Which style can be mastered alone ?

Hi,

For the last 10 years I have done some intense weight training but for the last

two years I have migrated completely to yoga. I also do some pushups & burpees (just for warmup)

I always wanted to learn a style which involves speed like Kungfu

So, I wanted to know,

a] Can I learn Kungfu by studying online material only ?

b] Will practicing alone work ? I mean I am worried that when it comes to a real self defense all those practice may prove to be ineffective.

Please help me getting started. If you feel kungfu is not the correct style for me feel free to suggest a style. My second choice is kick boxing.

My details :

Age : 29

Height : 5, 6"

Please reply.

 

No. No. No. No.

I can't understand why we see so many of those posts with people trying to "teach themselves" martial arts. Does it REALLY seem plausible to you? Role reversal, would you pay to train under a dude who thinks he knows a martial art just because he read books on it and made up kata in his garage? Nah, you'd probably say, "Well forget that guy, my time and money would be much better spent under an instructor who was actually taught this martial art, rather than one who just wanted to play pretend".

Use your head. Of course you can't. There are schools for a reason, find one, pay for it, show up to class, and do it the right way. Sorry to be blunt, but there's so much available information out there that this question should never be asked, by anyone, ever.

 

@ Devil Hanzo

Thanks for your honest opinion.

You know there are no good martial arts school here (Kolkata, India). I found

one but it seemed really like a "scam".

I guess I need to forget about the whole learning martial arts idea.

Thanks again.

 

From google it looks like there are lots in your area so try them before you give up

 

Osu,


Ashihara International is pretty strong in India.


Osu!

 

Internet-fu.

 

im going with devil on this one. you cant learn kung fu by yourself, but you can practice by yourself, I myself study wing chun kung fu. under my master, who has mastered many arts in his life so far. these arts are almost impossible to spawn in todays day and age. they have lasted for thousands of years because people went to a dojo, and learned, therefore the knowledge is passed on. but I am in the same boat as you martian. I need to get into a school to learn now. my master recently passed away, and I was not able to finish my training. but if I learned one thing from my master it was and I quote "practice with no mind"... do it until you can do it blindfolded

-drew

 

Practising alone wont work.
i dunno if Kolkata is like Punjab, but go can go into the pind (villages) and learn some wrestling...
really though, if you want a practical martial arts, kung fu will only work if you have the right teacher.
Google more.

Hyburn -

so true.
i started practicing blindfolded and its realy helping my awareness and sparring.

 

You can't learn any martial art on your own, as has been said, but you can get fitter and stronger and do some meditation which will help you.

The bottom line is, if you want to be confident that your arts will work against an opponent then you have to train with opponents!

 

Osu,


I agree that you can't really learn much on your own...

However, this begs the question:


How did the first "master" mastered his art???


You can now take parkour classes, yet in the late 80es', the initiators of parkour were just kids jumping from one building to the next in France suburbs...


Osu!

 

By punching faces.

 

By drawing on their experience of fighting and of previous training in already established arts (which were essentially a codification of the collective combative wisdom of others, discovered through experience)?

PS - Your parkour analogy is a clear fail.... :S

 

osu,


Maybe KillaGorillas, maybe...
Thank you not for either explaining me why you have this opinion, or giving a better analogy, as you seem to know a lot.


Osu!

 

Well it was just an afterthought so I figured I give you a chance to suss it out for yourself

Parkour is essentially a solo practice, as in all it requires is an able body, some urban terrain and an unhinged attitude towards your physical saftey. Theres no disconnect between practice and the real thing. So if you wanted to learn and develop your parkour abilities you could either look at stuff online and take to the street to try it out or you could just take to the street and learn from trial and error yourself unaided (probably the slower road though). You can do that all on your own.

Fighting is by definition a paired activity. If you want to develop your fighting ability or found a martial arts system then you will need to be drawing from a significant amount of experience in actual fighting and testing your ideas in actual fights... which you can't do on your own.

 

Osu,


Thank you for giving me "chances"...
And thank you for your explanation too -------- I am not as certain as you are that there is such a large distinction as you describe...


Osu!

 

None, BUT: I think there are certain things you can do on your own that can make you better at fighting, I wouldn't go so far as to call them a 'martial art' though. The problem is that without input from other people and experience from actually fighting, these things become of debatable value. Shadowboxing, for instance, is a bit pointless if you aren't practicing what you know works. Bagwork without sparring will develop the power of your strikes, but it won't do all the other things that it does when practised in the right environment.

 

If there are good MA schools in your area, then there's no problem. Best of luck.

I checked. They don't seem to have any outlets in Kolkata. :cry:

You are so lucky in this area. China is full of good martial arts schools, isn't it ?

Yes, I am working on it. If I don't find anything worth trying I am thinking of

trying this >>>> http://www.boxing4free.com/gym/punches.html

 

He didn't do it by training alone, that is certain. He did it by trial and error fighting other people, keeping what worked, ditching what didn't. Then he probably taught it to his son(s), who did more trial and error refining what worked and so on through the generations. I'm sure the first person to master fighting wasn't in the first few generations.

Well but parkour doesn't require a partner. You can get better jumping from building to building, by jumping from building to building but even there you'll improve faster by training with someone more experienced who can tell you better ways to do it. You don't really get better at fighting by not fighting.

 

I'm not trying to be flip, but if there really are no martial arts schools there and you really want to learn then you'll have to move.

You might find this article interesting, it's about Aikido but the ideas about training apply to any style. Clarity and Self-Delusion in One's Training by George S. Ledyard Sensei Ledyard is a 6th dan in Aikido who has been teaching full time for over 20 years

This paragraph in particular applies

 

Need to keep my mind out of the gutter