Transitioning from one art to another?

**Prone** · Posted On: 9/18/2009 5:18am

Originally Posted by BigKovacs

Consider yourself lucky ESPM. My transition was from WT to Muay Thai. That was... interesting.

Could you elaborate on that please? I am moving from WT to MT next spring and was wondering how that will work.

In how far was it interesting, did you cope okay?

Thx,
P.

**Sang** · Posted On: 9/21/2009 8:53am

Just forget everything you know about WT when you start MT. Think of it like you are coming from a old-persons' pool exercise class to MT, there is no skill cross over.

**Kovacs** · Posted On: 9/21/2009 9:10am

Originally Posted by Sang

Just forget everything you know about WT when you start MT. Think of it like you are coming from a old-persons' pool exercise class to MT, there is no skill cross over.

Totally. Wipe your brain clean before hand, as best you can. You're doing the right thing though Prone, from ex-chunenr to chunner, you won't regret it!

**Prone** · Posted On: 9/21/2009 9:26am

Of course I wanted to wipe the slate clean ;) I was just wondering two things:

1. How is the transition (it's not easy to completely "forget" what you have trained for a long time)?

2. I heard some Wing Tsun Sifus talk about how MT and WT work together well. I never thought so and couldn't imagine it to be that way. It seems like I was right.

I'm looking forward to it a lot, can't wait.

Thanks for the input, guys :)

**excludedmiddle** · Posted On: 10/02/2009 2:20pm

I transitioned from Kempo (about 4 years experience, plus a few months of BJJ at the time) to an MMA place, and found the boxing routines to be very problematic for me. I found that fighting under MMA or MT rules to be much easier, having come from a punching and kicking background. But when it came to straight boxing, I felt as if I had gone from having a fairly proficient stand-up game to suddenly having almost no training at all. That was how inadequate a boxer I was at the time. I had always expected the opposite might happen to a boxer transitioning to MT or MMA, but figured the other way around would be easier since they are used to using and defending against so many more weapons at once. I'm sure you will have an easier time than I did transitioning as MT is a bit more full contact oriented than kempo, but I figured I'd share my experience anyways.

**Kovacs** · Posted On: 10/03/2009 11:33am

Originally Posted by Prone

Of course I wanted to wipe the slate clean ;) I was just wondering two things:

1. How is the transition (it's not easy to completely "forget" what you have trained for a long time)?

2. I heard some Wing Tsun Sifus talk about how MT and WT work together well. I never thought so and couldn't imagine it to be that way. It seems like I was right.

I'm looking forward to it a lot, can't wait.

Thanks for the input, guys :)

Personally I found my striking with my hands to be okay however I was still trying to block with a bong-sau and was even trying to block kicks with my hands (nasty and dangerous habit). My footwork and kicks were dog **** though, I was so used to keeping all of my weight on my back leg I was easily put off balance when trying to kick or knee. It took me one month of two of three lessons a week to work it out of myself, roughly.

I also remember senior students at my WT gaff talking about how MT can be incorporated into WT but I never saw it myself. I have no idea how you're supposed to deliver even a half decent MT round-house kick from a Chun stance! The two are totally opposite.

I may be a bit late on this but how are you finding it, if you've started yet?

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 10/04/2009 1:02am

I transitioned from Hapkido to Kickboxing and then am now first got a taste of "true" muay thai this summer. My transition involved a LOT of self training, sparring and getting beat up, and a good boxing coach. I don't know if I'm "successful" in the transfer since I feel like the changeover and my development as a fighter and a MArtist merged at one point.

The extent that basic martial arts principles apply uniformly across the board is a tricky concept. Things like power generation, rotation of body, and movement (or the lack of) of center of gravity in kicks and punches are going to be uniform. However, the degree and quantity of the movements in these concepts are going to be different.

But while some martial arts really encourage keeping an open mind on tactics and flexibility, (Choy-li-fut and boxing, for example) others don't. WC and HKD are an example of ones that (relatively) don't.

The safe bet is to take Sang's advice and "forget" everything you've learned so you will at least be on the same page as the other newbies and not slow yourself down.
The "right" answer, which might not be right at all depending on how you apply it, is to empty your cup but remember what was in there. Be prepared to throw away prejudisms and expectations. But if you learn something that is similar to what you understand about martial arts, make your best judgment about whether you are going to expand on it or not.

For example, out of all the things I got wrong during my years of self-training, I've never been criticized about my kicks. I think I was able to incorporate and experiment with many different styles of kicks to figure out what relatively works for me. (though, I'm trying to experiment with forward moving thai roundhouse kicks)

Another example: my hooks sucked. They still suck. Just not a punch I know how to use well. But I didn't even think about tucking them up so the throwing shoulder guards my face like it would for a jab.

Last example: keeping my balance and creating angles. This is something that felt very new to me, because the places I trained at in the past (this is quite a few years ago now) emphasized technique and power but never the applications like timing and working under pressure.

**Prone** · Posted On: 10/04/2009 11:06am

@BigKovacs: Excuse me, you wanted to BLOCK? There are no real blocks in WC/WT and Bong Sao is certainly not a block...

**Kovacs** · Posted On: 10/04/2009 6:22pm

Originally Posted by Prone

@BigKovacs: Excuse me, you wanted to BLOCK? There are no real blocks in WC/WT and Bong Sao is certainly not a block...

It's a defensive technique against a punch, not clashing I grant you but it's still a block in effect. Either way it's useless and took a while for me to work out of my system.

So have you started yet?