How Many Martial Arts Should One Learn?

[Great Sage]

I get the impression that many people want to get their feet wet in different martial arts so that they have a complete arsenal. Unfortunately, learning one martial art is a lifetime’s journey and you may never grasp its essence before you move on. I went through such a journey, learning incomplete aspects of different arts until I finally realized that my system was a complete system that I just needed to refine.

After 16 years of study in Tae Kwon Do, I still feel there’s room for improvement. So I wonder about those who study a bit of Judo then Kung-fu and so forth. Do you believe it will make you a better fighter by spending a few years here and there?

Ofcourse, there are two sides to this puzzle... Here are mine:

STICKING TO ONE SYSTEM
You learn the inner intricacies of the art as time passes... You can also gain mastery over your techniques with years of refinement. The biggest drawback is that you may be missing out on other useful stuff out there...

LEARNING DIFFERENT SYSTEMS
You have a vast repetoire of knowledge. You may also adapt to different situations quicker, although maybe not as effective. The problem may be that you become a Jack of all trades, master of none. You may also entirely miss the true essence of each art you learn.

[JIMI]

I think that in order to stay competitive, then mixed martial arts is the way to go. And even then you need to be somewhere , where it is constantly evolving.

[lau gar]

in kung fu there are moves that you can apply on the ground. It's just thinking about applications so if u spend a lifetime studying a good kung fu style i would call them a complete martial artist

[Kirves]

I think a person should study as many arts as he wants to. Simple as that.

[bigfight]

well some arts are complete and require no further study sometimes, but in the case of BJJ (which a lot of people take) the stand up is not very complete at all, so to compliment the ground tactics that BJJ uses many people take muay thai, etc. But I do understand where you are coming from but when you are studying an art that focuses on one aspect mostly i.e BJJ another stand up art like muay thai can compliment it very well.

[robertlee]

I can not really say that any art is complete. Over the years of learning in one art . You are learning the use of the tools to that art. And yes after many years you have learned more of how to apply those tools. Many arts are very simular to each other. Then the few that have different tools of use become the needed set to learn. tkd is not known for its ground fighting. So the addition of an art that brings the tools for the ground work to light. becomes its need. After all it is the person doing the art that makes the art work. And some just can not do one art as good as the other may be able to do. I have trained in several arts over the years. The training of just one. While in relation to the others i can not say would have gave me a better understanding. But the exposer of the other arts sure helped to open a door to doing. There are just so many ways to train the human body to react. And I would have to say a small set of useable tools that is to include striking. kicking and grappling to the ground also. Would be of the more complete aspect of doing. The problem with the traditional aprouch is that many times. After you have spent the years towards the blackbelt level . you are then showed some key tools that can work well in the fight game. Take this and the key tools of use to a compacted state. And the core of the art is all you need. In most all fights and the different situations of a fight. The amount of useable tools is minimal. So by the reduction of the uneeded you now have a set of tools that can be kept within a training base of effecent methods. 4to6 hands 3to5 kicks and up to six good grappling manouvers makes for a good m/a fighter. Testing and training this small set. Is the improved method. Not much different then staying in the confines of the single art. But have been stripped to the core of use. Then as the time goes by its not about learn the new but improveing on the method of doing. So by exposer to the other arts you find that core that works best for you and then throw the rest away. But i can not see that in the just one art the complete set for you can be found. Exposer doesa sometimes let us see just a little better of the needs. Each will see there truth time makes all better in our understanding.

[Kingston]

i think one is enough....that is, if the art is good enough to meet all your needs....

[aseepish]

Originally posted by Great Sage
You may also entirely miss the true essence of each art you learn.

My first Aikido instructor used to say that there was only one art. True, there are countless styles and variations, but due to the limitations of human anatomy and the laws of physics, there are only so many ways of moving the body.

The whole point of cross-training (JKD style, anyways) is to absorb the essence of each style you research. If you are merely collecting techniques from various styles, you are wasting your time. It's not a matter of spending a few years here and there.

After a certain amount of time and dedicated training, you will discover what works for you. You train and refine as you would in a "dedicated" style, eventually gaining mastery.

But one reason to dedicate yourself to a single style would be if it is in your cultural/personal interest to do so. If you are learning a family style for example. If you are studying iai-do because you love iai-do or if it is an expression of your interest in Japanese culture, then dedicating yourself to tradition is fine.

[Scott Kano]

I reckon it depends on what the individual wants. Obviously if he wants to be able to defend himself on the street then mixed is the way to go, if he just wants one for competition then he should stick to one. It depends once again, circumstances.

[Bcampbell13]

By reading everyones replies im enlightened by you all.
in my personal experience with martial arts, i believe adaptation and responsiveness are the most important factors in any fighting style. I look at it this way. if i want inquire all the knowledge about lets say WWII, i want to read all the books and pull all the information that i think that is most important. and then i put it all together so im ready to write my own book about the subject.
To truely understand the very basic rule of physics that for every action there is a reaction and if you teach yourself to adapt to your environment to be the Chameleon you can effectively apply techniques and defeat your opponent. Just because your Sensai instructs you to apply a certain technique doesnt mean that it can effectively used in a certain situation. Learn to use that technique many different ways and become 150% comfortable with it so it comes out instinctively or else i believe that only luck will be able to help you use it effectively to bring down or evade your opponent.
Also every form of martial arts has its strong points and its weak points. Concentrate on what you think is important because no one is going to fight for you.

[Typhoon]

I think cross training in martial arts is important. Yes I agree that spendign only a year in one martial art and saying you can use it successfully is ridicules. But it also depends on the martial art and how complete it really is. Take muy thai for example great style for stand up fighting but lacks ground work, combine that with jujitsu and you have a well adapted fighter, but take something liek ninjitsu for example of better yet JKD which are already styles that have pretty much everything in them and you can just spend your whole life spending studying that style. Also in my opinion its easy to recognize what style the person is using when you are fightign him if you know more styles and it will be a lot easier to win if you know more since you know lots of techniqes that work against that style.

[H@pkid0ist]

To quote Bong Sul Han. If you study a system and truly master it then you will never need to study anything else.

As well, the fact is that most people you will get into a fight with will not be a martial artist. If they have studied something it will most likly have been when they were a teen or when they were older and only for a year or so. So in all actuality as far as self defense goes, as long as you are studying seriously, then it doesn't matter what you study. This isn't the old west or ancient Asia where you have to fight trained fighters or even regular people every day in life or death struggles.

[ramus]

as many as it takes to be able to grapple and strike

[Crouchtig]

you shouldn't have to train in more than 1 martial art as each is SUPPOSED to be a complete system. unfortunately this is not the case. i believe that just a few simple moves well trained should be enough and that training in lots of arts will just confuse you, youll know hundreds of moves most of which will either be useles or you wont have spent enough time training them. BJJ and Muay thai is probably a good combo.

great sage : "You may also entirely miss the true essence of each art you learn."

what is that supposed to mean?

also different arts suit different people eg TKD is good for people with long legs, strong people will prefer grappling arts and sumo is useful if your mega fat, use techniques that work for you personaly.

conclusion: keep it simple and adapt your style to yourself.