Why throw away others' hard and very valid work when you could absorb it and be that much better? Few people ever accomplished something by taking an entirely new path; almost every innovation stands on the shoulders of the ones before it. You don't have to be a carbon copy of your teacher, but there's no reason to think that studying an established style is bad. It's not like there's one "right" way to do things and by using the scientific method you can arrive at that way. There are a million paths up the same mountain, several mountains, and a few different ranges. Why make a new path when there are already plenty that we know work? I'm not saying cross-training is bad or anything, but JKD works best if you get to a high level in a few arts instead of attaining a basic understanding in several. |