Who trains multiple arts at once?

Just curious, because I have something of a decision that I have to make.

I'm starting a wado-ryu karate class tomorrow, but I've been torn as to whether I should go with wado-ryu or Kukki TKD. I have a TKD background (ATA and ITF though, not Kukki), and I love to kick because it's just lots of fun. But I feel like for me personally (this is not a comment on the style), from my research on karate, it will translate better for self-defense. Also, having never studied karate, it's kind of like a new frontier and there's a degree of excitement in that.

To make matters "worse," I've also been looking at some local judo schools. (Like TKD, previously involved though only for about half a year.) After all, gotta have a standup art and a grappling art, right? In fact, I checked out a local judo class just tonight.

To be honest, I kind of want to do all three. Normally, I would think this is a ridiculous notion, but the kicker is that the judo instructor is sharing space with a Kukki TKD school and the TKD adult class is right before the judo class, so I could do one and roll right into the other.

I almost feel like my options are to do only wado or give all three a shot. Because the TKD/judo back-to-back arrangement just seems too easy. The other option would be to forget wado, and only do TKD and judo, which would certainly be less time consuming, not only because it's only two arts, but also because they're on the same day. But if I don't do wado I know I'm going to be giving up a very interesting training experience (it's a very traditional school with the Japanese master and everything, like in a movie). One thing I do know though is that if I do all three, I'm definitely going to end up rushing around to classes 5 days a week, no doubt about it.

So any advice?

 

I train in 4 technically. Mostly though, I just attend kali, BJJ, and kickboxing, I haven't taken Jun Fan Gung Fu in a while....

Yeah, anyway, it's perfectly possible, and awesome.

 

Don't you train them under the same instructor though?

Or at least the same gym?

Makes a difference IMO.

 

SPX,

I think it'll come down more to exactly what you want and what you can commit time etc

The chance to study under a high level teacher in any art is probably one you should jump at just for the experience, even if it turns out not to be to your liking.


Oh for the record I train in multiple systems.

 

Try all of them before you make a decision?

Then pick the best option(s)

 

I train in BJJ and freestyle wrestling.
its possible but its good to get a base in one before branching.

 

Cool, thanks. Those are pretty different arts, so I could see why you would want to do them all. Do you do these every week? How many classes each per week?

 

Yeah, time is a big factor. I'm also in school and gotta make a living too (though my job is kind of a self-employment situation so I'm able to make my schedule whatever I want it to be, as long as I spend 3ish hours a day making money).

The other thing is simply that spending 5 nights a week out and about and not getting home until 9 or 10 every night is kind of lame. I mean, it's nice to have a few nights to chill out, drink a sixer, and watch some movies.

Yeah, I think so, too. From what I understand, Sensei Osaka is one of the top guys in the US for Wado and established this school in 1970. He's way old now and doesn't teach every class, so I don't know how much personal involvement he'd have in my training, but I know that he does still teach because one of the two nights I visited he was there leading the class.

 

BTW, for those who train multiple arts, how much time a week would you say you put into it and how is that time broken down?

 

i train BJJ with the instructor twice a week.
i train wrestling with the coach 1 (im upping to 2) a week.
a then drill outside class with my training partners twice a week and do some movement drills by my self in the gym twice a week

 

This is why I always fancied Trad jui jitsu...3 arts rolled into one

Great vaue!

Due to lack of availability I have ended up doing 3 styles, but can only fit in 2/3 per week, so I must alternate.

 

Double post fail!!!

 

DO IIIIIIIT!

at my peak, i trained in tai chi, northern shaolin, karate, AND training at home, so i was doing easily between 3 and 6 classes of formal training, sometimes up to 8 ish a week, plus my random home training.

 

Where do you guys get that time?
I'd say, go with all if and as long as you can.
In the beginning the TKD and Judo class after it might work well, but when you get better you might get exhausted in TKD class, so Judo can be hard to go through with right after TKD. Find that out for yourself.

 

The most arts I ever did at one time was 4 (BJJ, Sub-grappling, Thai and Arnis). And I only did that for a few months. It was a damn good few months though!
As you can see there isn't a lot of cross over with those arts so it was still pretty straight forward.
These days I do two arts (Karate and TKD) and because there are so many similarities it can get a bit tricky even though it's actually less diversity.

 

Go for it, try them! If it isn't working out then re-evaluate and move on.

One thing I would mention is be honest with the instructors and let them know what you are doing - particularly if they may meet!

Good luck

 

I think it's healthy to do more than one. Especially in my line of interrest (WMA/HEMA), where nobody really can claim to have seen the light.
I allso get the impression that some EMA-traditions separates (too) much between different aspects of martial arts, saying that "I study the bo, I study the katana, I study the art of the sai, I study the art of kicking, etc".
Now, in the HEMA-manuals I have come across, they usually blend in a lot of "arts" into one "stew", so I get to study "the art of the dagger, longsword, poleaxe, wrestling with and without weapons, striking, kicking, fighting from horseback, polearm and cudgel"-all in one class

But you should have the time to do it wholehartedly. You don't really understand something if you don't really try to get under it's skin.

 

This is the one thing in your line of thinking that I'd question. There are all sorts of reasons to train. And your reasons are going to go a long way in validating or invalidating this quote. Now, maybe you've detailed this elsewhere. But I don't think you should feel like you have to have standup and grappling.

If you're going to succeed in MMA, sure I'll buy that. If you're preparing for survival in the concrete jungle, both of those are useful. But so would be weapons training, psychology and awareness, defensive handgunning, and a slew of other things.

If your interest is largely cultural, it might make more sense to commit more deeply to one style or at least nation. It's really up to you.

Bottom line, though, is that standup + grappling has become a sort of martial arts meme that, at the very least, shouldn't go unquestioned.


Stuart

 

Yeah, all under the same Instructor, although every now and again I see my old boxing coach.

I average probably around 10 hours a week out of a possible 17. I attend EVERY no-gi class, purely because my wrestling ain't great, and it's the most fun. Also, apparently we are adding another no-gi class on Thursday afternoons (12ish), I can't wait!

 

I thought about that too. I also wondered about just general physical exhaustion since I need to do at least 2 weight sessions a week.