Reconciling more than1 style

[Harvey]

After reading the whole James McNeill thread and the questions about more than one style in your repetiore how do you guys reconcile this yourselves.
I always have real problems switching between the different styles I train, switching between shen fa, bow use, strategy, the whole caboodle. I see some of you guys who train different stuff in the same session, HOW? really if you start with one why doesn't your body start conforming to that particular styles set of rules then suddenle switch to something else. Ok I can deal with one thing in the morning and something different in the afternoon but straight afterwards, that's just too hard.
So for you guys who do it, what are your tricks or is it you just don't bother?

[Toby]

I study two styles that are fairly similar. And infuse one with the mechanics and structure of the other, so really it's like I'm studying one style.

[Harvey]

Ok but how then can you go on a teach either if yours is a bastard mix of both?

[Toby]

I know both of them as they were taught to me. There aren't really any conflicts, but one enhances the other. One (as it's usually taught) is "empty", so it's been made "full". Having said that, even the one I regard as the primary one uses the mechanics of another style so I've been told .

[Harvey]

interesting which two?

[Toby]

WC and XY. So further to my last comment, in normal WC it's just taught, you know, e.g. step/punch, focusing on the technique. We bring the XY mechanics on board to make it more of a centre-driven style. The e.g. punch is irrelevant, it's the body that's important (could be anything striking - fist, palm, fingers, elbow). Mechanics driving the strike are what counts. Still practise all the WC techs though.

[TaoBoxer]

Luo De Xiu says 80% of TJ/XY/BG is the same, and the other 20% is Tactics. I don't think training multiple styles is that big a deal (except that I barely find enough time to do my Standing and my Circling). I think this is a BTDT argument just like Is Weight Lifting Ruining Your Taiji, Are you Really Internal, and Just How Crazy Is James Mcneil Anyway??

Lewitt

[Bajitanglang]

I train my bodys expression of martial arts regardless of the origins

If you know the the fundamental origins and reasons for those origins as well as the applications and the pros and cons of those applications coupled with the body mechanics of the styles you are training you could never bastardize any Martial Art. if you truly know the arts than when someone says that they only want one style you just teach them one. However if you train any art it instantly changes to conform to your body and it will to your student.
So to assume that you are changing the art when you train (even in one style) is correct. No one on this planet can play the original bagua exactly expressed the way the inventor expressed it. This goes for all styles.

I look for holes in the tactics/ power/ strength training/ fajing issuance etc. in every style and if i see the plug for that hole in another i pick it up and train it to get the understanding of the fundamentals in order to round out my ability. good things come from personal exploration or expression and yes creativity Thus the term, martial "artist" bad things such as envy, frustration, incompleteness and above all weak martial ability stem from single-minded anti artistic training.

[Harvey]

Ok I'll make a pont about what I think is an issue, Spiral in the three main styles. Each has a default setting and I'll only use the right leg as the example. In TJ the spiral goes anti clockwise in the right leg in ZZ, in XY santi it's clockwise and BG circle walking the spiral is in the same direction as that of the circle you are walking. The opposite leg mirrors in TJ and XY but is the same in BG, thats why TJ and XY stands and BG walks or else it would fall over LOL. These are major things that define the differences between each style, yes they are the same expression of the concept of leg spiral but done differently within each style.

[Frank Bellemare]

Some shenfa and strategies may not be compatible. I know for one that after training exclusively in taijiquan for a while I couldn't use efficiently my old wing chun centerline strategy and agressive chain striking anymore. I kept some techniques I liked and adapted them to the way I now move. I haven't trained bagua and I only dabble in xingyi, but AFAIK the basic principles for body alignment are mostly the same in all IMAs, so it should't be too hard to switch from one to the other, as long as your posture allows you to use the various techniques you like to use.

I don't use certain WC techniques that are too "elbow driven" (like centerline chain punches) because they don't fit with the way I use my body in a sparring/fighting context. Whereas most of the Yang TJQ and XYQ repertoire feels natural.

In the end it's a matter of figuring out your prefered way of moving, strategy and set of techniques.

And i'm not sure what you mean by leg spirals.

[C.J.Wang]

From my experience, I'd say the most important thing is to become proficient in one style, let it become your "core" system, and branch out from there. Invest at least 3-5 years in the system first, and focus all the time and energy on it until you have acquired a solid foundation in terms of its essence. From that point on, when learning other systems, you'd be able to judge and analyze them from the perspective of that core system you know well, and most likely be able to discover similarities while sorting out the differences quite quickly.

With that said, I still believe that learning too many systems and trying to keep them all seperate within you phsycailly can be diasterous. I prefer to keep the core and consider elements I've picked up from other systems as "add-ons." It probably also has to do with the fact that I study Bagua, which in my opinion has a higher degree of compatibility since it's more "principle/energy based" rather than "technique based."

[Interloper]

I am observing more and more that training in the internal body skills -first- and making them second nature, makes a person more adaptible and able to flow between external expressions (styles). Then it becomes a matter of picking and choosing what one would ilke to do with one's body: kick, strike and punch? Lock, throw and choke-out? Grappling on the ground? Take the MMA approach and select the combinations of combat one deems most useful, and infuse them with internal power. Then you can play with any style if you want; more likely, though, that you will find your body taking on a style of its own, according to its physical abilities, size and shape coupled with internal skills.

[Jeice]

My theory is just to do styles that have radically different approaches to fighting method. Naha-te and Suri-te, Boxing and MT, Judo and BJJ, Aikijutsu and TJQ. Its like flipping a switch when you do something different, since there aren't any real crossovers IMO. Whats cool is when you start flipping the switches on and off mid-spar, using the different strengths together, kinda like Voltron.
Doesn't mean I'm particularly good at any, just means I have a lot of free time to try and justify why its a good idea.

[SPJ]

in the beginning, it is better to focus your practice or training on one thing at a time.

after a while, we may practice some more but still sequentially or in turns.

for example,

I would practice some relaxation exercise from tong bei for 25 min,

tai chi silk reeling for 25 min.

walking one palm posture for 25 or more min.

--

really depending on the time available.

I would just pick a few moves/postures and practice them over and over.

--

[Dmitri]

I am observing more and more that training in the internal body skills -first- and making them second nature, makes a person more adaptible and able to flow between external expressions (styles). Then it becomes a matter of picking and choosing what one would ilke to do with one's body: kick, strike and punch? Lock, throw and choke-out? Grappling on the ground? Take the MMA approach and select the combinations of combat one deems most useful, and infuse them with internal power. Then you can play with any style if you want; more likely, though, that you will find your body taking on a style of its own, according to its physical abilities, size and shape coupled with internal skills.

QFT

Along the same lines, IMHO and in my limited experience, one should pick one style and stick with it until the stage described above has been reached. Only THEN one can do other styles.

I believe that this:

Luo De Xiu says 80% of TJ/XY/BG is the same, and the other 20% is Tactics.

applies only to the "end result", as the training progressions of different arts are extremely different. The only one thing they (arts as a whole, including the respective curriculums/types of training) all seem to have in common, IME, is the underlying "mind leads body" idea... But regardless of that, IMHO mixing such strongly differing training progressions as, say, TJQ and XYQ from the very beginning, i.e. too early in the game, can impede one's progress in his/her IMA development.

Others' mileage may vary, as usual.

FWIW