I am worried my inconsistency with styles is hurting my potential

[Ivan]

I have trained across a wide array of different styles, and I am very passionate about martial arts. Recently, I've been trying to maintain a weekly schedule of Krav Maga on Mondays and Wednesdays, Boxing on Tuesdays, Tae Kwon Do on Saturdays and Capoeira on Sundays.

However, I haven't been able to attend Krav Maga in over 5 months; I rely on my father to drive me there as we took the class together, but since he switched jobs and I get off college on Monday quite late I simply cannot get there at a reasonable hour :/ As for Wednesday, I could make it, I just haven't done so due to it being the day where I have the most amount of time to study.

I also cannot attend boxing anymore. I've had different problems with my coach when it came to sparring my opponents, which aren't relevant but I will answer if you're curious. The main reason however, is because he genuinely doesn't put effort into his job, and I haven't learnt anything from him in the past 2-3 years of attendance (with some breaks due to injuries,exams etc). In fact, a guy who just volunteers to help out with the boxing class at the gym helped me out more than the entire class in just 2 sessions. I also wasn't able to learn much from my sparring partners; due to the problems and altercations I've had with my coach, many of them go way too hard for mew to be able to handle, which might sound like a shitty excuse, except they're all at least in their 20s and faster and stronger AND more experienced than me! I've been bashing my head against the wall for almost 3 years at this gym, and I just can't be fucked with it anymore; it's so frustrating to me that I still have the flinch reflex in the boxing ring, but not when I am sparring in an open space like in Tae Kwon Do.

I am looking at new gyms, and I have chosen begginer's boxing and I'll hopefully enroll in BJJ but I'm worried that this constant switching from Karate and Judo when I was little, to Traditional Jiu Jitsu to Krav Maga and the other things I do will negatively impact me. Do any of you wiser and more experienced people have any answers or suggestions/advice? Thanks

EDIT: My goal is to create my own style in the future, as ambitious and naive as that sounds, and teach it. I want to open a school/dojo/gym.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

The biggest question before I can answer that is:what is your goal? Is it to get in shape, to be in the Olympics, to be able to defend yourself, to fight mma, to be able to beat up your friends, or just to have fun?

Regardless of the answer, as a teenager I would not recommend going to a boxing gym where you have 20 year olds sparring hard against you. That's a recipe for disaster

 

[jobo]

Yes, is answer,
pick one that you like, were the coach isn't a fool, that you can get to on your own and stick with it for a year at least

Make sure you have enough time left over to study, build friendships and chase girls, which are really the most important things at your age

 

[EddieCyrax]

You potentially slow your progression.

I take both Kenpo and BJJ. These two arts complement each other. Very nicely actually.

My primary focus is on Kenpo so that is where i put most of my effort. As a result, I will most likely be living the Blue Belt Blues of BJJ for a long time.

I am not sure taking so many styles all at the same time is helpful. I would suggest you find an instructor that you enjoy and pushes you. Then put your heart/effort into it. Seek to add additional "flavor" as you gain proficiency.

If you are interested in competing in MMA of some sort, having a stand up and complementary ground style will be required.

If you are looking for self defense, most styles can support this effort, thus not needing multiple.

Again, all depends on what you are looking for.

 

[Kong Soo Do]

My goal is to create my own style in the future, as ambitious and naive as that sounds, and teach it. I want to open a school/dojo/gym.

Your goal is not naive at all. Creative people enjoy creating whether it's a work of art or a martial art. That's how all martial arts were created. College is a busy time. Don't beat yourself up about not having enough time for various things. Just goes with the territory. Same for when you start a full time career and/or have a family.

Sounds like switching boxing gyms is the right move. If you're not learning someplace, or there is conflict for whatever reason, go some where else and learn from someone else. As you mentioned, you can learn more from the right person in 30 minutes than the wrong person in 30 years.

As far as training is various arts, if your end goal is creating your own art then your doing it the right way. Many have the opinion of training in an art to the rank of black belt (if using that system) then switching to another art that has a different type of training and training in it to black belt and so forth. Gives you a broad background to draw upon.

So simply do what you can, when you can and enjoy the journey.

 

[Flying Crane]

I have trained across a wide array of different styles, and I am very passionate about martial arts. Recently, I've been trying to maintain a weekly schedule of Krav Maga on Mondays and Wednesdays, Boxing on Tuesdays, Tae Kwon Do on Saturdays and Capoeira on Sundays.

However, I haven't been able to attend Krav Maga in over 5 months; I rely on my father to drive me there as we took the class together, but since he switched jobs and I get off college on Monday quite late I simply cannot get there at a reasonable hour :/ As for Wednesday, I could make it, I just haven't done so due to it being the day where I have the most amount of time to study.

I also cannot attend boxing anymore. I've had different problems with my coach when it came to sparring my opponents, which aren't relevant but I will answer if you're curious. The main reason however, is because he genuinely doesn't put effort into his job, and I haven't learnt anything from him in the past 2-3 years of attendance (with some breaks due to injuries,exams etc). In fact, a guy who just volunteers to help out with the boxing class at the gym helped me out more than the entire class in just 2 sessions. I also wasn't able to learn much from my sparring partners; due to the problems and altercations I've had with my coach, many of them go way too hard for mew to be able to handle, which might sound like a shitty excuse, except they're all at least in their 20s and faster and stronger AND more experienced than me! I've been bashing my head against the wall for almost 3 years at this gym, and I just can't be fucked with it anymore; it's so frustrating to me that I still have the flinch reflex in the boxing ring, but not when I am sparring in an open space like in Tae Kwon Do.

I am looking at new gyms, and I have chosen begginer's boxing and I'll hopefully enroll in BJJ but I'm worried that this constant switching from Karate and Judo when I was little, to Traditional Jiu Jitsu to Krav Maga and the other things I do will negatively impact me. Do any of you wiser and more experienced people have any answers or suggestions/advice? Thanks

EDIT: My goal is to create my own style in the future, as ambitious and naive as that sounds, and teach it. I want to open a school/dojo/gym.

You have so many classes in the week, when do you have time to practice outside of class? That is very important in your development, when you learn to take ownership of what you have learned and of your training process.

Honestly, in my opinion you are doing too many systems at the same time. It prevents you from focusing and improving in any of them.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Here's the problem. There's no possible way that, at 16, you have more than an incredibly superficial knowledge of any of the systems you've trained in. You simply haven't had the time to do more than scratch the surface. Pick something and stick with it. Had you been training one art up to this point, you could reasonably be expected to have a good basic understanding of that art.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Jack of all trades, master of none.

 

[drop bear]

Boxing and bjj will help your krav more than krav will.

There are fundemental principles about human movement that will increase development more than specific techniques.

Boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, BJJ, MMA. Are drills designed to develop attributes of timing, warrior mindset and technical proficiency that honestly cant really be developed in any other manner. This is because no other sort of training replicates that live fighting dynamic than live fighting.

And you have to be able to negotiate that before you can apply any techniques.

 

[Bruce7]

I have trained across a wide array of different styles, and I am very passionate about martial arts. Recently, I've been trying to maintain a weekly schedule of Krav Maga on Mondays and Wednesdays, Boxing on Tuesdays, Tae Kwon Do on Saturdays and Capoeira on Sundays.

However, I haven't been able to attend Krav Maga in over 5 months; I rely on my father to drive me there as we took the class together, but since he switched jobs and I get off college on Monday quite late I simply cannot get there at a reasonable hour :/ As for Wednesday, I could make it, I just haven't done so due to it being the day where I have the most amount of time to study.

I also cannot attend boxing anymore. I've had different problems with my coach when it came to sparring my opponents, which aren't relevant but I will answer if you're curious. The main reason however, is because he genuinely doesn't put effort into his job, and I haven't learnt anything from him in the past 2-3 years of attendance (with some breaks due to injuries,exams etc). In fact, a guy who just volunteers to help out with the boxing class at the gym helped me out more than the entire class in just 2 sessions. I also wasn't able to learn much from my sparring partners; due to the problems and altercations I've had with my coach, many of them go way too hard for mew to be able to handle, which might sound like a shitty excuse, except they're all at least in their 20s and faster and stronger AND more experienced than me! I've been bashing my head against the wall for almost 3 years at this gym, and I just can't be fucked with it anymore; it's so frustrating to me that I still have the flinch reflex in the boxing ring, but not when I am sparring in an open space like in Tae Kwon Do.

I am looking at new gyms, and I have chosen begginer's boxing and I'll hopefully enroll in BJJ but I'm worried that this constant switching from Karate and Judo when I was little, to Traditional Jiu Jitsu to Krav Maga and the other things I do will negatively impact me. Do any of you wiser and more experienced people have any answers or suggestions/advice? Thanks

EDIT: My goal is to create my own style in the future, as ambitious and naive as that sounds, and teach it. I want to open a school/dojo/gym.

I took many MAs for 12 years and was a fair fighter, but because I never became a black belt I could not be a teacher.
If you want to be a teacher, put in the time to be a credited teaching black belt.

Bruce Lee studied many years in Wing Chun and had a black belt, before learning other MAs and developing his own MA.

 

[Headhunter]

Sorry but any style you make based on your current training will be frankly useless...you don't have any In depth understanding of any style. You just know a few basics from each so yeah you can teach a bunch of moves but that doesn't make a style. Forget the whole making a style nonsense. Just pick one style and train it consistently and exclusively for at least 5 years. Then if you want you can start looking at other styles and you can teach the style you've done most.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Boxing and bjj will help your krav more than krav will.

There are fundemental principles about human movement that will increase development more than specific techniques.

Boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, BJJ, MMA. Are drills designed to develop attributes of timing, warrior mindset and technical proficiency that honestly cant really be developed in any other manner. This is because no other sort of training replicates that live fighting dynamic than live fighting.

And you have to be able to negotiate that before you can apply any techniques.

Drop Bear and I disagree fairly often, but not substantially on this. You know where you want to get to, so build a strong foundation. Focus on boxing and something grappling (BJJ, wrestling, Judo, etc.) for now, since those things clearly interest you. Make one the primary, and get capable in it. Let the other one be the gap-filler for now. A few years of focus will advance your understanding dramatically. Then - with that understanding in hand - choose what (and if) you want to add to the mix to start building your personal style. After you have your personal style, you can decide how much of it you want to include in what you teach.

 

[Bruce7]

EDIT: My goal is to create my own style in the future, as ambitious and naive as that sounds, and teach it. I want to open a school/dojo/gym.

Thank you for your OP. It has got me thinking.
When I was your age I did not care about belts, I just wanted to be a good fighter and look cool doing kicks.

Now I have started training to have something in common with my grandchildren, while this is a good thing, it is not really a goal.
While I still don't care about getting any color belt, I need to make getting a black belt my goal, so I could teach.

There is much my old GM taught me about hand speed and other details I have not seen taught yet.
It is not logical that an old man has faster hand speed than most of the people in the class.
It has been my experience past and present most students will not want help from someone who is not a black belt.

 

[dvcochran]

You

I have trained across a wide array of different styles, and I am very passionate about martial arts. Recently, I've been trying to maintain a weekly schedule of Krav Maga on Mondays and Wednesdays, Boxing on Tuesdays, Tae Kwon Do on Saturdays and Capoeira on Sundays.

However, I haven't been able to attend Krav Maga in over 5 months; I rely on my father to drive me there as we took the class together, but since he switched jobs and I get off college on Monday quite late I simply cannot get there at a reasonable hour :/ As for Wednesday, I could make it, I just haven't done so due to it being the day where I have the most amount of time to study.

I also cannot attend boxing anymore. I've had different problems with my coach when it came to sparring my opponents, which aren't relevant but I will answer if you're curious. The main reason however, is because he genuinely doesn't put effort into his job, and I haven't learnt anything from him in the past 2-3 years of attendance (with some breaks due to injuries,exams etc). In fact, a guy who just volunteers to help out with the boxing class at the gym helped me out more than the entire class in just 2 sessions. I also wasn't able to learn much from my sparring partners; due to the problems and altercations I've had with my coach, many of them go way too hard for mew to be able to handle, which might sound like a shitty excuse, except they're all at least in their 20s and faster and stronger AND more experienced than me! I've been bashing my head against the wall for almost 3 years at this gym, and I just can't be fucked with it anymore; it's so frustrating to me that I still have the flinch reflex in the boxing ring, but not when I am sparring in an open space like in Tae Kwon Do.

I am looking at new gyms, and I have chosen begginer's boxing and I'll hopefully enroll in BJJ but I'm worried that this constant switching from Karate and Judo when I was little, to Traditional Jiu Jitsu to Krav Maga and the other things I do will negatively impact me. Do any of you wiser and more experienced people have any answers or suggestions/advice? Thanks

EDIT: My goal is to create my own style in the future, as ambitious and naive as that sounds, and teach it. I want to open a school/dojo/gym.

You are simply spread too thin. Whatever it is driving you to practice so many styles is an issue. Is it social because you have friends in each style? Or are you truly thinking you need to learn all of them? In the first scenario you are doing yourself a dis-service. No one can progress very well in this format. If it is the second scenario, know that it is very hard to become advanced in any one style. Let alone multiple styles. It can take the better part of a decade to become advanced in any two styles. Add this to the rest of your lifestyle (college life should be a full plate on its own) and you are setting your self up for frustration and failure. If you are determined to continue working out in such a broad spectrum, start by knowing you are only going to get exposure to each style but will likely never become proficient. It doesn't sound like this is your goal. Creating a totally new MA style with limited expertise is a very bad idea.
I know you are young and intend to conquer the world, which I wholly support. But setting goals means creating small milestones that you can reach on a timeline that motivates you to reach for the next goal. It is like saying "I am going to be a brain surgeon". That can be the top level goal but if I never create a list or plan of how I become a brain surgeon, it will never happen. It will just become frustration. The college format is a good place to learn this methodology. They do a very good job of laying out the class requirements and timelines to acquire a given degree. Most MA curriculums are a little more vague and less defined adding to your challenge.
Which style has been most intriguing and enjoyable to you? Which one has great instructor(s), format, and facilities? That is where you start. By becoming advanced in one style, it will accelerate being able to learn another style. This is where you start your journey to achieve your goals.

 

[Flying Crane]

I took many MAs for 12 years and was a fair fighter, but because I never became a black belt I could not be a teacher.
If you want to be a teacher, put in the time to be a credited teaching black belt.

Bruce Lee studied many years in Wing Chun and had a black belt, before learning other MAs and developing his own MA.

I believe Bruce Lee’s training in wing chun was fairly brief and he did not learn the entire wing chun system. He was very gifted physically, and was able to be effective regardless.

I will be the first to say that one does not need to learn the entire system in order to legitimize the training or in order to be effective. However, not learning the full system can indicate a lack of depth in one’s understanding of that system.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Thank you for your OP. It has got me thinking.
When I was your age I did not care about belts, I just wanted to be a good fighter and look cool doing kicks.

Now I have started training to have something in common with my grandchildren, while this is a good thing, it is not really a goal.
While I still don't care about getting any color belt, I need to make getting a black belt my goal, so I could teach.

There is much my old GM taught me about hand speed and other details I have not seen taught yet.
It is not logical that an old man has faster hand speed than most of the people in the class.
It has been my experience past and present most students will not want help from someone who is not a black belt.

Unless it's a style that doesn't use ranks.

 

[Flying Crane]

You

You are simply spread too thin. Whatever it is driving you to practice so many styles is an issue. Is it social because you have friends in each style? Or are you truly thinking you need to learn all of them? In the first scenario you are doing yourself a dis-service. No one can progress very well in this format. If it is the second scenario, know that it is very hard to become advanced in any one style. Let alone multiple styles. It can take the better part of a decade to become advanced in any two styles. Add this to the rest of your lifestyle (college life should be a full plate on its own) and you are setting your self up for frustration and failure. If you are determined to continue working out in such a broad spectrum, start by knowing you are only going to get exposure to each style but will likely never become proficient. It doesn't sound like this is your goal. Creating a totally new MA style with limited expertise is a very bad idea.
I know you are young and intend to conquer the world, which I wholly support. But setting goals means creating small milestones that you can reach on a timeline that motivates you to reach for the next goal. It is like saying "I am going to be a brain surgeon". That can be the top level goal but if I never create a list or plan of how I become a brain surgeon, it will never happen. It will just become frustration. The college format is a good place to learn this methodology. They do a very good job of laying out the class requirements and timelines to acquire a given degree. Most MA curriculums are a little more vague and less defined adding to your challenge.
Which style has been most intriguing and enjoyable to you? Which one has great instructor(s), format, and facilities? That is where you start. By becoming advanced in one style, it will accelerate being able to learn another style. This is where you start your journey to achieve your goals.

I will add to this that as a beginner, you have no idea what is contained in various martial systems and cannot even realistically identify what a “new” style should accomplish. To enter into martial training with a pre-conceived notion that you need to create a new system just does not make sense.

Instead, I suggest that you focus on one system and work to develop your skills and understanding. Eventually you might find time to train in another system or two, depending on your interests and on what is available to you. Doing so might require that you stop training in your original system because you simply do not have the time and the energy, and you might even discover that you simply like the new system better and you lose interest in the original system. These things happen.

After a couple decades or more, you might gradually develop your own approach to training, based on your experiences in a couple different methods. You might figure out a way that they blend together usefully. This becomes your personal training method. You might even be able to teach it to some students someday, if the blend has merit and if you figure out a way to systematize the training progression.

But in my opinion, it needs to be a natural and organic process that happens over time, as your depth of experience grows. Setting out from day one, thinking you want to invent something new and then setting about on an attempt to acquire the necessary “ingredients” is unlikely to result in a worthy system.

 

[Headhunter]

I took many MAs for 12 years and was a fair fighter, but because I never became a black belt I could not be a teacher.
If you want to be a teacher, put in the time to be a credited teaching black belt.

Bruce Lee studied many years in Wing Chun and had a black belt, before learning other MAs and developing his own MA.

Lol your talking some serious bs right there....first Bruce Lee didn't have a black belt in anything....especially not wing chun....mainly due to the fact there are no belts in wing chun and Bruce Lee didn't even learn the full system....

 

[Bruce7]

I believe Bruce Lee’s training in wing chun was fairly brief and he did not learn the entire wing chun system. He was very gifted physically, and was able to be effective regardless.

I will be the first to say that one does not need to learn the entire system in order to legitimize the training or in order to be effective. However, not learning the full system can indicate a lack of depth in one’s understanding of that system.

You make good points, But you maybe mistaken on his Wing Chun training. He taught Wing Chun before deciding to learn other MA.

 

[Headhunter]

You make good points, But you maybe mistaken on his Wing Chun training. He taught Wing Chun before deciding to learn other MA.

No he's not mistaken at all. It's well documented he didn't learn the full system and was even kicked out by ip man and yes he taught but only because he was literally the only one in his area who knew even the slightest bit about it