how has your base style impacted how you master other arts/progress

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devante

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question all of us have a base style or a style we spent a large degree of time in; my question is how has that art impacted your ability to absorb other styles and/or how has it affected you. how you execute the techniques you use in diff arts, i.e. stance, application of def, off and counters or even what you see in sparring/fight.

so how has your base/fundamental art impacted how and what you do in other arts you have trained in or your grappling overall

thoughts/opinions
 
I'm pissed spending the first year+ of training holding onto my "bad-ass" wrestling and winnign tourneys with matches, all 5-0, 3-0, etc.
If I knew what I knew now, I would've focused on technique and my weak spots more and learned BJJ instead of trying so hard to be that dominant wrestler guy. I'm getting older (36), my wrestling is not quite what it used to be. Believe it - Matt Hughes, Randy C, Randleman - past 35 you lose at least a litle bit in the wrestling explosiveness dept. Your counters are a little bit slower as well. Technique is the equalizer. And even mark Kerr in his prime (who would beat BJJ blacks), was not pretty to watch. And we're all not Mark Kerr either.
I know I am a tough guy who has hundreds of wrestlign matches behind him - and that coutns for a lot when your out there competing in grappling. BUT it no longer defines me as a BJJ practioner. I get upset now when people find out I am a great wrestler and I get sterotyped. I want to be known as a great grappler.
So, my base style, it's hurt me, now it helps me - but not as much as my present ability to stay open minded and learn knew things.
Good example - I love leg attacks and I can hit a couple of slick crushes when I am coming out or standign over someones open guard. well, crushes are new, but, to be in that p[osition, I need to GET A CLASSIC TAKEDOWN unless someone pulls guard on me. However, a real breakthrough move for me was when I underhooked from my feet, the guy was worried becuase I have a strogn underhook, and then I faked a hip/toss/anklepick and instead dove underneath him exposing my entire back - to finish a standing kneebar. It is rare that i can combine my wrestling literally with my BJJ - but - when it happens, that's what it's all abotu. at least for me.

devante said:
question all of us have a base style or a style we spent a large degree of time in; my question is how has that art impacted your ability to absorb other styles and/or how has it affected you. how you execute the techniques you use in diff arts, i.e. stance, application of def, off and counters or even what you see in sparring/fight.

so how has your base/fundamental art impacted how and what you do in other arts you have trained in or your grappling overall

thoughts/opinions
Click to expand...
 
My Judo has greatly affected the way I wrestle, I do footsweeps and throws a lot (Don't get me wrong, I still do more double and singles than anything, but I get a significant percentage of my takedowns from throws and sweeps). The way I do BJJ though hasn't been influenced terribly, the first couple of weeks I basically only did what I learned in Judo, and always went hard, but I got used to the BJJ way of doing things pretty fast. BJJ has definitely changed the way I do newaza in Judo though.
 
tkd has massively affected my boxing/mt footwork, but I've only been doing that for about 8 moths now compared to five years. But people I have sparred know i can kick well, people doun't work kicks as much as i'd like at my gym. So every now and then people ask me for help on how to kick. I picked up the muy thia very quick. And some time i can get inside leg kicks very well. learning to use my hands is difficult, but i'm making progress.
 
okay, no one laugh...breakdancing helped my bjj with my flexibility, body control, and strength (different kind of strength than lifting weights, more like functional strength). please, no one flame me for saying lifting weights isn't functional, just not as functional i guess.
 
closequarters said:
okay, no one laugh...breakdancing helped my bjj with my flexibility, body control, and strength (different kind of strength than lifting weights, more like functional strength). please, no one flame me for saying lifting weights isn't functional, just not as functional i guess.
Click to expand...

:mad: nah it's cool...i see what you were trying to say...more core strength right?..
 
I'm not really sure. I started training in the garage doing MMA with friends. We had a blue belt showing us how the basics behind grappling.

I didn't really learn too much and it didn't affect my transition to BJJ that much. The only thing that was good was that I was comfortable with the training atmosphere and that I wasn't a complete noob at the time (though I was still pretty green). I would say my movement, standing up, was okay. I didn't cross my feet when I first started. =). Simple, but happens to beginners often.
 
closequarters said:
okay, no one laugh...breakdancing helped my bjj with my flexibility, body control, and strength (different kind of strength than lifting weights, more like functional strength). please, no one flame me for saying lifting weights isn't functional, just not as functional i guess.
Click to expand...

Actually, my brother-in-law and a few of his friends that got into grappling did very well because they used to break. Makes more sense than you'd originally think.
 
I did competitive gymnastics. I started training when I was around 6 years old. When I started training gi Jiu Jitsu, everyone mentions two things: Apparently my base/balance is good so I am hard to sweep and that my flexibility makes it hard for people to control me from the top and makes it easier for me to escape from certain positions.
 
Before starting juju I was VERY awkward with my body. After a couple years of BJJ I noticed I increased my athleticism across the board. Everything I did athletically felt increased and more natural to me. I might have just been a super late bloomer (~23yo when started) but I attribute it to rolling.
 
TKD has helped to excel rapidly in shotokan and muay thai since kicks are basically the same and you use your shins instead of your foot in muay thai..for boxing hand speed and parrying/avoiding punches..for hapkido learning the stances in TKD helped and as for bjj im not sure
 
judo made me a lot stronger physically. My body adjusted to the heavy physical toll of judo and when crosstrained in other grappling arts i notice i carry that strength and pressure from judo. as far as bad habits go judo guys and wrestling guys tend to give their back up at a chance to get on top. I did this when doing bjj and it just takes a little tweaking to get rid of.
 
Judo made my throws for wrestling in HS much better and even my olympian lifts, gutwrenches, gabori's(front headlock rolls) way better even though you don't use them in Judo. I think all the explosive fast movements from practicing regular Judo throws improved those techniques(gabori/gutwrench,olympic lift). I never used them in highschool until my last year, I always used tilts instead. But by my last year in highschool I was the best gutwrencher on my team. my old HS team is much much better now, when I come out to train/help coach there I catch them all in throws....they call me "Mr Judo" lol

I found WTF taekwondo to help my Judo skills tremendously because of all the footwork you get in taekwondo, plus I lost like 25-30 pounds and my cardio is better. Like when I come in for Kata-guruma(firemans') or Ippon Seonage(shoulderthrow) they feel so much smoother and I can come in at different angles. Also my uchi mata(inner thigh throw) is much better because of the flexability I got in my legs. My throws feel much more crisp. Another thing boxing and tkd have taught me is patience/relaxing. Even in ground work I always shoot for the my opponents legs and half the time I get them down and submit/pin them or get a good position, the other half im in a chokehold or a pin. Now I stay more relaxed and pull gaurd and read my opponent better.
 
closequarters said:
okay, no one laugh...breakdancing helped my bjj with my flexibility, body control, and strength (different kind of strength than lifting weights, more like functional strength). please, no one flame me for saying lifting weights isn't functional, just not as functional i guess.
Click to expand...

Aint nothing wrong with that! My one buddy is a breakdancer and he was a good wrestler in HS, had a lot of potenetial but was to much into drugs and shit and quit early every season. His buddy is in the same situation, he quit after grade 10 and was a great taekwondo player too. Him and all the guys he used practice with moved outta town last year which sucks because I really wanna learn now. I wish I started back when he started in elementry school like 10+ years ago. FUCK ME lol!! But there is a workshop starting up in another city at the YMCA close to where I live once a week for like a month and a half and its only like 30 bucks so hopefully I can make it out then I can practice on my own. My favourite Olympic wrestler from the states Stephen Abas does Capoeira(very similar to breakdancing) and he says it helps his wrestling. He's got an Olympic Silver medal(Athens 2004) and is a world Jr champion, so i don't think it hurt him to much.
 
closequarters said:
okay, no one laugh...breakdancing helped my bjj with my flexibility, body control, and strength (different kind of strength than lifting weights, more like functional strength). please, no one flame me for saying lifting weights isn't functional, just not as functional i guess.
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound stupid at all. My friend teaches a break dancing class at the school we work at, I join in sometimes and it has helped my body rotations going from DLR guard to inverted DLR and my spider guard.
 
My ten years of Aikido gave me awesome wristlocks from every position, even bottom mount.
 
I started from bjj (about 1.5 years) and i joined a cacc club. CACC but influenced a lot by Sambo/judo too.

So I'm hybrided a lot. I play less guard than the typical bjj guy, but more than full cacc guy. I use a lot of Kata Guruma for take down, but still love the old explosive double leg take down.

Cross training is good! ;-)
 
Wrestling affected me in innumerable ways that I probably couldn't fully reckon, since its been a part of my life for so long. Happily, it led me to the wonderful pursuit of submission grappling.
 
I have 13 years of Shotokan experience. As a result I was able to tie my BJJ white belt in spectacular fashion on the very first try. This gave me a head start of several minutes that my peers have never been able to make up.
 
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