self training?

draggin_dragon · December 14, 2004, 12:19am

Forgive me if this topic has been raised before, but your views are important & I am genuinely interested in the responses.

Those of you who live in large metro areas are fortunate to have a plethora of available schools and martial arts to choose to study, but not everyone has that luxury.

In my area my choices are limited to WTF taekwondo, UTF TKD, or Eagle Claw.

My experiences, and research have led me to the conclusion that there is really only one martial art which I would like to learn right now–Wing Chun.

Is it possible to learn the art through good WC books & videos, or a distance learning program. Or should I forget it.

How about learning the first couple of sets, then traveling to a school to train for a few days, get corrections etc. Perhaps making the trip 2-3 time per year.

Is it possible to learn WC. this way?

t_niehoff · December 14, 2004, 2:33am

You learn WCK just like you learn boxing or wrestling. And you develop skill in WCK just like you do in boxing or wrestling. Do you think you could learn boxing and get good at it training as you intend to learn and train WCK?

bung_bo · December 14, 2004, 2:56am

Your profile says hung gar/TKD. No WC experiece? I’d say no. Not to the books as a reference. But if you’ve never studied WC, a book won’t impart the flavor of the style to you. You need to train 2-person apps to know what you’re doing. I’d go with the eagle claw.

Why is WC

bung_bo · December 14, 2004, 2:58am

Sorry about that. I hit the enter button without realizing it. What I was going to ask was why is WC the only art that you want to study?

draggin_dragon · December 14, 2004, 3:06am

Perhaps not. But I’m sure that I could become a better boxer, or wrestler than I am now.

I understand your point that WCK, boxing, and wrestling alll encompass PHYSICAL skill sets that must be experienced & practiced physically. Reading & watching tapes may impart information–but that information must be experienced practically in a physical manner.

There is a key difference, however, boxing & wrestling do not have the benefit of empty-handed & weapon sets that help to impart some of that physical skill set. Isn’t that the reason the sets exist?

An entire industry exist that markets magazines, books & videos on every martial art imaginable. It could be argued that these materials are meant only to assist current students in their studies, but there has to be many, many people out there who have out of need, or curiosity decided to undertake the study of a new art, weapon, or form through their use.

Is that industry based in part on a fallacy?

Is there no benefit from the study of an art through their materials, without a nearby school to assist in your studies?

Would their be any benefit to using these resources to learn the empty-handed WC sets?

draggin_dragon · December 14, 2004, 3:16am

Originally posted by bung bo
Sorry about that. I hit the enter button without realizing it. What I was going to ask was why is WC the only art that you want to study?

I don’t have the flexibilty, or interest in pursuing an art that involve a lot of high kicks like TKD. It is difficult with my level of flexibility, though I’m sure that could improve, and the kicks don’t make sense to me tactically. I’m primarily interested in learning an art that is good for self-defense in a reasonably short period of time & involve more hand, less feet. It sound to me like WC fits the bill perfectly. I did take some eagleclaw & was surprised to see quite a bit of above the waist kicks. That’s why I did not continue. Hung Gar, I liked, but is no longer availabe where I live now.

t_niehoff · December 14, 2004, 5:31am

draggin dragon wrote:

Perhaps not. But I’m sure that I could become a better boxer, or wrestler than I am now.

**Really? You think you could get better without boxing or wrestling with training partners?

I understand your point that WCK, boxing, and wrestling alll encompass PHYSICAL skill sets that must be experienced & practiced physically. Reading & watching tapes may impart information–but that information must be experienced practically in a physical manner.

**Yes, there is a difference between learning and developing skill.

There is a key difference, however, boxing & wrestling do not have the benefit of empty-handed & weapon sets that help to impart some of that physical skill set. Isn’t that the reason the sets exist?

**No. The sets don’t provide (fighting) skill, they encapsulate the info that makes up the method. The sets are primarily a learning or teaching tool.

An entire industry exist that markets magazines, books & videos on every martial art imaginable. It could be argued that these materials are meant only to assist current students in their studies, but there has to be many, many people out there who have out of need, or curiosity decided to undertake the study of a new art, weapon, or form through their use.

Is that industry based in part on a fallacy?

**Yes. A person can get useful information from videos, don’t get me wrong, but they can’t get skill from videos. For example, you can also buy instructional videos on golf or tennis, but you still need to put the work in – practice and playing. And, an important distinction is that most “athletics” those persons making videos have some demonstrated expertise; any knucklehead can make a WCK video.

Is there no benefit from the study of an art through their materials, without a nearby school to assist in your studies?

**There are instructional videos for boxing and wrestling. Can the info they provide help someone become a better boxer or wrestler?. Sure, provided the info is actually useful and the person watching the videos is actually doing the training.

Would their be any benefit to using these resources to learn the empty-handed WC sets?

**You can use them to learn the choreography of the sets. What then?

OdderMensch · December 14, 2004, 5:32am

All industry is based in part on a fallacy.

I would say that if you want to get good at something in a short (reasonably short) amount of time, you need a skilled person to aid you as often as possible.

How long could you devote to a teacher/area at first in order to start? A week?

You might learn the forms, but with little feedback, you could practice an incorrect interpurtation for months. The changes could be simple and easy to correct, or may compromise whole areas of structure.

While it is possble to overcome many of these problems, it is unlikely that a single individual would be able to do so in a reasonable amount of time, or for a reasonable amount of resourses.

How much would you be willing to pay for such information? $500?

And even the forms, without constant training at sensitivety, lack much without a physical background and a good grounding in basic chinese ideas on context.

If you have 6 months before you think you need to fight, find the best person you can and get them to train you.

If you have 6 years look around some more and train as carefully as you do hard.