Learning multiple arts at same time?

[TMA17]

I’m probably overthinking this. For anyone that had studied/learn different arts at the same time, was it a problem? I’m asking because I am taking WC lessons but still practicing Muay Thai from DVD’s I have at home along with regular boxing. Mind you this is just a hobby for me. I’m also going to be trying Balintawak soon with a local group.

My thinking is it shouldn’t be an issue as long as I practice. However my concern was being WC and boxing generate power differently, I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Some have suggest putting one aside for now.

But being so many people do MMA, I wouldn’t think it’s an issue. It probably also has to do with the individual. MMA folks however usually do one base striking art and one ground.

For a hobby with a secondary focus on self defense I feel ok so far doing this. Curious what others think....

 

[Headhunter]

Not a problem at all for me. When training do that style only. For example in boxing class use the boxing principles in wing chun use your wing chun principles. Practice both and then for yor own personal use if you do ever need self defence use the best one for you but keep both sets of tools sharp

 

[Tez3]

MMA folks however usually do one base striking art and one ground.

Not necessarily. It used to be in the beginning that everyone had one style then went to learn another, ie you had karate/TKD so learnt a grappling style or vice versa.
These days MMA is much more joined up with classes teaching it as a whole, many places will have extra classes for grappling or striking as well as fitness and sparring. As we've progressed in MMA it's becoming almost ( but not yet, though I think it will come) a complete style in itself with techniques that have proved useful from all and any style being integrated into a fighter's personal style.
learning complete styles separately can be difficult if they are very similar or use different ways of moving, remember MMA doesn't use everything out of one style only some. I found CMA difficult as it's very different from karate. The difficulty will be compounded when learning from a video without an instructor to correct and give help.
It may be easy for some to train many styles but I doubt they'd compare it to MMA for the reasons I've given.

 

[Martial D]

I’m probably overthinking this. For anyone that had studied/learn different arts at the same time, was it a problem? I’m asking because I am taking WC lessons but still practicing Muay Thai from DVD’s I have at home along with regular boxing. Mind you this is just a hobby for me. I’m also going to be trying Balintawak soon with a local group.

My thinking is it shouldn’t be an issue as long as I practice. However my concern was being WC and boxing generate power differently, I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Some have suggest putting one aside for now.

But being so many people do MMA, I wouldn’t think it’s an issue. It probably also has to do with the individual. MMA folks however usually do one base striking art and one ground.

For a hobby with a secondary focus on self defense I feel ok so far doing this. Curious what others think....

That depends. I would say if you are just learning a new style, it's best to focus on just that until you understand/have some proficiency in that style.

If you try to learn two styles or more without an understanding of either/any of them, it will probably slow you down a lot.

UNLESS these styles don't have much overlap, like say boxing and wrestling or BJJ and Mui Thai.

 

[TMA17]

That depends. I would say if you are just learning a new style, it's best to focus on just that until you understand/have some proficiency in that style.

If you try to learn two styles or more without an understanding of either/any of them, it will probably slow you down a lot.

UNLESS these styles don't have much overlap, like say boxing and wrestling or BJJ and Mui Thai.

Good point. That’s the thing about Chun is it’s different power method. It’s different than boxing.

 

[drop bear]

Throwing a jab generates power differently to a cross. It shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Danny T]

The average person is far more capable of learning then many espouse.
I've had numerous students learning WC, Muay Thai, Submission Wrestling or BJJ, & Kali during the same time period.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I’m probably overthinking this. For anyone that had studied/learn different arts at the same time, was it a problem? I’m asking because I am taking WC lessons but still practicing Muay Thai from DVD’s I have at home along with regular boxing. Mind you this is just a hobby for me. I’m also going to be trying Balintawak soon with a local group.

My thinking is it shouldn’t be an issue as long as I practice. However my concern was being WC and boxing generate power differently, I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Some have suggest putting one aside for now.

But being so many people do MMA, I wouldn’t think it’s an issue. It probably also has to do with the individual. MMA folks however usually do one base striking art and one ground.

For a hobby with a secondary focus on self defense I feel ok so far doing this. Curious what others think....

Whether it is a problem or not depends on the individual and their aims, mostly. Since you said it's just a hobby, it's only a problem if you don't enjoy it.

 

[Buka]

As long as you have the time and opportunities, I think it's all good. Fun, too.

 

[hoshin1600]

it can be a problem if your aim is to be a traditionalist or to go very deeply into a single art. i wouldnt compare MMA. ever notice everyone looks the same? think of martial arts like learning a language. if you want to gain the ability to speak fluently and be indistinguishable from a native speaker then you have to really focus. if you just want to say "feed me" in any part of the world that you may find yourself........then it doesnt matter as long as your belly gets full.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Many years ago, I had a class that the 1st hour taught long fist and the 2nd hour taught WC. It didn't work. After 2 weeks of trying, I had to remove the WC and made it into a long fist only class.

The confusion started from the basic punch. In

- long fist, your fore arm, chest, and back shoulder should form a straight line.
- WC, your fore arm and chest are in a 90 degree (or a bit more) angle.

The same issue also exist if you train Chinese wrestling and Bagua at the same time. In

- Chinese wrestling, when you move to your side, you will move your back leg first.
- Bagua, when you move to your side, you will move your front leg first.

 

[TMA17]

All good points. I'll see how it goes. I think it's hard to get good at one thing if you're always moving around, which seems to be the case for me right now. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Mountie]

Maybe it's me personally, but I'd say get a good base style then add later. I moved around a lot too, and there were subtle changes every time I had to switch styles. New stances and changes to the techniques meant I never learned something well enough to use it in a practical situation. Unless of course there's no overlap, as said before. You see it in MMA, a fighter has their base style then adds to it.

Of course, now that I've got a good base in one style I'm starting to move around and do some cross training, but that's different. I'm adding to my existing fighting style.

 

[Anarax]

I’m probably overthinking this. For anyone that had studied/learn different arts at the same time, was it a problem?

For years I juggled 2-4 styles at a time and only about a year ago did I decide to focus on one style. There were two primary challenges I found with cross-training. The first one is the technical aspect of cross-training similar styles. Personally, I found training similar styles was more difficult than training ones that are very different. For example, BJJ and Karate compliment each other because they're very different and cover two completely different aspects of combat. However; I found training Japanese Jujitsu and Aikido to be much more challenging. My Aikido instructor would teach me an Aikido wrist throw, but it differed from the one in JJJ. Meaning, when you're training muscle memory it's best to have one technique in mind and not confuse yourself. Taking it one step further, the Aikido system I studied was large circle, but I was studying small circle JJJ. Many of the techniques and overall dynamics are different from large and small circle systems. Having a firm grasp on one style before moving onto another similar one will help streamline the learning process.

 

[Marie_Flowers88]

I think it will be fun if you can handle it at the same. Also if you have a lot of time. Maybe you could get new kind of styles I want to know your progress later on.

 

[VPT]

However my concern was being WC and boxing generate power differently, I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Some have suggest putting one aside for now.

I was just experimenting with this yesterday. I found this odd punching tool in a public Ho Chi Minh City sports center. It was not quite a floor-mounted punching bag, not quite a makiwara, a little bit like a speed bag with a touch of a BOB.

I spent a good hour or so trying out different punching and striking methods: karate-ish/longfist-ish, boxing-type punches, some Bak Mei-inspired stuff, even WC punches that I picked up from watching Chu Shong Tin videos (I'm pretty good at copycatting motor skills).

The result? No much difference with anything. I know how to hit stuff hard and the mechanics that makes it work. Only the CST penetrating punch proved challenging, but then again, I know it's hard and I already know where my skills lack in what makes it work.

Thus I think about it like this: if you know how to generate good power, I wouldn't worry about getting confused between stuff. Even better, the focus on different body parts may even imrpive your technique.

 

[Charlemagne]

There is no reason that you cannot learn multiple martial arts simultaneously. Having said that, what would seem to make the most sense would be to pick arts that do not overlap in purpose, range, etc. As someone noted earlier, studying BJJ and Boxing at the same time, or Karate and Judo, FMA and SAMBO, etc.

Studying two striking arts that both focus on hands and which exist largely exist in the same range, might, when it comes time to apply them, lead to some confusion, unless you do work specifically on integrating the two at some point. Both boxing and WC have their own tactics and assumptions in regards to how to actually fight, beyond simply the mechanics of how to throw a punch.

So, the problems I see with what you are doing exist largely in the cognition/decision making aspect of things, rather than the physical.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Maybe it's me personally, but I'd say get a good base style then add later. I moved around a lot too, and there were subtle changes every time I had to switch styles. New stances and changes to the techniques meant I never learned something well enough to use it in a practical situation. Unless of course there's no overlap, as said before. You see it in MMA, a fighter has their base style then adds to it.

Of course, now that I've got a good base in one style I'm starting to move around and do some cross training, but that's different. I'm adding to my existing fighting style.

For some folks, that's the right approach. And it's probably a faster path to fight competence for most (nearly everyone?). Since the OP's approach is just a hobby, it probably doesn't matter if it takes longer to competency, so long as he's having fun with it.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

There is no reason that you cannot learn multiple martial arts simultaneously. Having said that, what would seem to make the most sense would be to pick arts that do not overlap in purpose, range, etc. As someone noted earlier, studying BJJ and Boxing at the same time, or Karate and Judo, FMA and SAMBO, etc.

Studying two striking arts that both focus on hands and which exist largely exist in the same range, might, when it comes time to apply them, lead to some confusion, unless you do work specifically on integrating the two at some point. Both boxing and WC have their own tactics and assumptions in regards to how to actually fight, beyond simply the mechanics of how to throw a punch.

So, the problems I see with what you are doing exist largely in the cognition/decision making aspect of things, rather than the physical.

A point I keep meaning to add to a post like this...

If you know the source material for overlapping arts, you can pick two where the overlap isn't a conflict. NGA uses Shotokan Karate as a base for most of the strikes. That makes pairing them up pretty easy, in spite of the overlap. That's tough to do unless you know (or know someone who knows) the styles' origins and how they are taught at the respective schools.

 

[TMA17]

All great points here. Appreciate it.

As a weekend warrior hobby for me and as someone that gets bored easily, I could see myself never sticking with one art. I know myself. So far so good with the Chun though. I’m done with the first form.

Like VPT I feel I’m pretty good at copying movements. I don’t ever perfect them I’m sure, but i feel like I’m coordinated enough to get the mechanics down and I do practice. (Just within striking arts).

I think what I continue to struggle with is my liking of western boxing and trying to learn WC which to me is different enough to notice. I do really like what I’m learning in WC though. The WC Sifu’s I seem to like are guys like Och, Watts and Redmond who are fast and fluid and seem to know what it takes to make WC work if needed. Those guys to me are the non robotic WC I’m looking for.

It’s really an opportunity cost issue I need to figure out. Right now I’m just going with it....