Can you learn Martial Arts from internet?

[xo-karate]

First comment is often that to learn martial arts, get a good coach - sensei, soke or what ever your teacher is called. I believe that most important asset in learning a martial art is a) teacher and b) your fellow students and ofcourse your will and stamina to learn. BUT....

Can you learn from internet:

a) what can you learn?

b) who can learn?

Today I learned how to tie a judo belt - I've been tieing a karate belt for 40 years, but judo is different.

What would it take to learn a technique - I think that for ukemis there are a lot of good instructions...

Why could you NOT learn? What do you NOT learn?

[Dobie1979]

We've covered this topic before. In my opinion, I honestly think that you can. There will be a lot of people that would disagree with me, but I honestly think it is possible. I think you can't just watch videos alone. You would need training partners, I think the instruction can come from the internet and a person can become good at the techniques that were taught and use them.

[tallgeese]

There is alot of good reasearch you can do yourself on the internet, books, and dvd. It won't replace learning with a coach, but there are things you can take away.

Interestingly enough, I just did the same belt thing in regards to iaido. Same with folding of hakama and a kimono. It's just little things like that which can help you figure out if you'll be into the things you're going to be expected to do.

It can help you get a jump on terminology. Never being a traditional kind of guy, I don't know Japanese names for most kempo things I've done, let along the parts of a sword, or the phases of a sword kata. This again, is where the internet can be very useful.

I think you hit a real point when you mention, you learn what you will learn. This is just good research to see if you are really interested in the first place. I think the usefulness falls off after that.

Actual technique and the "feel" of how an art is supposed to go is just often too precise or (in the case of the feel) esoteric to be captured by these types of media. I see a lot of inexperienced grapplers trying to hit crazy ADCC level movements before they understand fundamentals, or get the idea of flow. They do this because they are trying to learn from you tube and the like.

I think the technical aspects of learning things from another art via media are much more valuable once you've spent some time in a given art. In BJJ, I think that moment is probably around high purple / brown when taking apart video of technique becomes useful and productive. By then, you've really got a handle on the technical aspects of the art and a firm understanding of fundamentals.

[andym]

Simple answer - NO. you can research, study and get advice via the internet etc. But learn, no you can't. Learning the martial arts requires partners and feed back - feel.

[xo-karate]

Hi Andym,

so I did not learn to tie a Judo belt?

Or do you mean that tieing a belt is not martial arts?

I do agree that just by reading you can not learn. BUT what if learning would be like getting ideas from internet and testing them with your partner and reflecting on what happened?

[bushido_man96]

I do think you can learn from the internet. I also agree with tallgeese that what you will be able to pick up without a coach or instructor will be limited. The process will also take longer. But, I do think it is possible, if it is done right.

[DWx]

I don't think you can learn a whole style via internet but definitely little things like tying the belt etc. can be learnt. In fact its great for those things. Means less class time is spent on that and more on actual training. In our school we always get told to go away and use YouTube and the like to learn the sequence of moves for our latest form so class time isn't wasted on that and more time can be spent on the technical aspect and refining the movements.

[bushido_man96]

Like many school subjects, its good for Martial Arts to have some kind of textbook to consult, as well.

[pathgen]

Tying a belt is part of martial arts, but it is hardly connected. You can do martial arts with or without a belt on right?

I think you could theoretically learn a lot from the internet. However, you would be crippling yourself and making it far more difficult than it needs to be. Especially if you don't catch your mistakes early, like keeping your wrist bent during a reverse punch, you could spend hours practicing that technique. Then you would need to spend hours unpracticing that technique that you stored in your muscle memory after you break your wrist for the first time...

Not to mention there are a lot of people on the internet who post incorrect posture/technique to begin with. It's like quoting wikipedia in a research paper, not always a credible resource.

[xo-karate]

About tieing a judo belt - if you do it correctly, it will stay on. If you tie a judo belt like a karate belt, it will fall of during randori.

So one can learn little things like words, history, and tips on technique from books and internet. One can learn them corretly or falsely. (This does ably to coaching too, but a good instructor will give feedback and but you on the right track.

Can you get feedback otherway - like hitting a heavy bag or a makiwara? Or training with a partner? Maybe even using a video camera - like I do with my golf swing:-)