Style boundaries and personal progress

As soon as you train a style of martial arts you inevitably become fascinated by the way other styles do things, and why you do them differently to them, or they do them differently to you. Comparing and contrasting the different approaches can, I've found, often lead to some great insights that you wouldn't have had before about your own style otherwise.

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One thing my teacher said to me that has stuck in my mind went something like this:  "if you understand something completely then you can explain it a thousand different ways, if you don't, or your understanding is partial, then you can't even explain it one way".

I recently read a thoroughly excellent article about the different styles and divisions within Systema and one man's personal progress that I'd recommend you have a look at. The fact that it's about Systema (a Russian martial art, not a Chinese one) is not important - what's important about it is the concept of styles and becoming free of their boundaries. Once you've progressed beyond the basics of whatever marital art you're learning I think these questions become more important and apply across the board.

Some people think that creating a new style is the height of arrogance, when in effect, unless we are a cardboard cut-out of our teacher then we have already created a new style! Have a read of the article and see what you think.

Russian Martial Arts Northwest Training Method and it's development

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