Help/Advice?

[Extacie]

Hi, all, I did Tae Kwon Do for approx 3 years from when I was 10-13. I quit due to me lacking in school because I was not having enough time. I am currently really busy with work and everything else and I don't think I have time to go to a gym/school right now, but I would like to start training at home for martial arts in general. I might go into mma later, or tae kwon do, I am currently not sure. So what are some suggestions that you guys would have for me to train at home with out a trainer?

Thanks in advance, Tyler.

[tallgeese]

First off, welcome to the boards.

As to your question, the truth is that it's extremly difficult to learn new martial skills without someone there to really teach you the fine points of the movements and the principles behind them. MA's are more than just a list of movements, they have to be constructed and fitted together properly to work well. That's hard to get without someone who is familiar with the whole process. You can actually do more harm than good if you build in bad habits unknowinly.

That being said, you can keep your old skills sharp. You should have the understanding of those to drill them properly. If kata is part of your system, drill the ones you know. Really focus on the little things to make them perfect. Then there is always the tried and true heavy bag for drilling strike work.

Lastly, try really hard to find a school that can fit to your schedule. Or at least skilled training partners you could work with informally. Some of the best traning I've ever done has occured this way. A single training session per week with a skilled partner is probably woth more than days and says of dvd viewing. In my view, books and dvds should suppliment training that you are already familiar with, or simply be used to get a surface feel for something new.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Extacie]

Thank you, I appriceate it, it's nice to be here.

Okay, well with that knowledge, I would really like to get back in to some form of martial arts. I am currently not sure what to get into though, I will look into some schools and see what I can fit into my schedule. I am not busy so much now, but I am when school starts.

I need help deciding on what form of martial arts. I used to be in Tae Kwon Doe like I stated earlier. I really liked Tae Kwon Doe, but I did not like the patterns and some of the other stuff. I just like more of learning different techniques and how to handle different situations, drills, and sparing. So with that in mind what would you suggest? And is there really a point in patterns or are they just rituals or something along those lines so to speak?

[JusticeZero]

The patterns are a library of forms and, possibly more importantly, transitions between techniques.

It's the way the movements connect together in some form of tactical context that is often the important part. That's what the forms do.

[bushido_man96]

If I were you, I'd visit the area schools, and see what is offered. Watch a class or two of each, and ask for a schedule to look at. From there, you should be able to allocate your time to get a class or 2 in per week.

When you view the classes, watch the content, and what they tend to focus on. You should be able to tell if they are working towards goals that may equal what you want. You may not find the perfect match, but you should get something that gives you most of what you want.

Like tallgeese mentioned, working on techniques on your own, without instruction, could lead to bad habits forming. You can break these, but it can take time, and you end up re-training instead of training. Like he said, work things you are pretty sure you know for now. Along with that, doing some basic physical fitness exercises would benefit your solo training time fairly significantly.

Welcome to KF.

[tallgeese]

The importance of forms really depends on what school you end up in. They do serve all the purposes listed above, my feeling is that there are better ways to do the same thing now days, but that's just me.

The best place to start is to check out all the places you have access to and see which ones are going to fit your needs best. Check out your rapport with the instructors and the rest of the class. It's this chemistry that will help you get the most out of what you want.

Good luck.