MichiganTKD
Master Black Belt
Joining a gym will definitely help complement what you learn in Tae Kwon Do as far as muscle strength, cardio, stretching etc.
Other martial arts with taekwondo
- Thread starter terry_gardener
- Start date
K
kwanjang
Guest
After discussing the value of choices and dealing with pressures from well meaning Masters, I have one final thought on this subject I'd like to share.
There are many martial arts based on similar foundations or roots, and it is actually quite safe to cross train in those arts without impacting the proper foundations of your main art. The trick is to recognize these arts for their similarities in principles.
For example, it is not wise for a novice student to cross train in arts that have different footwork. Wide stance arts for example do not mix well with arts that rely on the Yu Whon Wha principle. The pivoting needed to execute techniques in the latter requires narrower stances to allow for fast pivots. Thus, Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do actually do not mix well, even though they are both Korean arts that use similar strikes and kicks.
Your choice of mixing Tae Kwon Do with Aikido will most likely also result in you doing and injustice to either art. You will surely compromise your basic motion of Tae Kwon Do, OR you will do a poor version of Aikido.
So, in the end MTK is quite correct in his belief that such cross training is best left until you have solid basics; however, as a new practitioner you need to check these things out BEFORE you make (or are pressured to make) a decision that will affect you for many years to come.
Many Tae Kwon Do Masters add Hap Ki Do to their curriculum to offer more variety in order to maintain a stronger student base. From my experience in teaching even very high ranking Masters of Tae Kwon Do, they almost never manage to seperate their basic wide strong stance from the fluid narrow stances required to use the circular principles upon which Hap Ki Do is based. Hence, they either do a poor imitation of Hap Ki Do that really does not work well, or they alter their stance which makes them lose the principles of Tae Kwon Do stances.
In all cases, it is best for the student to learn an art that is most comfortable and effective for them. Just because you walk into a Tae Kwon Do school without knowing what your best options are does NOT mean their master is correct in telling you that you need to stay in their school (to add to his student base and bottom line). Similarly, it is in the best interest of a student (who is best served to learn TKD) NOT to stay in a Hap Ki Do school if he hates making impact with the mat. This is where we get back to choices, and these are choices you need to explore before making a lifetime commitment to ONE art.
As far as going to the gym. It seems as though you are still not happy with the training you receive (I assume this because you are still looking to get more training). Go for it!
If you were in My school, I doubt you would have the energy to look for more, as I expect my students to train their bodies as well as learn technique. Not all schools do this, and that is a good thing... it will allow for more choices
There are many martial arts based on similar foundations or roots, and it is actually quite safe to cross train in those arts without impacting the proper foundations of your main art. The trick is to recognize these arts for their similarities in principles.
For example, it is not wise for a novice student to cross train in arts that have different footwork. Wide stance arts for example do not mix well with arts that rely on the Yu Whon Wha principle. The pivoting needed to execute techniques in the latter requires narrower stances to allow for fast pivots. Thus, Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do actually do not mix well, even though they are both Korean arts that use similar strikes and kicks.
Your choice of mixing Tae Kwon Do with Aikido will most likely also result in you doing and injustice to either art. You will surely compromise your basic motion of Tae Kwon Do, OR you will do a poor version of Aikido.
So, in the end MTK is quite correct in his belief that such cross training is best left until you have solid basics; however, as a new practitioner you need to check these things out BEFORE you make (or are pressured to make) a decision that will affect you for many years to come.
Many Tae Kwon Do Masters add Hap Ki Do to their curriculum to offer more variety in order to maintain a stronger student base. From my experience in teaching even very high ranking Masters of Tae Kwon Do, they almost never manage to seperate their basic wide strong stance from the fluid narrow stances required to use the circular principles upon which Hap Ki Do is based. Hence, they either do a poor imitation of Hap Ki Do that really does not work well, or they alter their stance which makes them lose the principles of Tae Kwon Do stances.
In all cases, it is best for the student to learn an art that is most comfortable and effective for them. Just because you walk into a Tae Kwon Do school without knowing what your best options are does NOT mean their master is correct in telling you that you need to stay in their school (to add to his student base and bottom line). Similarly, it is in the best interest of a student (who is best served to learn TKD) NOT to stay in a Hap Ki Do school if he hates making impact with the mat. This is where we get back to choices, and these are choices you need to explore before making a lifetime commitment to ONE art.
As far as going to the gym. It seems as though you are still not happy with the training you receive (I assume this because you are still looking to get more training). Go for it!
If you were in My school, I doubt you would have the energy to look for more, as I expect my students to train their bodies as well as learn technique. Not all schools do this, and that is a good thing... it will allow for more choices
OP
terry_gardener
Yellow Belt
- Thread Starter
- #23
I am very happy with the training that i get at my school but it is only on for 1 hour on tuesday and 1.5 hours on friday nights which i am not able to get to all the time because it is in the next town from me and i can not drive yet, and the buses are to unreliable(always late).kwanjang said:As far as going to the gym. It seems as though you are still not happy with the training you receive (I assume this because you are still looking to get more training). Go for it!
If you were in My school, I doubt you would have the energy to look for more, as I expect my students to train their bodies as well as learn technique. Not all schools do this, and that is a good thing... it will allow for more choices
so this is why i decided that going to the gym would be beneficial.
i dont have the luxury to training every night, if i did there would be no need to go the gym, so i have to go with what is available to me.
loki09789
Senior Master
Haven't read all the replies to this yet, but I would say that it depends on what you want out of your training. Street defense, I would say judo for the balance of striking and grappling. Performance/tournament and forms, I would say a similar Karate style that would create overlap and repetition - but with just enough of a shift in approach that would give you a slight edge over the one system opponents.... for experience and just plain fun. Change from one to another over the course of a year, sample the hell out of them and then decide after that....terry_gardener said:
K
kwanjang
Guest
terry_gardener said:
Terry: You are quite correct. That is not nearly enough time for you to change the things you wish to accomplish. Join a good gym, and practice more at home once you learn to do so safely and correct. I wish you luck and happy training.
