Have you ever........

[Andy]

Have you ever found yourself talking down any other styles or systems of MA, and if so, why?

[miffersy]

Hi, Andy,
Personally I do not " Style Bash " if a person claims to be a dedicated MA then they should realise that there is no reason to adhere ridgidly to a single Style.
MA in itself is a very personal thing and you can adapt techniques from other Styles to improve ones own repetoire.
In conclusion and IMHO I do not see any need for MA to be derogatory towards other Styles and its probably ones that they don't understand anyway.

[jack]

When I was about eighteen or so, there was a lot of TKD about, I was doing Shotokan. Alot of the guys that I trained with, all yellow or green belts, would say that TKD was rubbish and being young I went along with their thoughts. I had a friend that trained in TKD so I went to his club to see first hand ..... they put me right big time. I came to the conclusion that if there are any poor martial artists it is probably the individual and not the style that is poor.

I'd be just as crap at TKD as I am karate ;D

[Aefibird]

jack said:

I'd be just as crap at TKD as I am karate ;D

Well, I've trained in both... and I can confirm that I am indeed as crap at TKD as I am at karate!!! ;D

[random]

I have trained in a few styles and like to think I can take what I consider to be the best from them all when it is mostly needed, but like my humble colleagues would consider myself crap in all of them, all though I am sure this isn’t true for any of us. ;D

[Andy]

I had a few different reasons for asking the question.

My hometown is very much a Karate town, but I often met people training in Karate who were very dismissive of anything that was not Karate, in fact it happened so often, that I just didn't discuss MA across style boundaries for a long time.

The internet is a mixed blessing, as all the information on any style/practice is out there somewhere if you have a gen to look for it.
So often I find people using information to attempt to prove a negative, rather than acquisition of something positive.

There's an Australian Karateka that springs to mind, who's practiced Shotokan for over 40 years. He pops up every now and then on forums, and even though his objectives and perspectives are miles apart from my own, I garner a lot from reading what he has to say.

I think there's a natural inclination when we are younger, to totally absorb ourselves in a particular code of practice, and become almost evangelical about it, preaching to any who will listen, but over time (after the Honeymoon period), we can be more objective.

Sorry.
Just out for my late night ramble. ;D