Online martial arts courses

[rachel_grfn]

Hey there everyone! Just wanted to get your thoughts on something. What are your opinions on learning martial arts from an online course, as opposed to at a class or gym? How far can you get learning purely from online videos and so on? And can online courses be a useful supplement to in-person training? Are there any courses that you guys particularly like?

 

[Hyoho]

Please take it from me. Just forget any ideas of some numpy who puts courses online. There is no substitute for a real teacher face to face. That's what MA is. A personal hands on experience.

Once you are advanced you might be able to supplement your training by watching your teachers videos.

Without a doubt following this post you "will" see a series of video links to try and show you otherwise. Please ignore them and get a teacher.

 

[jobo]

Hey there everyone! Just wanted to get your thoughts on something. What are your opinions on learning martial arts from an online course, as opposed to at a class or gym? How far can you get learning purely from online videos and so on? And can online courses be a useful supplement to in-person training? Are there any courses that you guys particularly like?

no just no, as bout as far as you can get learning to play table tennis on your own with just a vid if a match to learn off

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hey there everyone! Just wanted to get your thoughts on something. What are your opinions on learning martial arts from an online course, as opposed to at a class or gym? How far can you get learning purely from online videos and so on? And can online courses be a useful supplement to in-person training? Are there any courses that you guys particularly like?

My view is that online courses are only really useful in two situations.

1. As a supplement (not replacement) to working with an instructor. This can either be the course serving as reference material , or for someone who can't get to an instructor on a regular basis (maybe once or twice a month with an instructor, supplemented by online material to work with in the interim).
2. For someone who has enough related experience to work from the online material. For instance, I have some background in Judo, and have a smattering of exposure to BJJ, plus my primary art's stand-up grappling (which uses similar principles to BJJ). I can pick up some useful technical information (and even new techniques) from BJJ videos and online material. Even with all that, I won't do as well as I would with an instructor. A pure beginner (or even someone with no significant related experience) is unlikely to progress well from the online material alone.

We could find exceptions, but they are generally exceptional cases.

 

[oftheherd1]

Good answers above. No matter the art, you will not be able to learn all the nuances of any art by videos only. There are some that have a requirement to send in videos of your progress, or require that you attend actual classes. In fact, we have a member here who teaches Hapkido that way. I think he makes an honest attempt to serve students well. But it is too easy to learn wrong moves, and too difficult to unlearn them imho.

Are there no MA schools that interest you where you live?

EDIT: I meant to add that if the person who puts out the video isn't an accomplished videographer, or doesn't hire one, even more will not be shown clearly for a complete beginner to pick up things that are needed to properly execute forms and/or techniques.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

What are your opinions on learning martial arts from an online course,

It may work if the following conditions can be met.

- You have a training partner 24/7.
- You can send your video to your instructor and he can send comment back.
- You can ask him questions online and he will respond back to you.

Also it will work if you have 6 years solid foundation in any MA system.

 

[Buka]

Welcome to MartialTalk, Rachel.

The online thing is kind of like preparing for your drivers license test by playing on an Xbox instead of actually getting into a real automobile.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

The online thing is kind of like preparing for your drivers license test by playing on an Xbox instead of actually getting into a real automobile.

If you are already a race car driver, you should have no problem to learn a new driving skill online.

 

[Flying Crane]

Contrary to popular belief, prior experience is not guaranteed to be beneficial in learning a new system, whether in person or online or other video format.

It MIGHT be beneficial, but it might also be a hinderance, or simply irrelevant.

It really does depend.

I agree with those above who advise you against trying to learn a martial system by video or online instruction, if that is the only or the primary mode of instruction. It can be a useful SUPPLEMENT to good face-to-face training with a good instructor, but it could also get in the way. Again, it depends.

 

[Kababayan]

I think online courses are very valuable for experienced martial artists who are looking for additional knowledge. As far as being a complete beginner, you won't get the benefits that consistent partner training provides (timing, reaction, etc).

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I think online courses are very valuable for experienced martial artists who are looking for additional knowledge.

If you have MA experience, sometime you can even learn from just few words.

I have learned a technique from the following conversion, just words, no action.

A: How did you win that wrestling match?
B: I knee struck his leading leg, when he stepped back, I hooked his back leg.

Sometime information is like a piece of thin paper. It can block your vision for a long time. But it may take very little effort for someone to poke a hole through that thin paper for you.

 

[Flying Crane]

If you have MA experience, sometime you can even learn from just few words.

I have learned a technique from the following conversion, just words, no action.

A: How did you win that wrestling match?
B: I knee struck his leading leg, when he stepped back, I hooked his back leg.

I do not believe that anyone is stating that one cannot learn anything valuable from video. Of course that is possible, and having a good background can enhance the possibility.

The issue is in learning a system from video, compounded by the fact that the learner is likely a beginner to the martial arts.

To that, i say no, it’s a very bad idea.

If one is experienced, I still say no, it is still a bad idea. The experience might just get in the way. It depends.

Video is a bad way to get the bulk of, or your primary instruction.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Contrary to popular belief, prior experience is not guaranteed to be beneficial in learning a new system, whether in person or online or other video format.

It MIGHT be beneficial, but it might also be a hinderance, or simply irrelevant.

It really does depend.

I agree with those above who advise you against trying to learn a martial system by video or online instruction, if that is the only or the primary mode of instruction. It can be a useful SUPPLEMENT to good face-to-face training with a good instructor, but it could also get in the way. Again, it depends.

Agreed. If there's a different set of principles (especially if some of the same terms are used, with different meaning), that can make it harder to learn when starting from a base of experience - perhaps more so when trying to learn solely from online content (where the instructor can't correct misapplied principles).

Where principles are similar enough, the experience can be helpful in making something out of the online content. Note that "something" might be different from what was intended by the instructor, because of the interpretation through past experience.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Video is a bad way to get the bulk of, or your primary instruction.

This is probably the most concise way to say what I'm saying.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

The issue is in learning a system from video, ...

You won't learn a complete MA system online. But you can pick up simple information.

Here is another example. If you always think about "block and punch", one day you see someone does "arm wrap and punch", it may expand your MA understanding into another level.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

You won't learn a complete MA system online. But you can pick up simple information.

Here is another example. If you always think about "block and punch", one day you see someone does "arm wrap and punch", it may expand your MA understanding into another level.

For me, the mechanics in this video are far enough from what I know that I can get good questions from it, but I can't learn anything from just the video. Even if the video had some instruction, I doubt that would be sufficient. I would be that person FC was talking about in a prior post, where my experience actually makes it a bit harder to absorb this material.

 

[Kababayan]

You won't learn a complete MA system online. But you can pick up simple information.

Here is another example. If you always think about "block and punch", one day you see someone does "arm wrap and punch", it may expand your MA understanding into another level.

For me, I think the second video is a perfect example of a learning tool for someone with experience. The experienced martial artist doesn't need a tutorial about how to do a proper palm strike or where to put pressure on an elbow wrap, so the video works great. However, the first video would be an example of something that I'd like to train with an experienced teacher. I would want to get specifics on the hip movement, the whipping motion, extension, timing of the upper body/lower body, weight distribution during strike, etc. The first video, to me, represents the beauty of the art, whereas the second is the practical application.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

where my experience actually makes it a bit harder to absorb this material.

If a MA system is too foreign for someone, online information can be hard to pick up.

The power generation can be as simple as compress and release. One needs to understand which part of the move is used for compressing, and which part of the move is used for releasing.

 

[Flying Crane]

You won't learn a complete MA system online. But you can pick up simple information.

Here is another example. If you always think about "block and punch", one day you see someone does "arm wrap and punch", it may expand your MA understanding into another level.

Again, I do not believe anyone is stating that it is impossible to learn some things, including ideas on application, from video.

However, the real question in this and other similar threads is: I am a newbie to the martial arts and I am thinking of trying to learn XYZ martial art, as completely as possible, through the medium of video or online instruction. Is this a good idea?

The answer is a resounding NO.

Mixing the two issues, wanting to interject the possibility of an experienced person learning “some things” (but not a complete system) by video, confuses the issue and does a disservice to the OP and any other inexperienced people who may be reading the thread.

I’m going to ask that people control their urge to do so.

 

[JowGaWolf]

If a MA system is too foreign for someone, online information can be hard to pick up.

This is what I find out too. The more that someone already knows about a MA system the more useful the video becomes. Learning from a video without a foundation would make it really difficult. The more complex a technique is the more difficult it will be and in some cases it will be impossible without guidance.

The biggest problem with learning through video is that the student will almost never get any feedback from the instructor of that video. It's that teacher feedback to the student that is critical.