinawan style. I do miss the circular movements, though...
There were a few difficult transitions when going from Shotokan to Tae Kwon Do. For some reason, this particular TKD school didn't like the way I would advance / retreat in semicircles, where the foot that's moving advances or retreats in an arc. Instead, they would tell me that it was wasted motion, and that I should be going straight forward and backward.
We were taught the jumping kicks, the spinning kicks, and yes, the jumping and spinning kicks. This was stuff that wasn't really covered at the old Shotokan dojo (although we did have some spinning kicks, such as back, hook, side, and crescent, and a couple of jumping kicks).
My teacher was more of a practical fellow, though. While he would teach us the high kicks, the spinning kicks, etc., he always made it clear that such things weren't for real life confrontations.
Going from Tae Kwon Do back to Shotokan later on, wasn't a problem, since it was like using an old baseball glove.
Going from Shotokan to an Okinawan style presented a very good challenge. There was a significantly greater content of circular motions involved in this style, and practicing the bunkai with the kata at the lower ranks took some getting used to, along with the greater incorporation of throws and grappling. Such material wasn't covered in either of the Shotokan dojos that I was at until someone reached 3rd kyu brown belt.
Going from the Okinawan style to my current style (Wado) wasn't too difficult, since my current school was quite similar to the Shotokan schools, and that the jiu-jitsu moves incorporated into the Wado system were already familiar, thanks to my former teachers in the Okinawan style. I do miss the circular movements, though...
Looks like I accidentally posted my response to this thread in Sheldon's other one about the hardest thing to start with.
I started with Kenpo first then moved to Korean martial arts, so all the fancy kicking was a challenge (still is) as was standing punching, i.e. not reverse punches. Moving with the right leg and punching with the right arm was a difficult thing for me to feel comfortable in.
And then - the language! Korean! Oy!
I started with Kenpo first then moved to Korean martial arts, so all the fancy kicking was a challenge (still is) as was standing punching, i.e. not reverse punches. Moving with the right leg and punching with the right arm was a difficult thing for me to feel comfortable in.
And then - the language! Korean! Oy!
