Is Cross Training Helping Evolve martial arts?

By Ryan Schneider - for Inside Kung Fu Magazine

Master Milan Shelden cross-trained long before savvy shoe marketers coined the term.  Growing up in Southern California during the 1970s, Shelden often commuted by bus for hours to train in multiple martial arts styles with friends at beaches, parks, dojos -- even behind Chinatown storefronts.

The results of Shelden’s cross training over the last 43 years (and tutelage from the likes of Harley “Swiftdeer” Regan, Ark Y. Wong, Tony Tolner, Jhoon Ree and Richard Campbell) have afforded him an intimate understanding of martial arts, evidenced by varying degrees of black belts and teaching sashes in eight soft and hard styles. 

Shelden’s experiences have also led to his belief that martial arts have largely remained stagnant for generations.

“There is nothing new,” Shelden said.  “We all have two arms and two legs and every style uses the same techniques – they just have different names.  The other thing that is not new is the way people train.  While students may train very hard, they do so in much the same way it has been done for hundreds of years.”

While virtually everyone in the martial arts community would agree that evolution is critical, the manner in which that growth occurs is at the core of an ongoing debate.  Among the most contested topics today revolves around cross training and whether it is better to be a master in one martial arts style or to be proficient in several.

The advent of mixed martial arts and open style events such as Ultimate Fighting Championships have forced a re-examination of traditional thinking on the controversial subject.  On one hand, many traditionalists – those who have chosen to hone their skills in a particular style – often believe their system to be deeper and more effective than others.  A common point made by traditionalists is that a truly complete system should offer techniques for every type of defense situation and that if you fully commit to it, you would learn them. 

 However, a swelling school of thought maintains that cross training is the future of martial arts.  Mixed martial arts proponents recognize that certain styles are more effective at striking while others are grappling-intensive.  Instead of relying upon one system to train them in both, the mixed martial arts enthusiast would prefer to cross train in jujitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing or kenpo.

 
The latter approach represented the essence of Shelden’s martial arts education, which began in 1961 when he was 4.  When Shelden met with his training partners as a young teen, they melded elements of gung fu (Northern and Southern Shaolin), shotokan karate, chito-ryu karate, shorinji-ryu jiu-jitsu and taekwondo.  Shelden said this training did not focus on any one style, but rather on martial arts as an overall philosophy.  “There was much free-form discussion on what works and what does not, and we applied different techniques from various styles to determine that.”

The cross training was a life-altering experience for Shelden.  When he turned 19, Shelden was accomplished in four styles.  He was in peak physical condition, but a motorcycle accident left him with a broken leg and a permanently damaged ankle.  Shelden was bed-ridden, and during his rehabilitation he had to learn how to rebalance himself to accommodate the injuries.  While the accident forced a pause in Shelden’s training, it became the start for what is now the basis of a new training philosophy he calls Shou Yuan Chuan, or “Small Circling Fist.”

Discovering a New Way

Ever since he could remember, martial arts took up the majority of Shelden’s time.  During summer vacations, he said he devoted up to 20 hours a day training in some capacity – whether it was traveling to train, discussing martial arts or engaging in exercises.  Being immobile was almost too much to bear, so Shelden turned to the mental side of martial arts. 

Shelden became fixed on finding a common denominator to his martial arts experiences.  He had trained in Korean, Chinese and Japanese systems and found varying similarities.  After much deliberation, he concluded that the most common trait among the systems was that they incorporated circular motions into the techniques.  From a simple twisting punch (which incorporates an arc in the elbow, shoulder and wrist) to a change in stance, there must be a circular movement to accomplish any task.  Hence naming the philosophy Small Circling Fist.

Once Shelden recovered from the accident, he began to experiment with his techniques by incorporating exaggerated circular movements.  With a full twisting punch, instead of placing his knuckles against a fixed object from a horse stance and returning to the set position, Shelden would start a circular movement from the ground and his feet.  Being right handed, he would start with his left foot and then the right to make a circle pattern counter-clockwise.  He then would let the circular pattern move up through his legs, hips, waist, chest, shoulders, arms, and finally into his wrist.  The differences in power and efficiency of movement were overwhelming, Shelden said.

“I realized what could happen if we put our whole body in a circular pattern.  It carries you in and the pattern continues to move you through the target because you are harnessing so much more energy.  Then, if you turn this energy against your opponent, and learn to re-direct theirs and add it to yours, you have a devastating technique.”

During the next few years, Shelden incorporated the beginning stages of his new philosophy into instruction as a private martial arts tutor and as an assistant gung fu instructor to Sifu Andy Qui at California State University, Fullerton.  He also attended classes as a guest instructor for Sifu Duke Chuen in Fullerton.  His skills and philosophy were further honed by training in five animal style gung fu with Ark Wong at the Benevolent Society in Chinatown.

Each of these experiences reinforced Shelden’s notions about the importance of circular movement, and efficient, focused delivery of the techniques.  For the next 20-plus years, Shelden incorporated his theories into discussion and practice with peers.  Some were open to learning a new training method but others tuned out.  If it’s not in the book of required material to earn a black belt, people didn’t think it necessary to learn.

Shou Yuan Chuan: Feathers on the Arrow

Shelden’s Shou Yuan Chuan philosophy is not meant to replace or add new material to any one martial arts system.  Its goal is to enhance technique delivery and power through the efficient channeling of movement and chi.  The best analogy may come from likening Shou Yuan Chuan to the well-known television commercials aired by chemical company BASF: Shou Yuan Chuan doesn’t invent the sidekick; correct application of Shou Yuan Chuan makes the sidekick better.

"Think of it in terms of an arrow you would shoot from a bow,” Shelden said.  “The arrow is your preferred martial art style(s).  But the fashioned feathers that help the arrows hit their target faster, swifter and more directly are Shou Yuan Chuan.”

Earlier this year, after the bok-fu-do school he trained at for nearly five years closed, Shelden recognized an opportunity to prove that Shou Yuan Chuan could be effective and help evolve martial arts.  He opened the Golden Dragon martial arts Academy in Simi Valley, Calif., where he incorporates the philosophy into aikido, gung fu, jujitsu, and bok-fu-do instruction.

I recently visited Shelden at the Academy to test Shou Yuan Chuan.  I trained with Shelden previously at the bok-fu-do school but moved and began studying krav maga, the combat system preferred by the Israeli Army.  While bok-fu-do techniques can be applied to krav maga, the latter’s movements are more succinct and direct.  Was there room (or time) to incorporate circular movement into the fast-charging defenses of krav maga?  Yes.

In our session, I felt the power in my crossover sidekick dramatically improve by winding my hips counterclockwise.  The difference was exponential between “throwing” a straight punch into a pad and focusing on beginning the punch from my feet and whirling like a tornado toward the target.  While the circular movement is awkward at the beginning, patience and practice can result in minimizing the winding motion while maximizing power and strong delivery.

The Debate Continues

Deliberations about the benefits of cross training are sure to persist.  Many question whether cross trainers are qualified to offer multi-style instruction as some devote their entire lives to one art form.  Shelden has a strong response whenever someone raises the point of whether he is a jack-of-all-trades martial artist yet master of none.

“What did Bruce Lee know?  He was a green belt, if you want to go by belt system, yet he was the best martial artist on the planet,” Shelden began.  “How in-depth was his knowledge?  What set him apart? He did not stop at the borderline.  He did not come to the edge of his style’s boundaries and say the grass on the other side is not for him.  He studied virtually everything before devising jeet kun do.

“What if you are in a confrontation where a gung fu fighter turns to hun-gar and defeats you?  You must change your thinking, you must change your philosophy to become better and learn what he did that you could not.  If you choose to focus on one style and someone outmatches you, how will you respond?”

And what of the debate between depth or breadth in martial arts training?

“My proverbial pool may be only three feet deep, but you’re still going to drown.  Water does not have to be 10-feet deep to do its job.”

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