Cross Training: Good or Bad?
I've read a lot of posts were someone will say "I've studied Wing Chung for 2 years and Wushu for 3 etc..." I was wondering how the Martial Arts community feels about this. Personally I don't believe in it. Many martial arts have quite different fundementals ie. Hard Style Karate and Kung Fu. In my eyes crosstraining seems like it would make you a jack of all trades and master of none. I believe that if you can't find everything you need from the art that your in than it isn't the right art for you. Let me know your opinions.
PJO
Crosstraining = good ...... Style Hopping = Bad
If you're just taking a year or two of one style, then moving on, and not even incorporating the previous style in anything else you do, then you're style hopping. You're basically adding stuff to your resume', not your arsenal.
A lot of times you will see someone list their styles as XX years in Wing Chun, XX years in Eagle Claw, XX years in Shuai Chiao, and to some it appears that they may be just sampling from the pot, but if you look deeper, you will find that they are still practicing at least one of the styles they list. Chances are that is their base, or core style. The other arts, even if they're no longer practicing them, are/were used to suppliment their base.
If you have a good solid base, then crosstraining will only help you become more comfortable against a wider variety of opponents/situations.
Jaguar Wong
"If you learn to balance a tack hammer on your head
then you learn to head up a balanced attack!"
- The Sphinx