Cross Training?

[Mr Punch]

So, it seems that a lot of 'crosstraining' happens as a matter of circumstance and opportunity rather than as a planned diversification of skills and experience.

That's how it has been with me as well.

Yep, me too, but only to a degree: I've always looked for sparring partners from different arts. From the year dot in aikido I looked for people to test it on from other arts: boxing, goju-ryu, a shotokan derivative, other fu, tai chi, kendo, jujutsu...

Then I started chun cos it was the best option in a place I moved to where they didn't have my (then) primary art of aikido (or at least any good stuff).

Then I moved to Japan where I also can't find any decent aikido (ironically), but I am surrounded by MA not such a long way away... and ironically I have no time, so it's still a question of what I can get to when! When I had the time tho, I did seek out groundfighting and boxing to sharpen up certain skills. On occasion I also try to learn TKD kicks from my TKD teacher friend... but I suck royal arse at them, never having really practised a kicking style.

[Pipefighter]

If you had a kind friend who was physically fit, but had no formal training, and he said to you, "my job is going to require i move to (fill in whatever horrible place, inner Detroit, Bronx, French quarter, etc...) and i want to be prepared. I have 6 months to prepare. What should i train?"

What would you advise he learn in that period of time to protect himself? Moves? Styles? Weight training? Sports? What would you recommend and why?

[-N-]

If you had a kind friend who was physically fit, but had no formal training, and he said to you, "my job is going to require i move to (fill in whatever horrible place, inner Detroit, Bronx, French quarter, etc...) and i want to be prepared. I have 6 months to prepare. What should i train?"

What would you advise he learn in that period of time to protect himself? Moves? Styles? Weight training? Sports? What would you recommend and why?

Learn to recognize and avoid/defuse hazards. Avoid is the least effort.

Develop a strong spirit that cannot be intimidated. If you can't avoid, dominate instead of giving up and dieing.

Learn how to handle a gun. Fast way to end a bad situation.

For bonus points, wear body armor.

[SPJ]

1 running

2 short staff fighting basics

--

[MightyB]

Western Boxing.

[bawang]

(fill in whatever horrible place, inner Detroit, Bronx, French quarter, etc...

there is no defence possible against the chocolate peoples. embrace the bbc.

[GoldenBrain]

Join IDPA, practice tactical shooting and go to matches weekly. Kali-Arnis would be a good one stop shop for training knives, sticks, striking, locks and ground fighting. If possible I'd suggest also working on some BJJ to enhance the ground game with the focus on getting back up and or ending things on the ground very quickly. Work on multi-man scenarios as much as possible.

Better yet, don't move to a shithole

[Pipefighter]

Better yet, don't move to a shithole

Lol
Some of us dont/didnt have that option

Regarding bjj as a good idea to use for street fighting... Yes i know that would be a hot issue, and i only want to comment on that at the moment by shedding light on the modern army combatives intent (who do use gracie bjj in their program)

Those who have been in the army recently may recall some of the timing they teach, in particular to this point "you are never more than 3 minuts away from support"
The combatives instructors that i know, work with, and have rolled with a bit explain to me that the ultimate goal of modern army combatives is to survive for 3 min. When you think about it from that perspective, gracie bjj makes a lot of sense. Ending up on the ground, locking up one guy and holding him over you as a human shield while a group of stick and rock wielding guys are trying to stomp you to death makes a lot of sense really if you can count on your homies with superior weapons rolling in asap.

But in the streets you really cant expect that anyone is going to help you. Loot your corpse, dress up your corpse, or do strange things... Have all happened in some of my old neighborhoods.

Mighty b, i'm curious on western Bixing? Not arguing, just curious about your specific reasoning?

[GoldenBrain]

Lol
Some of us dont/didnt have that option

I'm sure you realize that I said that with tongue in cheek. When not joking around I would say "if possible."

I agree with what you said about BJJ. I only mention it because it's a good ground grappling system and kind of a fad right now. Studying it gives at the very least a perspective of what is most likely going to be attempted on you while on the ground. Still, I'd go with Kali-Arnis first. It has a good grappling system that deals with using/disarming weapons, especially knives. BJJ just doesn't touch on that stuff. I've never practiced rolling in BJJ with blades, but I have in Kali training.

[MightyB]

Mighty b, i'm curious on western Bixing? Not arguing, just curious about your specific reasoning?

IMO, it's the only MA that you can become reasonably proficient to be able to defend yourself with a 6 month time limit (as long as you have a decent base and can defend against a simple takedown). Boxing gives you good footwork, great hands, and you learn to protect your head. If the idea is to stay on your feet while staying mobile, defending when necessary, and getting the f*** out as soon as you can, then IMO boxing will be the best for you.

[MightyB]

Gino Sifu posted this on facebook, but it goes along with my suggestion of why western boxing would be the best thing you could learn to defend yourself in that six-month window. Listen to the whole thing but especially to what he says starting at the 4:50 mark of the video.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I agree, if you want to be able to defend yourself in the quickest time possible, western boxing is the way to go.
You learn to move, to defend to hit and you experience being hit, all sooner rather than later.
The edge it has over something like kickboxing or muay Thai is the because it focuses only on the hands, the issue of coordination is less than with kickboxing.

Years ago I did the experiment of putting 2 people with NO MA experience doing two different MA.
1 went into boxing and the other into TKD, 3 days a week.
After 3 months the boxer could actually fight and he punched well and moved well enough and defend well.
The TKD guy was still working on his kicks and couldn't really punch very good ( But still better then before of course).

The point being that for quick development of fighting skills boxing is far better suited than most MA because:
It is hands on right away.
You are hitting and sparring right away.
You actually hit something every training session.
You are focusing only on a few techniques and using gross motor skills.
You are not wasting time on indirect training drills.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Gino Sifu posted this on facebook, but it goes along with my suggestion of why western boxing would be the best thing you could learn to defend yourself in that six-month window. Listen to the whole thing but especially to what he says starting at the 4:50 mark of the video.

Geoff is one of the good ones in the RBSD world.

[MightyB]

I agree, if you want to be able to defend yourself in the quickest time possible, western boxing is the way to go.
You learn to move, to defend to hit and you experience being hit, all sooner rather than later.
The edge it has over something like kickboxing or muay Thai is the because it focuses only on the hands, the issue of coordination is less than with kickboxing.

Years ago I did the experiment of putting 2 people with NO MA experience doing two different MA.
1 went into boxing and the other into TKD, 3 days a week.
After 3 months the boxer could actually fight and he punched well and moved well enough and defend well.
The TKD guy was still working on his kicks and couldn't really punch very good ( But still better then before of course).

The point being that for quick development of fighting skills boxing is far better suited than most MA because:
It is hands on right away.
You are hitting and sparring right away.
You actually hit something every training session.
You are focusing only on a few techniques and using gross motor skills.
You are not wasting time on indirect training drills.

Well said - this is a great explanation and it's exactly what I was thinking when I suggested western boxing.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Well said - this is a great explanation and it's exactly what I was thinking when I suggested western boxing.

Thanks.
See, boxing is a prime example ( and MT too of course) of how that old view in TMA, of not putting students sparring and hitting right away because it may "compromise their skill" is BS.
You learn by DOING and the close what you do is to what you MUST do, the better.
In short, you learn to fight well by fighting as soon and as often as you can because you develop the skills in the right way under the right circumstances.