For those who studied multiple arts

[Sapper6]

for me it was stance transitions. becoming more fluid, rounding off corners, etc.

 

[beauty_in_the_sai]

4 and a half years into my taekwondo instruction, I tried JKD. Why? Because I idolize Bruce Lee. I found, though I love the founder, I didn't care for his style too much. I liked the footwork of JKD and the philosophy of having no art behind it, but the rest of it was just too against natural movement for me to enjoy. The way it was taught made it seem like a style, whether Bruce wanted it to be or not, so now I just follow the philosophy behind it, rather than the style. I intergrated the JKD footwork into my style and it works well.

I had an easier time with ninjutsu. I'm now pretty good at stealth and getting better at throwing ninja stars. :ninja:

 

[Flying Crane]

I didn't switch from one art to the other to replace the previous, but rather to add to my experience. Every art has a different approach, and movement can be very different. That can make things difficult, but I just keep my arts separate when I am training them. If I need to use them, I can mix up whatever, but in training, kenpo is kenpo, capoeira is capoeira, crane is crane, wing chun is wing chun, etc.

 

[Laborn]

Well i first studied karate, then taekwondo, and their practically opposite, so karate teaches oh lets say 80 percent punches, tkd teaches 80 percent kicks, so i was use to punching, hardest part for me was sparring, i kept wanting to back fist or continuely throw blows with my fists, after a few months i finally got it down patt to kick not punch hehe.

easiest was forms, they were simular, so i kicked butt at forms haha.

 

[Pacificshore]

Well transitioning from my former Kenpo style to my most current Kempo style, I'd have to say the most difficult would be the forms. In my former system, we used many of the Okinawan katas and to aid with fluidity, we also had animal katas.

My current Kempo system utilizes plenty of low stances in their katas than what I am normally used to, and at my age....that can sometimes be a difficult thing, especially during the cold months

Perhaps another thing of difficulty in my current studies is the use of other weapons beside the bo. For example, I've had exposures to the Sai, Tonfa, better exposure to the Nunchuks, and finally for now the Balisong. Manipulation of the weapons can be a challenge at times, and I should know, I've hit myself many a times with the nunchuks

 

[kempoguy71]

The hardest transition for me was going from external styles (Kempo, Karate, Boxing) to training in internal styles (Xing Yi, Ba Gua and Tai Ji) as the operating systems are vastly different (sectional power vs. whole-body power generation).

 

[Navarre]

My experience is that the closer the arts, the bigger the initial problems.

I agree with this. After 10 years in Okinawan karate I started studying jujitsu. The incorporation was fairly smooth. Most of it was very new to me. Although our style flowed in its own right, the level of fluidity was much greater in jujitsu. Our Okinawan throws and locks were rudimentary compared to jujitsu and I'd never done a fingerlock in my life.

My previous experience helped me close the gap on opponents and gave me the basics to add in jujitsu. I found it all came together nicely.

Last year I took a few classes in Tang Su Do. I enjoyed it but struggled a lot more. After 20 years in karate I was hearing, "Sure you can punch; but not like that!" and "Okay, well here's how our kick is done."

They weren't mean or assertive about it. In fact they were as open-minded toward variety as I am. My point is that it was much harder to readjust something I'd spent two decades fine-tuning than it was to pick up a completely different skill set.

Still, I'm really glad I have integrated karate and jujitsu. As Jonathan said, "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."

 

[mantis]

When you changed from your first style to the 2nd one what was the hardest part of the transition?

What was the easiest?

from TKD to 7*Mantis!
hardest.. staying in low stances
easiest? i'd say no more high kicks (which is sad as well)
the major difference is school-related not style-related.. i came from a school where they work you out until you throw up, and you get beaten by a tree trunk to a school where you do not do any significant ab's and you barely stretch!

 

[tshadowchaser]

a school where they work you out until you throw up, and you get beaten by a tree trunk

Think I have seen a couple schools like that in the past

Strange but I sometimes miss the intensity of those training periods

 

[Navarre]

Strange but I sometimes miss the intensity of those training periods

I miss it all the time. Those classes were worse than basic training but I loved them. Nowadays ppl won't work out unless they have nice carpet or tile and lots of air conditioning. It's a weaker lot overall.

 

[karatekid1975]

After my lesson in Jujitsu this past friday, I learned that Jujitsu does have weapons, but we learned to use "anything" as a weapon. It was a cool class. But I did learn that all the stuff (self defense stuff) I learn now as an advanced student in TKD, is white belt stuff in Jujitsu. In TKD they hold off on the "brutal" self defense stuff till you get to my rank. But in jujitsu, they teach you right away. I'm a white belt in Jujitsu, but I learned a lot more self defense stuff than I have so far in TKD. That took getting used to, for me anyways. And there's hardly any kicks (in jujitsu). I have to get used to not kicking so much.

 

[Navarre]

Because our jujitsu system used anything that worked, I was still able to use my kicks. The main difference is that I used to kick and punch the entire time. Now my kicks are used to allow me to move in for a lock or throw.

But you're right. I had earned my 2nd degree black belt in karate and still hadn't learned as many locks and throws as I did in the first 3 months of my jujitsu training. That's why I love having the two systems together.