Guys. He's a sixteen year old kid in a "god forgotten" country. He just walked in to the door that is MartialTalk. Give him some hope.
Hey White Spike, Tez has it right. There are a lot of ways to train in martial arts, some of which you might not have thought of. Do you go to school? Does that school have any kinds of sports programs? You can get some good training at an early age through participation in contact sports. In my country, some of the most successful young martial artists come from backgrounds in high school sports. Where do you live? There are forum members, such as your self, from all over the world here. Maybe someone knows something you don't.
Which is probably a good thing to remind yourself of on a regular basis.
Congratulations on deciding to start learning martial arts and welcome to the forum. You should stop by the meet and greet section and introduce yourself. The more you hang around here the more you'll learn. That's how karate works. If you really can't find anyone to train you and you still want to learn, keep coming back here. Many people will tell you to give up. Many people will tell you you can't do it. If you want to do it anyway, prove them wrong. Otherwise, they'll be right, and you won't do it, and it doesn't matter any way.
So if you decide you want to learn martial arts, there are some basic things you need to understand. The different arts you describe are completely separate methods of teaching martial arts. They don't mix, because they aren't sets of things to do. They are ways of doing things. The techniques of martial arts can be found on the internet, in books, in videos, and in drawings and stories and songs and dances. The techniques are easy to get. The methods of teaching those techniques are what individual arts, such as "Taekwondo," "ninjutsu," "Jeet Kune Do," "muay thai," and "kenpo" are. And for the method, you need an instructor. That's what you can't learn on your own. You can find lots of descriptions of punches and pictures of punches and explanations of punches that tell you how to do them. But without an instructor you won't have someone instructing you, and that's a key part of the learning. That's why you need to find one.
So work on that. Make finding an instructor your goal. That's how you're learning martial arts right now. And you started three days ago, so get moving. You'd be surprised how many people know something about fighting. Do you have family? Is it possible that some of the older men in your family might know a thing or two about how to fight? Many families have someone who has some education in the use of violence. If you know anyone in military or law enforcement they will have acquired at least some basic combat training, maybe you could ask them to share it with you. Think about the adults you trust. Don't learn from anyone who makes you uncomfortable. I'm a pizza guy, but I've been training in karate for fifteen years. One of the scariest men I've ever known was a chemical engineer. You may be surrounded by karate masters and not even know it.
So find out. And let us help. Chances are you could have an instructor of some kind in a short time, and that could be the single greatest thing you could do for your martial arts training. Until then, there are some things you can be working on now. Because you are a beginner, I can only recommend the most basic, beginner material. But you can be actively improving your skills already so that when you find that instructor you're in an even better place to train.
Begin by working on your balance. Stand with both feet shoulder width apart and flex your muscles one at a time, from the bottom of your feet to the tops of your head. Lean forward, and back, and side to side. Press up on to the balls of your feet and rock back on to your heels. Then stand on one foot and do the same thing again. Then stand with your feet together, and your feet apart. Walk around on the balls, heels, and blades of your feet to develop ankle strength and flexibility. Balance is the single most important part of karate. In order to be effective, you must be able to move and stand.
Work on your physical conditioning. Mix push ups, sit ups, and back exercises in to your training sessions to develop your core. Work some elements of cardio in, for now you may have to run, but as you learn more karate you can start using shadowboxing for this. The stronger you get, the more capable you will be at everything. Size and strength will always trump skill and technique. However healthy you are or aren't, get healthier.
Practice your environmental awareness. Keep your eyes and ears open. Learn to pay attention to your environment. Staying out of violent confrontations is the surest way not to lose them, and should you have to use the skills you will learn, knowing your environment will give you an edge over your opponent. Everything about combat is about advantage. This is one of the best advantages you can develop.
Look for videos that teach Star Block Set or Blocking Set 1. These basic movements exist in almost any system in some form or another. Learn them and practice them, moving and in place. If you can learn these basic movements and apply them correctly, you will be heads and tails above many people with or without an instructor.
That should keep you for three more days. In the meantime, tell us what you're goals are. Why do you want to learn those arts? What made you want to take karate? What are you trying to accomplish? The more we know, the more we can help. If you really want to learn karate, then keep trying. It's out there. You can get it. And it works.
-Rob
