Building Your Own Style

The most beautiful parts of modern combat sports is that they truly are for everyone. Young, Old, Tall, Short, Big, Small, Boy or Girl.

There are literally thousands of ways to accomplish the goal of defeating your opponent in one on one combat. All you have to do is figure out which way works for you.

But how do you know what's going to work. If I'm grappling should I be using a Standard Closed Guard or a Rubber Guard? If I'm striking should I be using a Thai Long Guard or a Boxing Shell Defense? That's all going to depend on who you are.

There are two main factors you need to take into consideration when creating your own style. Your Physical Body and your Personality. The techniques that simultaneously fit into both of those two categories are what you should be looking for when creating your own style.

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First, Physical Body. When choosing what will work with your body you're going to have to be honest with yourself. If you're 5'3 and weigh 250 lbs., you're going to have a really tough time with things like Rubber Guard or any sort of inverted anything. No matter how big a fan of Eddie Bravo you are. But the same can be said in the other direction. If you’re 6'0 and weigh 135 lbs., you're probably not power bridging your way out of side control very often.

If you're completely honest with yourself about what you're physical capabilities are, a list of moves that you can do shouldn't be that hard to come up with. That being said, don't let it stop you from experimenting every once in awhile just to test the water. Maybe you're the exception to the rule. Maybe you’ve lost a little weight. Maybe you’ve gained a little muscle. You won't know if you don't try. But when you find something that clearly doesn’t work with your body, don’t linger, move on.

The next half of the equation is a little tougher. Your personality plays a lot bigger part than what most people would think. If you're forcing yourself to be something that you're not, that's going to affect what is and isn't going to work for you.

For example, a takedown like a blast double leg is fairly simple. There are a few finer technical details, but for the most part you just change levels and GO!!! Which requires raw, explosive, aggression. If you're a super laid back, methodical thinker, this may not be a move for you. Because if there's not enough "Blast" in your shot, you're probably going to end up with your face being planted into the mat when your opponent sprawls on you.

Of course you could force yourself into it. Drill it over and over again until you figure it out. But you're never going to perform it as well as someone who is naturally explosive and aggressive. By forcing yourself to do something that isn't natural to you, you'll only ever have subpar results.

Instead, pummeling for under hooks then transitioning to a body lock would fit your personality much better. Methodically working your way into position before literally dragging your opponent to the ground. By doing something that comes naturally to you, you're giving yourself the opportunity to perfect a move to a very high level, instead of forcing yourself into mediocrity.

There really is something for everyone when it comes to modern combat sports. You just have to figure out what that is for you. You must be capable of performing the technique without undue physical strain, and it must also be compatible with your personality. Once you've found techniques that fit into both of those circles, you'll be able to build a style that works specifically for you.

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