Does adding other styles to a traditional one improve or contaminate ?

[Dick Mineo]

Jay
I see and agree with your explination. Seems to be the way I have gone too.
BUT
I have a bit of a twist I would like to add.
Maybe things have changed since I was taking regular classes but in every style I did participate in.....there were some "basics" that were really not very basic .
That is - in Goju as well as every other style I was in, there was mention of deeper thought processes, which were to be -internalised- while practicing that traditional art. That is - the meditative side of that style, have we lost that angle these days ?

As Jay mentioned - these days it all seems to be the fight aspect, while the deeper mind side is not as much talked about or worked with. I realise you were just sticking to one aspect of the topic with your explination but your note made me think about another angle of looking at this question.

Am I making any sense or should I make the question more detailed ?

[trevorg]

From my perspective I agree that adding bits and pieces from other styles adds to the armoury. A good student never forgets his roots but there is so much to learn out there. As a Wing Chun master once said to me "we've all got two feet, two knees, two fists, two elbows and one head" - we just use them in different ways.

Osu
Trevor

[Henry]

Now maybe I should start a new thread as I'm going slightly off-topic, but this one will already have subscribers

The consensus would seem to be that cross training is a healthy (and depending on your sensei essential) way to advance beyond the basic skillset of a karate style.
The question I would like to pose is, what other arts have given the greatest gains in karate performance, which have most effectively built skills that would not be considered karate at all (rolling around in the dirt etc.), and why.
Dick has detailed the gains of Aikido practice, interesting to me as I'm considering supplementing my Shotokan with Aikido but thought it required too different an attitude to receiving an attck to be compatible.
Might I ask why you find yourself wishing that you took JuJitsu during my younger training days?
What experiences do the rest of us have in cross training?