Why?

[Brian R. VanCise]

If you try to learn solely from video you will miss the small details that are so important! You will miss the necessary corrections from and instructor that are also important.

I have had more than a few people come to my Training Halls through the years having learned BJJ from video. They missed the details and were played with by IRT practitioners during rolling.

Hands on instruction is essential. Do not fool yourself!

Videos are great for supplementary training, refreshers and inspiration.

This comes from someone who markets and sells DVD's and videos around the world...

 

[Gerry Seymour]

As I've said, are you picking up ideas from BJJ videos (a perfectly good thing to do) or are you trying to learn an entire BJJ system by video? These are vastly different things to do. Video is a great tool to use as a supplement or to broaden your horizons, I think we all pretty much agree on that point. Video is a terrible stand-alone instructor, particularly for a newbie.

Learning the choreography of forms is pretty easy by watching video, but it is again a terrible way to understand a form. As you acknowledge, there are many details and subtleties that can only be taught properly thru hands-on instruction. Video instruction for forms gives you a very superficial mimickry, and little else. But for many martial systems, forms play a big role in the curriculum and as a teaching and training methodology. Video is an extremely poor venue for teaching this stuff, but again video can be a very useful tool to supplement hands-on instruction.

I agree that to get deep into an art, you'd need some significant interaction with an instructor. That interaction may be sporadic, which will slow the process, but it is necessary.

EDIT: Odd, this isn't the post I was quoting. I was quoting your post about the need to have an instructor, rather than learning entirely from video. Not sure what happened.

 

[Instructor]

I'm pretty late coming to this thread but I feel compelled to respond. I agree with having occasional hands on time, which is why in addition to our online content we offer interactive training via webcam and of course brick and mortar seminars and the annual conference.

 

[JP3]

If you already have a foundation in similar principles, and have a good partner to work with, you can learn something through online material. It will never be as good as having a live instructor, but you can get something out of it if it's well-designed.

I'm in with that.

One of my guys, a 4th degree in the Tomiki-ryu and I were wanting to work on his promo-reqs one evening last month when we got lucky/unlucky and nobody else showed up but for he & I. He was wanting to "do something," and he'd been the training dummy for the 2nd degree guy whose working towards his next promo/belt, so I understood. So, onto the mat I went to pick up the old, familiar role as training dummy myself.

We decided to work on the latter "half" (it's not really half, it's 11 of 25 techniques) at the end of Koryu-dai Yon. This kata isn't about demonstrating "technique," it's about properly demonstrating principles, so it does NOT look "real," since it's not remotely designed to appear that way.

Anyway, it'd been literally about 7 years (since 2010) since I'd done that kata myself, as nobody in my school had that rank. Until this guy showed up from the old dojo where I started. He didn't know, and I couldn't remember, the order of the techniques... so there we were with his reference book and my pulling up the youtube videos showing the order, and so we could scroll forward/back and spot various core bits and bobs.

Below, if anyone is interested, are some old clips of my beer-buddy, Raja, & I, back in the day when we were both working on this same kata. These are... I think, 10 years old, maybe? I know the upload date is 10 years ago, but the video may actually be a bit older, not sure.

I'm uke in this one:

... and tori/nage in this one:

Stylized, and principles.... not kick-butt, but hey... it's an aikido kata. It is what it is.

My point being, we Did pick it up from the video/online resource. Granted, I had it internalized, but had not done it, so the rust was falling off in huge sharp flakes that were cutting my feet up.

 

[marques]

What would be the point of online learning (of any martial art really)?

I know when (for me) it comes down to first learning forms that I need someone to help me work out the kinks and help me do smoother, even when it comes to techniques, plus I really haven't met anyone that's ever taught themself.

I don't even know anyone that would learn under a self taught master, would you learn under one?

Not to mention you'd have no one to spar and I'm sure most dojangs would laugh and make you start at the bottom.

Plus who would you have to spar with?

Some people like the idea of becoming martial artist without leaving home. There is demand and it leads to offer.

While it is generally useless and waste of time and an ilusion, there are exceptions. A very few learned mainly training on its own (ex: first karate people in France, to some extent first Muay Thai people in the UK) to a good standard and in remote villages still there are not many options.

I think 'online learning' is a great complement. Schools tend to focus too much on fitness and techniques. Online we have access to great analysts and strategists.