My view in general on 'Distance Learning Courses' is that they are geared really toward the experienced martial artist as that is the only person who may fully grasp what is being taught.
One example could be someone who is a black belt in, lets say, Sin Moo Hapkido, and for whatever reason they feel something is lacking in their training, well someone like that could very well benefit from the Combat Hapkido distance learning courses/dvd's as that will add possibly new '
concepts' to their Sin Moo Hapkido training.
( 'Concepts',
as meaning ideas about how to do techniques or how to go about defending yourself in general, not really focusing on techniques themselves. Think of how a Wing Chun person views concepts, and that is what I mean).
The reason I say '
concepts', is because most Hapkido styles are very well rounded martial arts with kicking, striking, joint locking, pressure points, weapons, and some ground work, and......most Hapkido styles actually have way more techniques that differ from one another than Combat Hapkido. That is not a 'knock' on that style, thats just the truth based on their white to black belt curriculum. And what Combat Hapkido would have to offer to another Hapkidoist is different concepts that they can apply to their own training.
Also.....
Combat Hapkido is a striped down Hapkido style with more emphisis on simple joint locks, simple kicks, and simple strikes. Thats the main reason why most Hapkido styles have alot more in their curriculum than Combat Hapkido because their emphisis is on less is more which is neither a good or bad thing. To each their own.
One thing that I like about Combat Hapkido is the use of doing a 'strike/kick/distraction' to your opponent when doing a technique. This 'concept' is one that is lacking in many Hapkido styles, and in my opinion is one that should be incorparated in all martial arts. Also, the 'concept' of covering your face/centerline is one that can be found CH that is not practiced in many Hapkido styles.
So, back to the original point that I was trying to make, the basic CH course could give someone in another style of Hapkido some different 'concepts' (not to be confused with techniques) to add to what they do whether that be Sin Moo, Kuk Sool, or anything in between.
The downside of a 'Distance Learning Course' is that people who may not have the experience needed or haven't even trained in a martial arts before are basically throwing their money away when it would be much better to get some training at the nearest local dojo before trying to learn something through the mail.
However, there is another side to the last point I just made. Sometimes a 'Distance Learning Course' is the only means of learning available to a potential student in martial arts. And if you don't have something available to you within 60 miles of where you live, what are going to do? Who are we to look down or 'pooh' on someone who is doing what they can when they may not have the means to travel?
One example that comes to mind is I remember reading years ago in the letter column of Black Belt Magazine that someone was needing videos, books, training equipment of any kind to send to Cuba for a Judo club that had started there. As that country is closed off from the rest of the world, it's extremely difficult for people in Cuba to find a dojo to train at. I don't even know if the Judo club that was being started by whoever in Cuba even had experience in Judo.
But, I can tell you this much; you take someone who lives in place of few opportunites like Cuba, and they have the drive, passion, and the will,....and in the end someone like that can move mountains more so than most spoiled citizens of industrial nations (and thats not putting down America, or Europe or any other country, its just the truth in my opinion). A dvd course would be of a great use to someone Cuba in those circumstances.
And, I can already foresee many 'nay' sayers to that point, but I would argue that the power of the human mind and the human spirit trumps many obsticals that many view as impossible.
Beethoven was able to continue writing complex sympthonys despite becoming deaf, Albert Einstein gave us the power of the Atom despite flunking math in his early years, President Obama went from community organizer to 3 term Senator to President (whether you like him or not thats incrediable to move so fast to the top in less than 20 years), and .......
....Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first
deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.[1][2] The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a
near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker.
The final point I would like to make about 'Distance Learning Courses' is other than the fact people question if a person can learn martial arts from a video, there is also the question of whether a video students rank holds up beside someone who got their rank in the dojo.
I would argue that rank is one earned, but regardless, rank is meaningless except to the person who has the belt whether they earned it in the dojo or through the mail. There are many 6th degree black belts that couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag while there are many white belts in Brazilian Jujutsu that can mop the floor with many black belts of different styles (which is a testament to their training methods).
No one on the street that is trying to rob or kill you cares about what rank you are in your respective art.
So in the end, rank only means something to the person who earned it. Other than that, rank is useless. I judge martial artists not by their rank, but, by
what they know/what they can do. Being able to
APPLY what they've been taught in a
street situtation, because after all, were not learning ballet, were learning self defense when it comes down to it. And if they learned what they can 'back up' from a video or discredited historical fraudgelent art, more power to them.
Most traditional martial arts (Ex: Bagua, Hsing Yi, Chen Taijiquan, Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, Hung Gar, pre-WW1 Okinawan martial arts...etc) were made by men who didn't have a black belt or any belt for that matter for times of old there was not ranking system, only reputation the founders of those style had earned as fighters in the street and on the battlefield to the point other people wanted to learn what they know. The belt system that many of us use today is modern invention that started from Judo as they were one of the first to start a belt ranking system.
Here is what Wikipedia says:
The systematic use of belt color to denote rank was first used by Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo, who first devised the colored belt system using obi, and awarded the first black belts to denote a Dan rank in the 1880s. Initially the wide obi was used; as practitioners trained in kimono, only white and black obi were used. It was not until the early 1900s, after the introduction of the judogi, that an expanded colored belt system of awarding rank was created.[2] Other martial arts later adopted the custom or variation on it (e.g. using colored sashes) to denote rank including in arts that traditionally did not have a formalized rank structure.
So in summary, I'm fine and dandy with people learning from a 'Distance Learning Course' to try to learn/earn rank. In the end, that means nothing me except for what they can actually do. If they find that they can't learn from a 'DLC' then they will one day if they are sincere about learning martials arts find a dojo when it is more a possiblity for that said person. To be honest, I don't look down on a 'DLC' student, but I don't necessarily hold them in high esteem either, but in the end its when I 'throw down' with them that pass any sort of judgement of what they could do.
Thats my thoughts so far, I gotta' go put in an air conditioner, I've grown tired of going to bed burning up.
luv,
- Doomx2001
