I've been practising gkr for a few years and like how my training is going however I've always told myself that when I get to black belt I will start incorporating other styles into my training.

This didn't really work cos I actually did another style from 4th-2nd kyu which helped loads but ended up too 'anti gkr' the sensei made it hard for me to stay...so i left lol. the style was ok though, full contact wasn't my thing but i grew to love it! the ground work, take downs and submissions was good too. I loved learning the bunkai in depth (where as gkr katas were done to death at the time...they're not now cos i've changed my school of thought)

I really would like somewhere that 1) doesn't mind me sticking with gkr as my main style. 2) is local and reasonably priced. Moslty though, those of you who cross train, have you found it easier doing similar styles, totally different styles or doesn't it really matter?
e.g: i've always wanted to try capoeira! and that would be a HUUUUUUGE challenge for me which i'm always up for

ah man I just cannot decide.....i wanna do a style that has weapons, ground work, fitness, and capoeira lmao! is there any that have 3 out the 4????

That's a tough one. Finding a school that doesn't mind you crosstraining in GKR although actually it doesn't really matter what the name is. The only way it can work is if you learn to do things their way when in their class cos if you do the "but this is how I was taught in my other..." thing it'll just frustrate and irritate the instructor and make them wonder why a) you bother coming; and b) why they bother trying to teach you. You might be surprised how many people do that.

I'd suggest that if you try judo, jujitsu, BJJ or something similar that you might find yourself thinking "hey, that thing we did a couple of days ago to get out of a ... is almost exactly like this bit in ... kata".

Is "anti-GKR" the same as "works better for me", "makes sense to me" or "can't use that because you get an unfair advantage over other students/instructors"?


Mick

Cross trained for years. I dont recommend it unless as mick says they complement each other rather than oppose.
It will not help learning two different ways of doing the same thing...

First thing, it depends where you are. Geography will obviously affect what options (ie. clubs) are available to you.

Personally I'm anti-GKR as an organisation but I don't have an issue about teaching GKR students. What students do, and where they train, while they're not in our dojo is up to them. That said, I would find it difficult to condone a kyu grade student training in our club and attempting to teach the same material as a GKR sensei - but even that depends on the individual. I have known at least one such person in that situation who I would have been happy to teach regularly, it all depends on the person's sincerity and honesty.

Mike

I've seen the students that compare styles during a class it's so frustrating! You know the instructor wants to rip their head off and throw it to the dogs!!!

well my instructor wanted me to choose either gkr or his style and eventually realised that i wasn't going to give up gkr. I don't think he trusted me, and from what I've learnt since he doesn't trust gkr as an organisation (which under the circumstances i totally understand), so I don't think he really wanted me there doing both.

I live in london so i have a huge selection to choose from. Closest to me is probably muay thai, jujitsu, rapid arnis but loads of others if i want to get in my car and drive 20mins. Might give the jj a try...

that's really good advice, i found training in ju jitsu really accelerated my understanding and interpretation of kata.