Learning Martial Arts by yourself

Brian Houlihan

Hey,
May sound weird but can you actually learn by reading or by step by step or is totally needed to have a teacher.

dudara

I'd say that you really need an instructor in order to get stances, directions and timing right. If you watched mpegs etc, you could probably pick up some stuff, but an instructor would be essential to refine technique

heat

I'd have to agree.You would need an instructor to point out any mistakes you make.A book is ok if you are training at the same time with a good instructor.He/she can explain better what a move is and how it is to be used.You also gain from training with other people who are differnet sizes, weight, and skill levels.Just seeing an experenced person doing it can be worth a hundered books.

Cake Fiend

Definitely a bad idea. The likelyhood that you would learn correctly from books/videos is low enough that it should be avoided IMO - it takes twice as long to teach someone something if you have to untrain bad habits first. Instructions from books or videos are probably best left to revision or training on your own after you have been shown correct technique by a qualified, experienced instructor.

However, I don't think it would be a bad idea to read up a bit on a martial art you're interested in before you start training, in order to get the general idea of the art or certain practices/techniques specific to it.

Puck

Yeah reading up on a martial art you're interested in before you take it is good preparation and it is what I did. Books and videos can be great as companions and I'd recommend you get some but only to use together with instruction by a qualified teacher. Learning on your own is extremely difficult. Plus if you get a technique wrong and there is nobody to show you exactly how it's done and where you're going wrong you could just get used to doing it wrong and it would be hard for you to break out of that bad habbit if you ever break it at all.

Learning with others who share your interest is fun anyway. Learning on your own would be just too hard in my opinion and would take all the fun out of it. While I'm serious about my training that seriousness and hard work is there because I love it and want to do well in it. It's great fun!

Hope you don't mind if I ask but what is it you'd like to take up? I'm just curious as to why you want to learn on your own, I'm wondering is it because it is some rare martial art in this corner of the world that you can't easily find a teacher nearby for.

Seion

It's not possible to learn martial arts from books or videos. Full stop.

If you have a teacher and some experience under your belt, then videos and books can be a useful supplement, but martial arts takes years and years to learn to any significant level of proficiency, and attempting to teach yourself from a book is frankly impossible.

You might learn a 'move' or a technique, but all martial arts are about context, and you need a teacher to learn that.

geoffer

Learning to fight alone is like learning to type without a keyboard.

geo

but is there any basics that can be learned before going to a class? im hoping to take up an art in collage and am hoping to find some daily excercise .etc to give me a head start and a base to build on

Puck

Originally posted by geo
but is there any basics that can be learned before going to a class? im hoping to take up an art in collage and am hoping to find some daily excercise .etc to give me a head start and a base to build on

Absolutely. Before I started taking classes in karate I bought a book to learn some basic stances, moves, dojo conduct and behavior. Not so much that I'd be able to do them all but just so I'd know what my instructor was talking about and so I'd know a little about why things are the way they are.

Beginners books can also be good for sussing out a good dojo so you can tell if you're being conned or not.

geoffer

Originally posted by geo
but is there any basics that can be learned before going to a class?

Cardio, strength training and flexibility - should keep you busy

geo

any websites that would be useful? currently am doing weights, going to start jogging during the summer, but not doing too much on the flexability side

Puck

What art are you interested in taking up? Check out the Self Defence Links thread for a list of some sites.

geo

well im hopfully going to TCD next year so i would prob end up doing one of the available there unless there is a Thai boxing club near by....ruled out aikido since its non competition and thus is prob hard to keep intrested other then that im lookin for suggestions on what would be good to take up

PhoenixRising

Take a look at the thread on martial arts in college. There are links to most of the TCD clubs. Here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=93357.

Taekwon-do has plenty of competitions and tournaments and gets my vote.;)

Bazkaz

I have been doing shotokan karate for about 3 years now and i love it!! At first it was for self defense cause i worked in a pub and thought it could come in handy. now i work in a more sedate setting but its the challenge of getting to the next belt that keeps me at it... and the fitness...

Sniipe

Originally posted by Bazkaz
now i work in a more sedate setting

You got to love that quote

Brian, how would you keep up the motivation? Learning anything by yourself is very difficult without someone who has some experience. You may learn a move incorrectly, it may look and seem right to you but could be totally ineffective...
my 1.27 cent

gazmond141014

Ya well its true that if you start learning something new, if you start with bad habits and no one corrects them then you will just keep making those mistakes, Baz and sniipe, I hang on your every word