Home Study Courses (don't laugh!)

[survivalist]

Hello,

I'm curious if there are any home study courses that are not completely ridiculous. Ideally something with graded levels.

Before you burst into laughter...

• I'm in my 40s and am mainly interested in doing this for fun.
• I have a busy life and a number of physical activities I can't swap out for martial arts (i.e., we do stuff as a family and no one else has any MA interest). My free time tends to be at times when no MA studio is open - e.g., 5am.
  
• I have studied several martial arts but never particularly deeply because I've moved a bit. Six months each in two different styles of kung fu, purple belt in Kenpo.
  
• It's not vital to me how "effective" what I learn is. In fact, I wouldn't mind something that included a kata portion.
  
• I would like something with a belt system, as having goals to strive for keeps me motivated.

After a bit of googling, I've seen:

- Stephen K Hayes

- Richard van Donk

- Shintai Ryu

- Shorin Ryu ("Kobukan Karate")

- American Kenpo Legacy ("Arnis") - not sure if they are still in business

I'm curious if

(a) all home study courses are a joke

(b) there is something good I've missed

© anyone has opinions on the above

[MasterPain]

Often you can find backyard FMA groups that are likely cheaper than a home study course, with people who may be willing to meet at your house. I think any decent home study would require that you at least have a training partner, as a belt system should involve partner drills. If I may ask, where are you? Maybe someone can help.

[JusticeZero]

A: So far, yes they are all a joke.

B: If there is, we don't know about it.

C: Run away.

We used to have our classes at 6 AM. I tried 5 AM but the commute was a problem. If you start doing some MA, some people might become interested.

[bushido_man96]

That's a tough situation you have there. The problem with home study courses is quality control; there usually is none, and unsupervised technique work might end up getting you hurt.

Instead of courses, you might just see what kind of channels you can find on youtube to learn and have a bit of fun with. I don't really condone learning without an instructor, but if you're looking just for some fun, it might not hurt much. Just be sure you understand what you are actually getting out of it.

[Dobie1979]

I don't know much about the websites that were mentioned. I think training is training and good instruction can come from anywhere.

[JusticeZero]

The core problem is that you need to have someone who can check your form who is not you. There are mistakes that you can make in form that are not immediately obvious, subtle enough that you don't see them, and which can eventually put you in a wheelchair.

That said you can dial the frequency down quite a ways; this is, to my understanding, a reason for creating forms to begin with, a full syllabus in one ritual to be checked and critiqued as a whole that the student can practice solo during periods while the instructor is unavailable.

[Dobie1979]

I think with the arts that were mentioned there wouldn't be a problem with learning online if the instruction was good. I don't how learning kata could land someone in the hospital. I understand why people don't like the thought of online learning or learning through DVD's, but I still think that good instruction can come from anywhere and people shouldn't be so closed minded about it.

[JusticeZero]

Most commonly its something like "I am going to do 200 shin kicks a day keeping my base foot pointed toe forward!"

[darksoul]

Throughout my advanced ranks, I helped my Sensei teach. Once I reached black, he pushed me into doing some teaching for the dojo when he was busy, or away.

I think an instructor is absolutely necessary if you want to do martial arts. If you start a bad technique and it isn't caught and fixed early, it will be even harder to break in the future.

Doing it just for fun and exercise... well that depends. If you know how to stretch and know the limits of your body, that's ok, but I wouldn't consider it as any sort of way to effectively progress in a martial art.

[JusticeZero]

So, today i was working with a student on basic kicks. They were slop, she was having a hard time just getting them around. I walked around and noted that her hip was turned just a little bit when she kicked, putting the heel at the wrong angle, then I had her adjust her hips with an adjustment that I had a difficult time describing other than vague gesturing and requests to "put the bowl down", "sink" in certain places, and the like.

Took less than five minutes to find the changes and the kicks went from slop to crisp. How many months would it take a self study person?