Joshua McGuire recommends Kalari for fencers

[debrobjosh]

From an short piece from the Indian newspaper, The Hindu:

Olympian to learn ancient art

Canadian fencer Joshua McGuire has gone to India to learn the ancient art of Kalari, thinking it would be useful in helping him with his foil skills.

He makes some interesting statements.
"A fencer could take a lot of positives out of Kalari, such as the hand-eye coordination and the agility."
and
He also feels someone who is proficient at Kalari could do well in fencing as well, with proper training.

So what do people feel about learning one sport to improve in another? Are there really secrets to be learned, or is it just having the same material repackaged in a slightly different way, sort of like having lessons from a Russian and then a French coach?

Opinions?

[Patrician]

Well as in any other sport the techniques vary among coaches from different countries. Like, in hockey the russians are well known for being very rough and attack-minded while in sweden we are more about tactics, for example. Not only is it about different coaches learning techniques but also about different cultures around the world.

And yes, I think that learning another sport to improve your major one might be a smart move. For example why not try table tennis to improve your reactions and eye contact with the target and then apply it to fencing? ...for example

[Hokiiaidoka]

As much as some people don't like to admit it, fencing is a martial art, or at least has martial origins and uses similar skills to martial arts (This is coming from the Indiana University Martial Arts Program, the largest voluntary martial arts program in the United States, third in the world). I never met a martial arts master who does not think that cross training is in the practitioners best interest. Probably one of the most influential of these advocates was Sifu Lee (Bruce Lee) who proposed that all of his students should practice modern sport fencing because it was one of the best ways to understand distance and timing. I believe that any martial art will help fencing in some way or another. (This IS situational, a very beginner student should not pick up German Longsword, or Judo or Hapkido, because that will influence footwork and other things, but if you have trained for a while in fencing, other martial arts probably won't kill your footwork and reflexes). I do Tai Chi Chuan, Iaido, Hapkido, and Kung Fu, and they all have given me insights into fencing. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Hoki

[Grasshopper]

I do Tai Chi Chuan, Iaido, Hapkido, and Kung Fu,

Hoki

Sounds delicious but how about the MSG?