Developing Your Style

[OfficeDepot]

I'm listening to Joe Rogan's podcast with Dominick Cruz. If you're familiar with Dominick Cruz, Cruz is well-known for having a unique style, a style that is both offensive and defensive. It got me thinking about styles in fighting - how people develop them, when they develop them, etc.

I'm wondering, do you consider yourself to have a specific style? How would you describe it and how did you develop it? When did you start to notice that you had (or were in development) of a style?

 

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

I talk about my style quite frequently, as I've come to identify and embrace it. So, I clearly see myself as a knee fighter, or Muay Khao. I wrote about the experience of even learning to identify different styles in this blog post about Choosing Your Muay Thai Style, which was amazing because I'd never even considered before that there were subsets of style in Muay Thai. I just thought everyone was "supposed" to fight like the fighters famous to the west.

In my opinion styles are hard to select, as I reckon each person has tendencies which drive them toward one style over another. Some people love having space, some people just want to close in. Some people feel strong kicking, some naturally bank on punching. Seeing what feels good and then embracing it so you can work to develop it seems like the best method, and seems like what they do here in Thailand for the most part. Kids just grow into fighting in whatever style they naturally are and then you hone it. In the west it feels like we try to force styles, maybe because there's only one trainer at a gym and so they only teach their own style, which may or may not even be their best style but rather just what they picked up from 2 months in Thailand or something. There is no "one size fits all" in any Martial Art or sport.

[OfficeDepot]

I had my first fight yesterday. I haven't been able to watch the fight (still debating on whether or not I want to buy it), but it's got me thinking about to this question of "what is my style?"

After this first fight, I am getting a better vision of what I want my style to be and what I don't want it to be. I know that I love throwing kicks specifically with my rear leg - especially high kicks. During my fight I barely used my left leg, and I'm annoyed I didn't throw a single inside kick! I also really like side kicks and it didn't occur to me during the fight to use that either. But hindsight is 20/20. 

I think I am more of a distance fighter too. I'm decently tall (5'8" ish) and have nice long arms. One thing I have a habit of doing is backing straight up - so that is something I want to work on too. I also want to use better in and out movement. 

Any who, all good stuff. Excited to keep working and developing my style!

[mnmcdonald]

I haven't fought yet (something I'm working towards). But I do know that style is something I've had a lot to think about. I'm short (5'3) and often only work with tall people. And my body type probably won't allow me to get down very much in weight, so I'm thinking most potential people will probably be significantly taller than me. But, despite knowing this, I still for like the first two years of learning muay thai would constantly back up, and wait for my opponent to strike first. This last year however after changing gyms and kind of opening up myself more to new concepts and ideas, I've become a little more aggressive with getting into people's space. I still struggle with it, and I think that's more due to apprehension and hesitation-I'm wary of stepping into someone's space, and of falling for a feint. But when I do get into someone's space, I am aggressive, and that's new for me.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that style for me appears to be fluid, and changes as I change. And honestly, if it hadn't of been for Sylvie's article about styles, I never would have thought about it. I just thought I was timid and didn't know what the hell I was doing for the longest time.

As for the fight footage, I'd get it if I were you, especially if you didn't have someone else record you. You might see things you didn't realize you were doing.

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

Congratulations on your first fight! You seem in a great way with being able to observe what you liked and didn't like about the experience. Identifying your style isn't something you necessarily can do after your first, tenth, or even 40th fight (or more). You have a style that's kind of brought out from how you train, then there's what you do naturally, then there's tendencies you develop or hone over time. So, just be patient and know that what feels good is guiding you toward your style. You sound right on track with that last sentence - it's always in development.

 

I had my first fight yesterday. I haven't been able to watch the fight (still debating on whether or not I want to buy it), but it's got me thinking about to this question of "what is my style?"

After this first fight, I am getting a better vision of what I want my style to be and what I don't want it to be. I know that I love throwing kicks specifically with my rear leg - especially high kicks. During my fight I barely used my left leg, and I'm annoyed I didn't throw a single inside kick! I also really like side kicks and it didn't occur to me during the fight to use that either. But hindsight is 20/20. 

I think I am more of a distance fighter too. I'm decently tall (5'8" ish) and have nice long arms. One thing I have a habit of doing is backing straight up - so that is something I want to work on too. I also want to use better in and out movement. 

Any who, all good stuff. Excited to keep working and developing my style!