How is style developed?

[Silver tongue samurai]

Id like to hear your guys thoughts on this.

In your opinions whats some of the biggest factors in defining or finding your own style?

Ill start off by saying that culture itself can have a big impact (black, usually elusive. eastern block, usually very technical. mexican, usually aggressive) and you see these stereotypes a lot in boxing. Temperament i think also has a lot to do with it (are you an aggressive person by nature?) and lastly this one i got from Heavy Hands but what weight class are you competing in?(heavy weight, more shot selective. featherweight, more movement oriented) i think those three are all things people consciously or unconsciously use to determine their style. One more ill add is how your coach wishes you to fight. iv heard a lot of stories of joining a gym and everyone in it is a pressure fighter because thats just the coaches style and students pick it up.

This is also not to say that because A and B are there it equals C. Just curious as to your opinion on the underlying psychology of "style"

 

[thugpoet]

Style is part what you see, part what you were taught part what you add from your own experience.

if you started fresh with a coach chances are you will be a conduit for his style.

The longer you wait the harder it is to change styles. Muscle memory is a real thing.

 

[ironkhan57]

Well back when I was training in new york city, the instructor over at the boxing gym who was also a kickboxer and an mma fighter but never a pro boxer. So basically he helped me develop my own style without knowing it. Basically my style was made to overwhelm and confuse you, I would switch stances and some points when I threw a kick to the body or leg I would just leave it next to their leg and switch stances, and just land combos off of them. It was a combination of muay thai, boxing and a little bit of karate, I also tried to incorporate wing Chun that a friend of mine taught me before he left one of the gyms I was training at. As you guys can tell from my bagwork video and shadowboxing videos I have abandoned that style and have gone back to basics like one member on here advised, it's best that way too especially since I haven't been in a legit gym for a year.

Edit: I should say sanda king fu since my instructor had a sanda background but it basically was karate.

 

[j123]

I find it ends up being how it's more intuitive to you, your personality traits and athleticism

 

[biscuitsbrah]

You find what works best for you. If you don’t adapt your style to your personality and physical traits then you will suck?

 

[ironkhan57]

If i have an example it's this back in July of 2016, the instructor who was hosting a smoker at my gym didn't know I would be participating, so he put me with this Asian guy, who is very calm, very nice, and is not like big on power strikes or throwing big strikes (and he also had 6 years of muay thai at the time while I only had 3 at the time) so when i fought him, what he would do was throw 1-2-3 and kick, he got me with that a few times and when I clinched he would put me on the ground, and he would fight very calmly throwing not power strikes but enough power in them so that I could feel it. So hopefully that explains it a bit here's another example, theirs a guy I use to train with he was a karate kickboxer, and he had like a modest zen attitude, he wouldn't talk shit about anyone or get angry at anyone and he was a pretty strong guy who did calisthenics, how he would spar with me would be he would throw a 1 then go for a stepping side kick, or he would throw a lot of long kicks and keep me out of arms reach because the first few times we sparred he used to beat me then I figured out his weakness and exploited it. So he would always throw kicks at arms reach and would, throw hand strikes whenever you came in right on your chin. Hopefully that example helps those are too examples from my experience.

 

[j123]

You find what works best for you. If you don’t adapt your style to your personality and physical traits then you will suck?

I wouldn't say youll suck, but becsuse its completely unnatural you'll take longer to do it, and you may never adapt to it fully.

To me BJJ and judo has always felt like alien stuff despite having a huge hard on for them for years. For me, wrestling came much more natural and eventually we had me focus much more on over the other stuff.

This isn't with just fighting either, it applies to all skills in life

Diet and nutrition it applies alot to actually; The standard is to go clean and eat 5-6 meals a day. That never worked for me, I eat big meals and need some junk. These days I can eat cleaner for the most part, but when I started, I fucked up trying to get the "perfect" one. Once realized how things clicked, and I do have flaws, I was able to stay consistent and not gorge every 10 days because the plan was too strict . work with what you can do, we're all tailored like an Armani suit, no grabbing cheap jackets off the Walmart rack like poor people, and expecting it to fit perfectly for all.

 

[shincheckin]

i think it just requires fighting "x" amount of fights, until your style kinda shows up or stands out, regarding the way you fight.

 

[dudeguyman]

Id like to hear your guys thoughts on this.

In your opinions whats some of the biggest factors in defining or finding your own style?

Ill start off by saying that culture itself can have a big impact (black, usually elusive. eastern block, usually very technical. mexican, usually aggressive) and you see these stereotypes a lot in boxing. Temperament i think also has a lot to do with it (are you an aggressive person by nature?) and lastly this one i got from Heavy Hands but what weight class are you competing in?(heavy weight, more shot selective. featherweight, more movement oriented) i think those three are all things people consciously or unconsciously use to determine their style. One more ill add is how your coach wishes you to fight. iv heard a lot of stories of joining a gym and everyone in it is a pressure fighter because thats just the coaches style and students pick it up.

This is also not to say that because A and B are there it equals C. Just curious as to your opinion on the underlying psychology of "style"

Physicality and mentality.

 

[Ilk]

I dont really know. I think it comes with experience and being put in different situations.

I often have situations such as ... hmm this stuff that I do is not good enough. I need to try to learn new stuff, experiment, test if I can do it physically and etc. But yeah I am not really a fighter.

As shinchekin said I guess you develop yourself as a fighter after having few fights on the bag.

 

[Sinister]

"Style" is merely how you respond to getting hit. In Boxing there's 3 main archetypes. Aggressive fighters (who come in a couple different forms), boxer/punchers, and counter-punchers. Aggressive fighters respond to being hit by going towards the danger. Some genuinely don't care about being hit, some care so much about being hit they'd rather just get the shit over with. Some go fast, some go slow. But ALL of them absolutely hate moving backwards more than anything else. It discombobulates them, and the ones who can learn that will only do it until they figure out how to move forward again. Boxer/punchers like to just stand still and DARE you to try and hit them. They'll make a defensive move, then try to hit you very hard or perfectly. Nicholas Walters is one of these. So is the American who just knocked out the Cuban World Amateur Champion, Kahlil Coe. The Charlo Brothers fit into this as well. These types do not like to run around, but they will make enough space to hit has hard as they need to. Pure counter-punchers move away from danger and tend to be passive/aggressive, or just plain lazy. Want you to do the work for them.

Those are what we refer to as "styles" anything from there is just what tools you were taught to get each of those done. Or not taught. Regardless of how weird guys look (how weird their tool box is), those are the main 3 things people look to get done.

 

[Silver tongue samurai]

"Style" is merely how you respond to getting hit. In Boxing there's 3 main archetypes. Aggressive fighters (who come in a couple different forms), boxer/punchers, and counter-punchers. Aggressive fighters respond to being hit by going towards the danger. Some genuinely don't care about being hit, some care so much about being hit they'd rather just get the shit over with. Some go fast, some go slow. But ALL of them absolutely hate moving backwards more than anything else. It discombobulates them, and the ones who can learn that will only do it until they figure out how to move forward again. Boxer/punchers like to just stand still and DARE you to try and hit them. They'll make a defensive move, then try to hit you very hard or perfectly. Nicholas Walters is one of these. So is the American who just knocked out the Cuban World Amateur Champion, Kahlil Coe. The Charlo Brothers fit into this as well. These types do not like to run around, but they will make enough space to hit has hard as they need to. Pure counter-punchers move away from danger and tend to be passive/aggressive, or just plain lazy. Want you to do the work for them.

Those are what we refer to as "styles" anything from there is just what tools you were taught to get each of those done. Or not taught. Regardless of how weird guys look (how weird their tool box is), those are the main 3 things people look to get done.

Awesome read. thank you for the knowledge. i love the toolbox metaphor for "weird" fighters you used as well, makes a lot of sense