Is it important to veer away from the masters to develop one’s own style?

Posted in Martial Arts | 2 comments

The title to this post was taken from an interview with Francis Ford Coppola over at the 99 percent. There was a part of the article that really stood out for me as it dealt with developing your own style:

I once found a little excerpt from Balzac. He speaks about a young writer who stole some of his prose. The thing that almost made me weep, he said, “I was so happy when this young person took from me.” Because that’s what we want. We want you to take from us. We want you, at first, to steal from us, because you can’t steal. You will take what we give you and you will put it in your own voice and that’s how you will find your voice.

And that’s how you begin. And then one day someone will steal from you. And Balzac said that in his book: It makes me so happy because it makes me immortal because I know that 200 years from now there will be people doing things that somehow I am part of. So the answer to your question is: Don’t worry about whether it’s appropriate to borrow or to take or do something like someone you admire because that’s only the first step and you have to take the first step.

I have a similar view on finding your own style.

When I was learning how to play bass guitar, great musicians have always suggested that I find great bass players and model the way that they played. It was suggested to find bass players that played different styles of music to model from. The reasoning behind this is that at first I would copy the way that they played, and since they were from different styles of music I would eventually develop my own style – based on those players that I admired – by taking they way that they played and crafting it into the type of music that I played. After a while I would no longer model those great players as I would have embodied their techniques and skills and made them a part of my style. While I would utilize their techniques and such, my expression would be my own. Those players will live on thought me as I play bass.

I approach martial arts the same way.

When my instructors teach me, I do my best to learn exactly how they are teaching me and how they execute a technique. When it comes to the way I perform I take what I have learned from all of my instructors, the different styles I’ve experienced, and my personal experiences and I create something that is very uniquely my own style – or the way that I express my martial arts experience.

It can be challenging when you are coming up in the ranks to want to venture out on your own and blend what you have already learned, but to do so can cause issues. An obvious issue is that when you are being evaluated for quality of technique in a certain martial art system/style, you may do things differently, which would suggest that you have not understood what you will be tested on. Therefore, you may be harming your progression. A not so obvious issue is that you may actually miss what is being taught, and therefore not fully understand the technique – or reason for the technique – and never really absorb it.

While it’s important to expose yourself to new things, it’s important for you to truly learn from the masters and then go out and find your own style. That way, not only will you have found your own style, but the masters will live forever.

Two of my favorite quotes that I have in my office are:

“Follow not in the footsteps of the masters; Seek that which the masters sought.” ~ Matsuo Bashō

“The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” ~ David Michael Cunningham

What are your thoughts? Is it important to veer away from the masters to develop one’s own style? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below. I’m looking forward to hear from you.