Martial arts on Video?

[Praying-Mantis]

Hello People,

I got a question about those videos about Martial Arts often mentioned in this forum.

I wondered whether it is really possible to improve your Skills by those.

Tell me your experience with them.

(P.S. sorry for my English, I'm from Germany )

Leo

 

[7starmantis]

In my experience, the only usage I've gotten from videos, is refreshing a form that my mind has hidden from me.

7sm

 

[pesilat]

I think videos can serve several purposes.

1. As a form of "notes" - I already know the material and use the video as reference when I get rusty (as previously mentioned)
2. As an introduction to something I'm unfamiliar with - to see if I want to pursue it further
3. As a memento - after an instructor that I trained with dies, any video I have of him/her serves to remind me of why I enjoyed training with them
4. As inspiration - if they're doing familiar related to something I know, it can shed new light on what I already know - it can lead me down new paths of exploration which take me deeper into what I already know
   [/list=1]
   
   
   I don't personally think it's advisable (or, sometimes, possible) to learn something new from video.
   
   It's possible to learn a form from video. But I can pretty much guarantee that when I meet someone who really knows the form, they'll have a lot of critique for me.
   
   Energy based things - like Wing Chun's Chi Sao or Kali's Hubud Lubud or Goju-Ryu's Kakie - are impossible to learn from a video. You might be able to see what's going on and get the basic structure down. And if it's well explained on the video you might be able to get an idea of what it's supposed to be. But until you feel it firsthand from someone who really understands it, you can't even begin to really approach an understanding of it.
   
   Problem with video is that you're taking a 3 dimensional thing and trying to learn it from a 2 dimensional medium. Things get visually flattened on video and make it hard to determine depth and, sometimes, depth is pivotal to the material.
   
   Also, you can't ask a video questions. If something's not addressed on the video, you won't be able to find out about it.
   
   As my instructor used to say, "In order to learn a physical skill, you have to 'see it, feel it, do it.'" You have to see it done correctly. You have to feel it done correctly on you. And you have to do it, with supervision, until you get it correct.
   
   On a video, you can only see what's being done. The video can't do it on you and it can't supervise you while you do it on someone else. So you're only getting 1/3 of the equation - and even that 1/3 is less than ideal because of the whole 2D / 3D I mentioned previously.
   
   Mike

 

[arnisador]

For CMA, see also:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10780
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=735

 

[crouton]

i totally agree with pesilat, an excellent response. a video is good as an aid to refresh on things but cant replace personal instruction. but if for some reason you cant train at a school, then i feel training from a video is better than not training at all.

 

[Praying-Mantis]

Thank You for the answers.

 

[kenpo12]

Since I'm a visual learner for the most part I utilize video as my "notebook" so to speak. I have picked up bits and pieces of other things as well but most of the time you need learn from someone who can show you the little details.

 

[vincefuess]

A martial arts video is like a dictionary. You cannot learn language from reading the dictionary, but it can serve as an excellent tool to help maintain, retain, and expand your vocabulary.