The benefits of studying one style of martial art

By

Doug Stone

    There are several benefits to be gained by a karate practitioner who studies only one style of martial art. These benefits include allowing the practitioner to develop a solid technical base, gain a higher level of proficiency, and limit the confusion encountered while attempting to learn a martial art.

    One of the major benefits to studying only one style of martial art is that it allows the practitioner to develop and maintain a solid technical skill base. This is especially important in the kyu grades and even in the lower dan grades where the base technical skills are being developed and refined. Practitioners who study more than one style of martial art are forced to divide their time and efforts between the techniques and teachings of multiple style. Thus the practitioner is focused on remembering and differentiating between the techniques of the different styles instead of developing solid technical skills.

    Martial art practitioners who study a single style of martial arts are more proficient at the techniques they learn than practitioner studying multiple styles. A practitioner who studies multiple styles of martial arts must learn several more techniques than the practitioner studying a single style of martial arts. This allows the practitioner studying a single style of martial arts to focus on a smaller set of techniques. It is always better to be proficient at a smaller set of techniques than to be merely adequate at a larger set of techniques.

    Finally, learning multiple styles of martial arts could cause the practitioner to confuse techniques and methods from the different styles. Each martial art style has a base set of techniques and katas that are similar to other styles. In addition each style will have additional techniques and katas that are specific to that style. Even techniques and katas that are similar between styles vary dramatically in the execution of techniques. This could lead to the practitioner executing the incorrect movements or hesitating while trying to determine the proper technique to use. It is hard enough for martial artists to learn and be proficient with all of the techniques and katas from a single style without having to learn the techniques and katas from other styles as well.

    Simply put, training in a single style of martial arts is much better for the practitioner than attempting to learn multiple styles. By learning a single style the practitioner is able to focus his or her attention on the techniques being taught instead of spending their time and energy keeping track of the differences between the styles. Additionally the practitioner is less likely to become confused or hesitate while attempting to execute techniques.

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