For those of us that no longer identify with a single "style" of martial arts...
I've always been intriqued with seeing how people came to be where they are at present. So what was your circumstance for learning varying martial arts? E.G. did you decide learn other arts because you simply had a yearning for new material? Was it due to changing environmental factors (like the resource no longer being available or perhaps due to econonmic circumstances)? Could it have been through your learning processes (such as in learning the style you found that your experiences weren't quite what you wanted, or seeing that others cannot perform what they are say they can, or perhaps through simple reasoning and logic you realized that limitations existed)?
For me personally, the reasons why I've found myself where I am was due to a couple of things. First, I always learned everything I could whenever I could. If someone knew any martial art--I asked to learn of it. It was my belief that the more knowledge I could get, the better I could discern what worked and what didn't--and that the universal truths about combat would be revealed to me. The second reason--and this is probably the more common one--was that my instruction with the teacher would be hindered or blocked. Either the teacher moved away, or I moved away, or life would get in the way (like working and going to school simultaneously). On a couple of rare occasions, I decided that it was time for me to move on when I found that my skill level met or exceeded the teachers in that respective style. That happened only twice in my martial arts "career" however. Of course, there were indirect reasons to be sure...observations and conclusions made about every experience...but those are for another topic I suppose.
For now, how did you end up where you're at today from a martial arts perspective?
Last edited by SAAMAG; 02-16-2010 at 12:15 AM.
"I don't know if anyone is known with the art of "sitting on your couch" here, but in my eyes it is also to be a martial art.
It is the art of avoiding dangerous situations. It helps you to avoid a dangerous situation by not actually being there. So lets say there is a dangerous situation going on somewhere other than your couch. You are safely seated on your couch so you have in a nutshell "difused" the situation."