Having recently started a Japanese style (Wada Ryu Karate) after many years doing Chinese styles (Lau Gar, Wing Chun, Jeet Kun Do) I have found the small differences (stance, horizontal instead of vertical punches etc) being the most difficult to cope with. The major differences (new techniques, language) are easier as they can be learnt from scratch as opposed to relearnt (the art of emptying ones cup). Has anyone else had similar experiences they would like to share, and how did they cope longer term? Is it possible to do two styles with subtle differences between techniques without getting confused between them?
Yes. It's not so confusing doing another style after you've got some grounding in one style. I'd recommend this sort of cross training, after black belt or your equivalent. I've always trained in a Chinese system from about the time I got my black belt until now. First, it was Yang style tai chi chuan and now it's Hsing-I chuan. Along the way, some karate styles and aikido. Not really a problem. Some years ago, I switched styles, altogether from Shotokan to ****o Ryu. It was fairly painless. Rob. BTW, it's Wado Ryu. Way (do) of Harmony (wa) 'school' (ryu)
Yep, Its Wado. Actually rather than think of them as different styles, just think of them as different applications or tools for your arsenal, thats what I do.
I think so long as you can segregate the two types of MA that you do clearly, then it shouldn't be a problem even if they are really similar. I train in IFK kyokushinkai at the moment, but trained in MOKKO Kyokushinkai for a while at the same time. They're basically the same thing, but with a few more moves in MOKKO than what I'm used to. Stances were a bit different, but obviously the language was the same too. I had to be quite careful not to cross them over with each other as their so similar. Long term, politcs kept me from continuing, not syllabus differences
