Cross Training: How Many Fighting Styles Should I Learn?

People often asking me these:

"How you learn so many martial arts without overtraining?"

"How many fighting styles should i learn?"

First, i learned many fighting styles one by one for years, not trained those all in same period.

For example, i learned Jeet Kune Do in 2017 (asked by my friends to train together for fun) after i graduated from Kickboxing club in 2013. I never joining / training at 2 dojos in same time to avoid overtraining problems (unfocus, confusion, fatique and injury).

Second, learn 1 fighting style is already enough. Honestly, i only training 1 fighting style when i training alone at home in holiday. This “Secret” style is my primary fighting style, because in deep of my heart i love this fighting style so much.

I also had the experience of being held at knifepoint by a robbers on the street. Do you know what happened? I can only remember a few martial arts moves in situation between life and death like that.

My brain work slower when surprised while facing dangerous armed opponents suddenly like that on the street. Luckily my subconscious safe my life because it still can command my body to fight back using a few fighting techniques (to be honest, those few techniques are my most favourite).

Focus in 1 fighting style is better than training in 100 fighting styles for nothing. Learning few fighting techniques you like is better than learning millions techniques that you can't remember when you face real robbers.

But if you wanna try cross training so much. Let me give you some advice.

First advice, you must have 1 basic fighting style first. Before doing cross training, you must mastering 1 fighting style first. If you master 1 fighting style, then learning other fighting style will easier like playing a game (because you already know the basic principe of martial art training right?).

Second advice, you should learn new fighting style which have different focus - different skill with your old fighting style. For examples:

- After mastering kicking style like Taekwondo, you can try learning punching style like Southern Kungfu.

- After mastering punching style like Hokkien Kuntao, you can try learning kicking style like Sikaran.

- After mastering balanced striking style like Indian Kickboxing, you can try learning grappling style like Catch Wrestling.

- After mastering punching style like Karate, you can try learning grappling style like Brazilian Jujutsu.

- After mastering throwing style like Judo, you can try learning punching style like American Boxing.

Even real MMA champions learned their fighting techniques one by one focusly and not learned those all at once in one day forcefully. For examples: After mastering Karate, Lyoto Machida learned Brazilian Jujutsu. After mastering Kickboxing, Bas Rutten learned Catch Wrestling. After mastering Brazilian Jujutsu, Nick Diaz learned Boxing.