single va multiple styles

[SPJ]

is it possible to learn several styles at the same time?

or just one style at a time?

is it necessary to learn several styles?

or if you are good at one style and that is all you need?

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there are very good discussions in another forum.

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what do you think?

[SPJ]

there are 3 premises

1. a style, usually, it may start with a short set of a few moves, over time, people may add more stuff to the core stuff, including weapons.

so a style may evolve or expand.

a. add new concepts, new moves

b, derivation of "new" moves/techniques based on the old/core concepts/moves.


2. people/practitioner factors,

we may like certain moves/concepts than others, b/c it is more natural to us, or we are more confident in them , then we would focus on these and expand on these.

3. there are similiarities and differences among different styles.

again, the people factor/practitioner may take whatever make more senses to them from several styles and make a common theme for themself.

it is a synergy or pick and choose whatever from several sources/styles and make them your own.

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[SevenStar]

Why do I sense a big can of worms about to be opened?

[SPJ]

let me narrow the discussion.

1. style evolution.

the biggest styles with more diverse contents would be northern mantis and CLF in the south.

we drop this discussion.

2. people/you or us,

personally, I think we all start with one style and try to be good at one style.

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[Ben Gash]

Is it possible

to write a post

that is not

in stanzas?

-----------------

After a while

it becomes

really quite

grating.

[SPJ]

http://www.emptyflower.net/forums/in...showtopic=3275

here is the link.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Can one learn multiple styles at the same time?
Yes.
Can they learn them well?
With varying degrees and if they "match up", yes.
Should they learn multiple styles at the same time?
Depends.
For most I would say no, not until you have a solid core in one system.

[B-Rad]

You could make progress learning something similar: you see a guy who does a related style, but his system has a way of doing something that you feel is better for you than what you learned before.

Or learning something completely different: To add a skill set you might not have, like training BJJ if your ground fighting range has been completely ignored.

Of course this SHOULD be common sense I think.

Also, though it's a popular saying it ISN'T all about the individual. I'd say it's about half and half. By saying yes you can train multiple styles there's a lot of assumptions being made about the situation. First you need the individual ability, both mentally and physically, and then you need quality instruction in a quality system. Reminds me of a basic rule from my systems design and analysis class: "Garbage in, garbage out" ;-)

[B-Rad]

Also, this assumes someone is learning this stuff for traditional reasons. Some people cross train in multiple styles for performance purposes (particularly smart if you're getting into film work).

[B-Rad]

One more thing... it also depends on if you're trying to teach all this stuff, just trying to improve your individual ability, and so on...

[shaolin_allan]

I agree with alot others have said on here. Typically like in northern shaolin, multiple styles are taught after core basics are learned. It all depends more on what is it you wish to acoomplish in your training. If you want to become well rounded there are only a handful of single systems in kung-fu which cover different ranges such as mentioned earlier, CLF, and Praying Mantis. A core should be learned at any time before moving on to other systems. Also you can always adapt your system to different scenarios which can require a lot of experimentation and effort to do so.