Why are people uninterested of fighting other styles?

[Replay19]

I don't know why but many martial artists and fighters I meet are usually very confident within their own gym/dojo/style but when it comes to finding different fighters, they aren't interested. Some thai guys are interested in sparring anyone else besides other thai fighters, and some MMA guys won't train or spar with anybody that isn't MMA. This is a common issue in traditional styles like Wing Chun especially they don't like to mess with boxers and muay thai guys much.

Is it as simple as fear of the unknown?

 

[FightGuyOpenMind]

I don't know why but many martial artists and fighters I meet are usually very confident within their own gym/dojo/style but when it comes to finding different fighters, they aren't interested. Some thai guys are interested in sparring anyone else besides other thai fighters, and some MMA guys won't train or spar with anybody that isn't MMA. This is a common issue in traditional styles like Wing Chun especially they don't like to mess with boxers and muay thai guys much.

Is it as simple as fear of the unknown?

It could be a fear of the unknown.

It could also be they're prioritizing. If you're heavy in "competition season" then you would be best advised putting in time at your own gym. There are only so many hours in the day.

Also, risk of injury sparring another style, if you're competitive in your sport.

Some guys just may genuinely not be interested. I know boxers who will fight any way any how, they are fighters at heart and they just chose boxing. I know very good boxers who don't give a second look at anything other than boxing.

I think it depends on the individual.

 

[thugpoet]

People like being the king of a small pond.

It's very hard to be the best at anything. When you reach that level even if it's group of 4 - 6 people it's a high that feels good. Venturing out to try to prove you are more than just a gym boss takes balls most don't have.

 

[shincheckin]

This is a common issue in traditional styles

because they dont want their traditional style to be "exposed" for not working or what not

not to bash TMA's, and not that there arent good things to take from them, or that a TKD guy cant beat a MT guy, so on and so forth, blah blah blah.

Generally speaking, the more "effective" martial arts are what is predominantly used in MMA, due to their effectiveness. We all know what those martial arts are.

Hopefully we dont have to hear someone come along and say "not true because this one time this one guy did this one thing" as like I said generally speaking, and not that there arent beneficial things in TMAs or that a TMA style cannot beat another style.

 

[Robocok]

because they dont want their traditional style to be "exposed" for not working or what not

not to bash TMA's, and not that there arent good things to take from them, or that a TKD guy cant beat a MT guy, so on and so forth, blah blah blah.

Generally speaking, the more "effective" martial arts are what is predominantly used in MMA, due to their effectiveness. We all know what those martial arts are.

Hopefully we dont have to hear someone come along and say "not true because this one time this one guy did this one thing" as like I said generally speaking, and not that there arent beneficial things in TMAs or that a TMA style cannot beat another style.

These arts are too deadly. If a master showed you his secrets you would not live to tell the tale.

 

[shincheckin]

These arts are too deadly. If a master showed you his secrets you would not live to tell the tale.View attachment 454071

 

[Blue_Lou]

Partially because they’ve invested a lot of time and energy in their discipline and if they get beat by someone from another style they don’t want to question if it was all a waste

 

[Replay19]

Speaking aside from traditional martial artists though, this is within MMA and thaiboxing as well. It's in every art actually, but yes TMA has the biggest "inner circle" thing going on. But boxers, thai boxers, and MMA fighters are some of the toughest and most competent out there, so, why would they also be only interested in their own people and their own styles when it comes to sparring or exploring? Is it because anything that isn't boxing/muay thai/MMA is seen as a waste of time?

 

[noc]

They are not real fighters, they just like their sport

 

[shincheckin]

Speaking aside from traditional martial artists though, this is within MMA and thaiboxing as well. It's in every art actually, but yes TMA has the biggest "inner circle" thing going on. But boxers, thai boxers, and MMA fighters are some of the toughest and most competent out there, so, why would they also be only interested in their own people and their own styles when it comes to sparring or exploring? Is it because anything that isn't boxing/muay thai/MMA is seen as a waste of time?

because if you fight MT, it makes more sense to train and spar MT fighters rather than MMA guys becuase they move differently etc. MT for MMA is not MT. Boxing for MMA is not boxing. So it makes the most sense to work with guys in your same sport. a MT or a boxer arent going to move like a MMA guy. so if your fighting MMA, it makes more sense to train with MMA guys. this is my take on it anyways.

 

[spacetime]

Because it's meaningless

 

[MaxMMA]

Speaking aside from traditional martial artists though, this is within MMA and thaiboxing as well. It's in every art actually, but yes TMA has the biggest "inner circle" thing going on. But boxers, thai boxers, and MMA fighters are some of the toughest and most competent out there, so, why would they also be only interested in their own people and their own styles when it comes to sparring or exploring? Is it because anything that isn't boxing/muay thai/MMA is seen as a waste of time?

A lot of it comes down to what a previous poster said. Time management/constraints.

I'm always down to do some boxing or KB specific sparring and skill work (which both are implemented into my overall MMA training routine) but at the end of the day I compete in MMA and I put a priority on sparring MMA rounds or Kickboxing with takedowns.

 

[ARIZE]

They are not real fighters, they just like their sport

I'm gonna go with this one too as a main reason. Lots of them don't really care about been the baddest man on the planet. They do a sport, and just want to have fun and be kinda good at it.

And the top ones are too busy been the top ones in their art... If they don't see a benefit in cross training, why spend time instead of doing curls? I think for MMA, there are lots of benefits to train with pure grapplers/boxers/etc, but why would Tyson need to train sprawling, or check leg kicks?

 

[TheMaster]

because they dont want their traditional style to be "exposed" for not working or what not

not to bash TMA's, and not that there arent good things to take from them, or that a TKD guy cant beat a MT guy, so on and so forth, blah blah blah.

Generally speaking, the more "effective" martial arts are what is predominantly used in MMA, due to their effectiveness. We all know what those are.

This answer is actually way off based on my experience but is a popular misconception.

As some have already mentioned most people who train have limited time and committment. They scarcely put in enough training to get very good at their own system let alone mixing it up with others. If they do get good, many get addicted to perfecting their art and competing against others of the same style at the highest level, where the depths and subtleties of the art come.

More commonly they may then want to be able to use the art for self defence application which is quite different. This may sometimes include a bit of training style vs style, but will more often include training to beat an untrained larger attacker, how to fight vs multiple opponents or against weapons which again is a commitment of time. Martial arts is a big world, and MMA is only one part of it.

From my experience only a few want to specifically train style vs style. If they want to do that they might try their hand at mma, but then they have to do again a larger time investment in training different skill sets, as well as having a deterioration in their primary style to adapt it to mma.
Then there is the issue of different rule sets and agreeing what to use. If you train style vs style it can very easily deteriorate into some form of mma anyway.

More style vs style cross sparring and training can be a good thing and force the individual to adapt his techniques to work and find out their limitations. But there will always be those who find fault with it or find the particular way you train or spar limits their skill set so it is not always so easy to make it work.

As to the point about "we all know what styles work", again this attitude is what stifles mma evolution. Dont forget in the early days of the UFC 'everyone knew' that boxing and striking basically 'didnt work' because you just had to clinch them and take it to the ground, and they were done. Then strikers evolved.
We 'know' currently what is most commonly trained in US mma and works most often. In Russia it is different with Sambo and Judo being much more prominant than in the US and muay thai less, and before Machida 'everyone knew' that a TMA like Karate 'doesnt work' as well so it is still being seen but obviously the styles that spar the most and train realistically will produce the most fighters capeable of transitioning to mma.

 

[j123]

Depends

As most have said, if you're an active competitor, and are in the camp there's no point to sparring with someone who isn't remotely related (style, build, etc) to the opponent you'll be facing. Also, if you're a big named pro, EVERYONE drops in trying to make a name for themself as the guy who "knocked down" or "injured" him or her in sparring. Last thing you need is that crap at your door.

And there's people for the most part don't like getting outside their comfort zone, which is alot of people actually.

Personally I don't mind sparring people from other styles that come by and we're in MMA, MT, or grappling rules because that's what I'm doing at the gym. But if someone comes in trying to nut shot me or scratch my eyes every minute, I'm going to be pissed and its going to ruin the entire cross-training experience

 

[shincheckin]

This answer is actually way off based on my experience but is a popular misconception.

As some have already mentioned most people who train have limited time and committment. They scarcely put in enough training to get very good at their own system let alone mixing it up with others. If they do get good, many get addicted to perfecting their art and competing against others of the same style at the highest level, where the depths and subtleties of the art come.

More commonly they may then want to be able to use the art for self defence application which is quite different. This may sometimes include a bit of training style vs style, but will more often include training to beat an untrained larger attacker, how to fight vs multiple opponents or against weapons which again is a commitment of time. Martial arts is a big world, and MMA is only one part of it.

From my experience only a few want to specifically train style vs style. If they want to do that they might try their hand at mma, but then they have to do again a larger time investment in training different skill sets, as well as having a deterioration in their primary style to adapt it to mma.
Then there is the issue of different rule sets and agreeing what to use. If you train style vs style it can very easily deteriorate into some form of mma anyway.

More style vs style cross sparring and training can be a good thing and force the individual to adapt his techniques to work and find out their limitations. But there will always be those who find fault with it or find the particular way you train or spar limits their skill set so it is not always so easy to make it work.

As to the point about "we all know what styles work", again this attitude is what stifles mma evolution. Dont forget in the early days of the UFC 'everyone knew' that boxing and striking basically 'didnt work' because you just had to clinch them and take it to the ground, and they were done. Then strikers evolved.
We 'know' currently what is most commonly trained in US mma and works most often. In Russia it is different with Sambo and Judo being much more prominant than in the US and muay thai less, and before Machida 'everyone knew' that a TMA like Karate 'doesnt work' as well so it is still being seen but obviously the styles that spar the most and train realistically will produce the most fighters capeable of transitioning to mma.

my answer was in regards to why you see it in TMAs the most.

also

Hopefully we dont have to hear someone come along and say "not true because this one time this one guy did this one thing" as like I said generally speaking, and not that there arent beneficial things in TMAs or that a TMA style cannot beat another style.

also

not to bash TMA's, and not that there arent good things to take from them, or that a TKD guy cant beat a MT guy, so on and so forth, blah blah blah.

your machida example is pretty much saying thins one time this one guy did this one thing.

Generally speaking, the more "effective" martial arts are what is predominantly used in MMA, due to their effectiveness. We all know what those martial arts are.

yes we all know what they are, and they are seen across the world in MMA. Wether its UFC, EFC, or ONEFC.

your reference into the early days of people thinking striking sucks or whatever because all you have to do is grapple. Well MMA is still strongly grapple based, and generally speaking, grappling beats striking.


as I mentioned before the more effective martial arts are generally what are used in MMA. Its not to say a karate guy cant come in and do good in MMA, just that generally speaking thats not the case. As most guys train MT rather than karate, as MT tends to be more effective. Most guys train BJJ rather than Judo as it tends to be more effective. Thats not saying that judo sucks, or that a judo guy couldnt do good, or dont cross train judo, or what not. Just that generally speaking the main martial arts used in MMA are going to be the effective ones which are boxing, MT, BJJ, wrestling, you can supplement other things in such as judo or TKD or whatever you want but the reason those are the dominant ones used, is because those are the ones that have been proven effective. Theres no denying it. they have proven themselves where many other martial arts failed.

 

[kenpeters8]

Back in the mid 90's, I used to fight other traditional martial stylist for money at their mcdojo. It's fun taking their money from them after beating their asses. All I did back then was collegiate wrestling, muay thai, and I was a white belt in BJJ at that time.

 

[panamaican]

I think it's fairly complicated.

First, if you're training in a style then you're focused on getting better in that style. So, your sparring is should be about improvement within that style. And that sparring happens where your coaches are and where your training partners. Sparring within the ruleset that you expect to actually compete in. There just isn't the pressure to do so.

Second, assuming you're okay with sparring other styles, it's not super easy to find schools of other styles that also allow free sparring with non-students. It's easier to be allowed to spar in places that already are comfortable with what you do. And that tends to be places who already share your style.

Then, of course, you have the people who believe in the my style is to awesome to be tested against anything else.

But I agree that it is something worth doing if it's not too much of a travel problem.

 

[LEGS MAHONEY]

Theres certainly a fear in some styles particularly the TMA that aren't known to compete.

but also its like asking why basketball players dont try out football or vice versa

Practitioners often have a vested interest in a style and simply prefer that over others. Nothing wrong with it.

 

[TheMaster]

my answer was in regards to why you see it in TMAs the most.

your machida example is pretty much saying this one time this one guy did this one thing.



yes we all know what they are, and they are seen across the world in MMA. Wether its UFC, EFC, or ONEFC.

your reference into the early days of people thinking striking sucks or whatever because all you have to do is grapple. Well MMA is still strongly grapple based, and generally speaking, grappling beats striking.


as I mentioned before the more effective martial arts are generally what are used in MMA. Its not to say a karate guy cant come in and do good in MMA, just that generally speaking thats not the case. As most guys train MT rather than karate, as MT tends to be more effective. Most guys train BJJ rather than Judo as it tends to be more effective. Thats not saying that judo sucks, or that a judo guy couldnt do good, or dont cross train judo, or what not. Just that generally speaking the main martial arts used in MMA are going to be the effective ones which are boxing, MT, BJJ, wrestling, you can supplement other things in such as judo or TKD or whatever you want but the reason those are the dominant ones used, is because those are the ones that have been proven effective. Theres no denying it. they have proven themselves where many other martial arts failed.

Machida beating many opponents of different training backgrounds and winning the ufc lhw title is significant. It would be more accurate to say 'one guy many times doing many different things from his style to beat many different oponents'.
Also american and european kickboxing is largely karate based, so in that sense tons of mma fightere are actually using karate to an extent.

Again, if more traditional styles realistically trained and sparred as much as muay thai you would see much more of it in mma, so how you train is key to making it work.

Muay thai in any case is actually a TMA also, but one that has a ring sport part which makes the training more realistic than most other TMA's.

As I mentioned wrestling/bjj/muay thai/boxing is most common for US mma.

For Russian mma it is wrestling/sambo/judo/kickboxing/boxing

Again, all arts that are also sports and have a competition and sparring focus which is why they more often produce fighters that can use the techniques live and make them work.