Should you know ANYTHING about other Martial Arts?

[Tripitaka of AA]

If so, how much?

What is your rule of thumb? How much "background knowledge" do you need to feel comfortable with your art? Perhaps you did all your research before you started your training, in which case you don't have any need to seek anything else, right?

It can be useful when meeting new Kenshi who have experience in another art, or when trying to describe Shorinji Kempo to other groups.

Where do you go for your information? Magazines? Your Sensei? The other Kenshi who came from that art? How would you verify this information?


I'm thinking ... a public online forum with a load of the right members would be good.... like E-Budo.com (or Budoseek!.net)

Ooooh, there's a spot of luck. You found it!

[Ewok]

If im talking to someone and they say they do something I like to quiz them about it and get an idea of what it is, then maybe go and watch or look it up on the net.

[Pippo_Jedi]

Originally posted by Ewok
If im talking to someone and they say they do something I like to quiz them about it and get an idea of what it is, then maybe go and watch or look it up on the net.

If I have the oppurtunity to watch a seriuos thing (we all know that there are many MA dojo wich are not that good) sometimes I go to see it.
I saw a 2hr demo of the Wushu chinese federation team wich was very good but that didn't appealed to me,
I saw a traditional kendo training seminar (a friend of mine is a kendoka) where there was a Japanese Sensei of high grade (he teaches at the Tokyo police department too, maybe some japanese knows him by fame) that was held for all italians here in florence wich was very good and made me think at trying to train in Kendo too (I'd never leave SK), fortunately I recovered my senses and rightly thought it was impossible.
as a branch we partecipated in two events where there were various MA perfoming demostrations. it was very interessant.

That is to say: I prefer to see them by myself because it's difficult to understand a MA without seeing it live. a video may be nice, but a real training or a demostration always shows more about the Art in question than everything else.
For example I found the Wushu pratictioneers formidable, they were superb in their skill. but they always performed alone and not in pairs, giving the importance that sotai practice has in SK I didn't like that aspect. They also seemed to relay a lot on their athleticism to perform their actions, so I didn't like it because I though "where I could fit?" (I am not athletic though Shorinji practice did a lot of good work), if I hadn't seen it with my eyes I wouldn't have guessed it...

enough rants... :-)

bye

kesshu

[sean dixie]

"Should you know ANYTHING about other martial arts?"

I would say yes, how else can you answer questions on the varius differences? It's good to watch and learn. Dave Dunn and I were early once for a Kempo session and so politely started to watch the Aikido in the other dojo, on seeing us Kanetika Sensei(a friend of Mizuno Sensei)gave us an impromptu demo-you should have seen the first Ukes face as he staggered up from a blistering, unexpected throw! :D

I've spent some time training in other martial arts as a Kyu grade- I no longer need to train in them, but it was a useful experience at the time.