Just a few months ago the JKD classes that I previously took were canceled on a permanent basis. Participation had been on the decline for a while so the announcement was not surprising. Most of the former students went to various mma classes. Based on the recommendation of friends I tried and like Krav Maga classes.While taking classes there I have noticed a trend which doesn't make sense. The majority of students there are paying for classes in Krav Maga and some other style. Considering the monthly fee is kind of expensive it would not appear very feasable. If they were cross-training (as some claim to be) it makes sense. Yet many of them are students of art forms like Tae Kwon Do and Shaolin-do. And claim the Krav Maga classes are for "real self-defense training" yet continue in the other styles as well. Have not determined any clear reasons. Any ideas?
All of those reasons seem valid enough yet the price of martial arts classes has been on the rise for years now. Maybe people do enjoy the "fun" aspects of another style? The competition angle makes sense yet most everyone I know that's serious in that respect spends thier efforts in a mma class. What does the "love of forms mean"? It just seems odd to me someone would take Krav Maga for thier perception it's the most realistic (or more realistic) way to learn self-defense yet do something entirely different on the side. If Krav maga seems that much of an improvement why not switch entirely?
Same reason they don't drop football or cooking. They've realised their pastime lacks realistic self defence but continue to enjoy it.
It might just be for a more rounded education. Some people are just really into MA and even though soemthing may not be as applicable today as it once was there still a lot to be learned from it. Just a thought.
Enjoying it is part of it. Taekwondo sparring is very fun (IMO). Fitness is another part. TKD is incredibly physically rigorous, and they may find that they don't get the same fitness training while working on disarming an armed attacker. But there's something else. Not only do they enjoy it, but perhaps they find that the other art helps their total package? As just one example, let's assume that a serious boxer starts Krav Maga. True, KM also teaches punching, but that doesn't mean that the boxing training has no use to someone learning Krav Maga. That boxer has incredible fitness, speed, distancing, reflexes, and powerful striking etc., all honed in the boxing ring. Instead of emptying his cup, he can take all of those positive attributes to his KM training and apply them in a different environment. Now he's learning how to apply all of those positive boxing attributes in situations with multiple attackers, weapons, etc. He's not throwing out the boxing and saying "never mind, this is useless to me," just because he wants to be doing some training involving multiple attackers and weapon disarms.
Because, as important an element of martial arts practice as self-defense skills are, they're not the only element, and not the only reason people train.
TMA is a life journey, and all of the best TMAists I've known have shamelessly stolen anything that looks like it might be useful along the way *shrug*
A student of mine did Krav for a while. The impression I got was that he didn't stick with hit, and didn't limit himself to it, because the syllabus was actually quite small. Which makes sense given its military beginnings, the time spent on unarmed combat should be quite a small part of overall military training. It is after all only one small part of that picture. Indeed the club he trained at also taught a system of ju-jitsu. Maybe its a good way to get into martial training for self-defence. Start with a 'short sharp shock' then deepen and build upon that initial study. Mike
As someone who constantly... ahem... plays street walker in terms of martial arts, I think i have an opinion of "the other style". I have only recently been doing the martial arts (3 years, not counting childhood stuff) but almost immediately i was taught to never "close myself off" to other styles, and that every style has it's value. This is probably because i'm still a college student, where everyone's supposed to be "open-minded" (which i think isn't the case most of the time). So with that mentality, I cross trained martial arts within my first 4 months (hung gar and goju, with some tkd for kicks). I found that a lot of the holes in one style would be covered up by another, and feel like i've become more well rounded than if i just stuck with one pure style. Of course, there IS the whole issue of being a jack of all trades and a master of none, but i'm fine with that (for now at least). I also have the luck (or bad luck) to be going away for school, which means that during my breaks i'll be home without my teachers. Since i don't want to be completely lazy for 4 months without school, I have to find other teachers of other styles to learn from. I find this benefits me a lot. Last summer I dabbled in capoeira and when I returned to school, my goju teacher complimented me on my improved kicking technique. This summer I chose to work on my punching technique as well as my ground fighting. Cross training is more beneficial than detrimental in my opinion. Sure, you'll be taking your focus off of one art and splitting it among many others. You'll also always have a "base style" and most likely won't progress as far in your other styles (generalization). But look at what you gain from it. Increased networking with people you would've never met otherwise. Gaining a new perspective on fighting as well as techniques that are unique to their respective styles. Exposure to different teaching methodologies/training methods. My reason for cross training is simple: I like to learn all I can, and would like to be well rounded. I appreciate forms, drills, and sparring (not so much the conditioning/warm ups >_>). I'm sure many others feel the same way. Your classmates said that Krav was for "real" stuff, and they continued in other styles. Maybe they just like the style they're training. Maybe they like the style-specific competitions they have or drills or forms. All valid choices. Even training just for the sense of carrying on a tradition is fine. Maybe they're just learning all they can and figuring out what is useful (ala jkd/bruce lee philosophy).
