Why can't you learn martial arts from the internet?

Question

I've learned all sorts of grappling from the internet, as well as some really cool sambo take downs. and I use them too!

Answer 1

Sure you can learn from video, and use some of what you learn, Problem is that you will make small technical mistakes that only an instructor would catch and fix for you. If you like to compete or play around with your friends, that is fine too.   However if you try to learn from videos and use it for realistic life protection, you take a big gamble.  Personally I only want to use what I know I do correctly. I'm not going to risk my life on something I got off a video. And for those that train full contact or mma don't even think it. what you do no matter how realistic or rough it is is still not real.  Unless every time you train you intend to kill your opponent or be killed it is not real.

Answer 2

Judomof, Katana and the other top contributors here have about covered it. Let me chime in and say books and videos are learning aids. Nothing can replace the trained eye of a good master.

Answer 3

What!?  LOL,.LOl,.Lol,...!

Oh my goodness stop stop,... *wipes tear from corner of eye*

Thanky youy, I needed that!

Oh, my answer, " All of the above with the exception of "one".

Please don't hurt anyone and good luck with that.

Answer 4

of course you can learn, the problem is, yu can't learn it maximimaly, cause you should practice it. Without practicing/ do  sparring, it's useless. anyway, if do a wrong technique, nobody will notice it right...

Answer 5

How do you use them? You may have learned what to do in certain situations, but you have not practiced them in real life.  I can pretty much guarantee you, that if you tried one of the moves you learned on the Internet against an average street thug, you'd look like an *** and then you would get your *** kicked.  Martial Arts takes years of practice and a lot of self control.  These are not things you learn on the Internet with no real contact or practice.

Answer 6

becasue computers are very dangerous and if you p**s them off they will use some crazy CUNG-FOO on you

Answer 7

If you already have a base in an art, and then learn a specific technique from a video or book, and then can practice it against resisting opponents then yes, it is possible to gain some insight or techniques from a video or book.

But to learn an ENTIRE Martial Art? No.

For one learning Martial Arts takes partners, sparring partners, training partners, experienced people to go against to make you better.

For another, as others have mentioned you need someone to show you the right way to do something, or tell you where you are messing up.

There are a ton of guys who lift weights, and will get stronger and see some gains despite never learning to lift properly. However, if someone shows them to lift properly, the gains and strength they get far surpasses what they did on their own, not to mention saves them from potentionally injuring themselves.

Now, you mentioned you have learned some cool Sambo takedowns, but who did you use them on? Can you do them repeatedly? I mean are they against guys who know what they are doing? Are you stronger then the guys you are doing it on, is there little things that seem more difficult about certain points of the takedown then others. Meaning, there could be little things you are doing wrong that a Samboist can show you that would make your throw better, or more efficient (i.e. not needing to take as much strength and energy).

I understand what you are saying, I use techniques from books and videos as well. But I practice them against opponents so that I can see how to do them in a way that works for me, it is helpful but only because I have the background that I have.

For example MANY MANY submissions look great and are cool, but are incredibly impractical in MMA or real life because they don't take gettting punched in the process into account. Similarly without a background in grappling, the ability to maintain control over someone and the subtleties such as needing a good base to avoid getting turned over get lost.

So yes, with already having practical experience, having good training partners, videos and books can help you get some specific techniques that you haven't been exposed to.

However, they cannot teach you the entiretly of an art from scratch. Otherwise you just have a bunch of bad habits that would get you destroyed in the streets, or in the ring.

Keep in mind backyard grappling with your buddies is not the street, or an MMA match. There is a level of intensity and aggression unable to be matched in a situation like that. People are stronger, faster, and more brutal than what it is possible to do in the dojo because no one is able to go 100% with adrenaline in the dojo like they are when they are in real danger. Similarly you also know what you buddies can do, what they like to do, what techniques they are suckers for, and what techniques they try the most. You don't have that option with a stranger (which is why tournaments, and/or sanctioned fights are key, a chance to test your skill against an unknown).

I guess you get the jist, yes you can pick up interesting techniques. But if you buy an entire series on Rubber Guard from Eddie Bravo, books included, and practiced with your friend without understanding base, control, the ability to scramble, from a solid background in grappling, if you were to enter a NAGA, an MMA fight, or anything of any seriousness, all you have is a few fancy techniques that are applicable in very few situations, and would lack the control and experience necessary to not end up on your back having to rely on Rubber Guard, or not having an answer when a guy just posts up and blasts you in the face, or cross faces you with a forearm shiver to the neck, nor would you have the needed timing and sensitivity to know when a submission is open, when it will work, and when it won't. So yeah, a gogoplata and omoplata seem great, there are a hundred set ups, but how often in all the MMA fights there are have guys been submitted with them?

That's like getting the tablature to a great guitar solo, then going over it again and again, but never learning anything else. So yeah, you can play that ONE solo really good, but can't play a song, and couldn't jump in and play with a band, and don't have even the basic idea of chord structure, etc, nor would you necessarily know what key that solo works in, and what key it doesn't, etc.

Sorry for the book, but the point is yes, you can pick up individual techniques, but you need true training and feedback to tweak and hone techniques and to fix the things you do wrong by nature, if you are starting from the ground up.

Individual Submissions and Individual takedowns are such a small fraction of what good grappling is. Base, positional dominance, the ability to scramble, the ability to get out of bad positions, sensitivity, understanding and feeling of leverage, the ability to know WHEN to do a particular submission, how to go for submissions that will not give up a dominant position. How to stay loose, but explode with strength during techniques. Tons of minor little things that have nothing to do with a Gogoplata. h**l things that are taken for granted on videos, like the ability to keep a guy in your guard.

There are a lot of things to grappling other than particular takedowns or submissions, subtle things that experience, and feedback from experienced people can give you.

And that goes for everything. You can swing a golf club a million different ways, even develop a way where you can hit long and straight some of the time. But the difference in your game after a few lessons is self evident, you were doing a ton of stuff wrong, and the things they showed you caused marked improvement. I played golf for years on my own, would end up doing ok could beat a good bit of my friends (who were also self taught) but wasn't half as good as I become once I got some lessons under my belt, someone who could tell me what I was doing wrong and what I was doing right, and how to practice the right way. Then when playing against my self taught friends, I began to trounce them easily. Something to keep in mind if you are just rolling with your buddies, rolling against other untrained people will not make you any better. There is a huge skill difference between people who are trained, and people who are self taught.

Well that is enough of my book, hopefully you read enough of it to get the point.

Answer 8

With all the sincerity of my response, training via online, videos, or books without proper instruction and guidance from a qualified martial arts instructor are rarely a path one chose if they want to succeed and progressed as a serious and dedicated martial artist.

Self-training using video, internet and books cannot turn you into a good or an effective martial arts practitioner. Many can argue that Bruce Lee did it, but how many had forgotten that Bruce Lee had a solid martial arts background before he ventured on to create Jeet Kune Do.

Another detrimental result by training online , videos, or books is that this method teaching medium cannot correct or give you advices either you're doing things right or even wrong. Training martial arts without proper instructions and supervision can also cause minor or even serious injury.

Learning martial  online, videos, or books can be best described  having a online, videos, or books romance. You don't quite get the real thing !

You might think that you may have discovered the ultimate and cheaper way of training in the martial arts, but when reality strikes, the facade and sloppiness of your "self-training" will show.   The worst that can happen also is having a false sense of security.

A majority of self-taught, pseudo blackbelts, MMA poseurs and other fraudulent wanna-be martial arts "practitioners" are one of the main reasons why the general public looks down on the martial arts and its practitioners. Many of the long time legitimate practitioners of the martial arts regardless of styles finds this awfully frustrating and horrendous , when we spent half of our life trying to live up to the highest standard and virtues of our beloved art.  

For long time and experienced practitioners of the martial arts , video training or other forms of training such as DVD's and the internet are just another "tool" in our  "toolbox"

Answer 9

I took jiu-jitsu for 3 years and staycurrent by watching videos from groundfighter.com. An instructor can give a bit more insight but videos are generally great man. Its the mythical maharisi martial artisits that will tell you you can't.

Answer 10

Because you can never know if you are doing something right unless you have somebody who knows what they are talking about to tell you, and if you are doing something wrong and you try to do it in a real situation you could be in for some serious trouble.

Answer 11

Because, they only give bits and pieces, not the complete curriculum and even if they gave the complete curriculum, you still need to train with someone who knows what they're doing.  Considering that grappling is on a higher level in this country than, say, Karate, there is no excuse to learn any grappling from the internet.  There are plenty of competent coaches out there.

Answer 12

Because while it may work against somebody who has no training, without feedback from a good instructor to make sure you are doing everything properly, if you run into somebody that is actually well trained you are going to get your a** handed to you.

You may be able to copy the moves, and even pull a few off, but you will not really know them.

Rotsker- You need to get a clue my friend. Your answers make you sound like a middle schooler UFC wanna be.

Answer 13

This can work if you've already got a good foundation in a style (as in you are already a black belt).  But coming in raw?  I don't think so.

Some parents of my students have already tried to use video to teach their kids in order to get an advantage.  They just end up being confused and frustrated.  They ignored the part where I said a video can HELP the child and serve as a REVIEW, not a substitute for real teaching.  

Some of us forget that's how a lot of the masters and style founders did it back in the day:  they got a good foundation from a teacher, then taught themselves the rest.