Teaching yourself a style.

Is there anything on the net like videos that teaches you certain fighting styles? I am moving soon and am thinking about learning something. My friend wants to do boxing but i am to tall for that and dont have the kind of required build. I think something like karate or kung foo **** would be more for me :p
 
A school would be best.

I did watch some techniques for ju jitsu off of youtube to be better prepared for class. Though if something looked particularly difficult I wouldnt attempt it without instruction.
 
For teaching yourself a style, books are the best way to go if you can’t find (or more likely can’t afford) a teacher. There are many websites that will teach you a few moves, but most people won’t post all the requirements to move up the ranks on-line. Or if they do, they usually breeze over the specifics. However, I saw one judo site () that has a wealth of information. I’m yet to sift through the site to far, but from what I saw this is the pinnacle of what you’re likely to see on the internet for any art.

I’ve looked for kung fu on the internet, but there are so many sub-categories of kung-fu that it’s hard to a lot on any one type.
on a side-note I'd really like to stress to you the importance of cross-training. Bruce Lee knew how to box (and only stood 5’7”) and he knew wing chun. Even if he had to fight somebody who could out-box him, he could use other tactics instead. That's what made his methods so effective.

One trick to finding things on the internet is that it helps to know a little bit about the art you want to study. I for instance wanted to know how to do some of my poomse (Tae Kwon Do forms) but I couldn’t have done that unless I knew they were called poomse. So really it comes down to finding a book or two and doing internet research.

If you want to gain rank in a particular martial art, there are some schools who will test you for a small fee or sometimes free even if you aren’t training with them regularly. They may even be impressed you’re finding this stuff on your own.

Well, I’ve rambled enough. If you want to know more just post to let me know and I’ll see if I can tell you anything.
 
Is there anything on the net like videos that teaches you certain fighting styles? I am moving soon and am thinking about learning something. My friend wants to do boxing but i am to tall for that and dont have the kind of required build. I think something like karate or kung foo **** would be more for me :p


Not to discredit you but there are boxers and MMA guys like 6'7... But you can "instruct" yourself. Buy a book or a video set and get on point. But having an experianced person walk around you while you practice and show you the way to do something or to bend lower or punch lower, well a video or book cant do that. never been a fan of videos and books are ok for different exercises but most people are tactile (physical) learners and need that person there to help that person

good luck
 
personally i think teaching yourself a style of any martial art will lead you into a false sense of self security.
theres a point where you need to interact and spar with others.

where abouts in aus are you smithy?
 
Is there anything on the net like videos that teaches you certain fighting styles? I am moving soon and am thinking about learning something. My friend wants to do boxing but i am to tall for that and dont have the kind of required build. I think something like karate or kung foo **** would be more for me :p

Dude, what are you talking about? Don't have the build for boxing? Are you looking to compete? Because if you're not, than build is completely irrelevant and i don't know your specific stats but from the look of your avatar, you look kind of lanky and rangey, which is much more suited to stand - up than ground fighting. DON'T waste your money on kung fu or karate. It's been proven that in real fighting situations MA's such as kung fu, karate, taekwondo etc don't work. If you're looking to defend yourself on the street than i strongly recommend kickboxing or muay thai or even boxing. It's never a good idea to take a street fight to the ground (for obvious reasons) but i think some basic JJ would be useful to you as well so maybe look into that. Hope this helps.

Oh and yes, there are several videos about on the net that can teach you various fighting techniques. A little bit of trivia for you - Former UFC middleweight champion actually taught himself MMA by watching DVD's and tapes and didn't start training at a camp until well into his fighting career. So yes, you can learn a lot just from watching tapes but it takes i believe it takes a special kind of person to do it entirely this way.
 
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Are you looking to defend yourself? You should know that no style is good for defense. Every style has a weakness. If I remember right, karate teaches kicking techniques which is a big no-no in real life fighting. Boxing is good for self-defense, but you might find it hard to apply it in real life since boxing usually teaches to tire out your opponent, and in real life, you don't want to test this out on someone bent on harming you.

The key to self defense is not to inflict harm on your opponent. The trick is to get away. Harming requires you to remain in one place until the harm comes into effect. If you're looking to harm people who attack you, then you're learning nothing. Self-defense requires sudden attacks that debilitates your opponent long enough for you to run away. You want to concentrate on blocking blows and landing good, strong, sudden punches in the face, groin, and stomach areas. Learning sensitive areas of the human body, you can gain a lot of knowledge in self-defense. Screaming works too, as well as physical violence. A well placed kick in the groin has been known to cause women and men to scream in pain on the ground for several minutes. A well place poke in the eye has been know to blind and stagger someone long for several minutes.

In all, remember, never go on the ground, never try to harm your opponent, and keep as much distance as you can from yourself and your opponent, and try to determine what your opponent is about to do. He can't hurt you with a knife if you're 10 ft away. But remember one thing, if someone is determined to pluck a hair from your head, they will succeed; they might end up with a broken eye socket, and some missing tooth, but they will succeed.
 
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You should know that no style is good for defense. Every style has a weakness.

shame on you....just kidding :) Have you ever heard of DT?

The key to self defense is not to inflict harm on your opponent. The trick is to get away. Harming requires you to remain in one place until the harm comes into effect. If you're looking to harm people who attack you, then you're learning nothing. Self-defense requires sudden attacks that debilitates your opponent long enough for you to run away.

Yes, and no. I agree they teach that you want to be able to inflict enough harm to get away, but it also depends on what sort of danger you are incurring. There may be times when an all out "it's them or me" mentality is in order and that requires that you can basically kick the sh*t out of someone so they can no longer do you harm "I'm in fear of my life" times.

the legal definition is:

Self defense is the action by which a person protects himself from any bodily harm arising out of an encounters or attacks from other person either by protecting him or by blocking the opponents advancement by a counter attack.

I may seem a bit extreme, but I have had my share of bad scares. I use to live in a big city and I fought off a rapist, I have been stalked (by someone I didn't even know and was thought to be an armed robber by the police for 7 months), mugged at knife point, came face to face with an armed robber as he exited the bank, and been shot at to name a few. In a couple of those situations, I would have used lethal force if it had been an option and I would have been justified.

A well placed kick in the groin has been known to cause women and men to scream in pain on the ground for several minutes. A well place poke in the eye has been know to blind and stagger someone long for several minutes.

Definitely some good tactics.....

In all, remember, never go on the ground, never try to harm your opponent, and keep as much distance as you can from yourself and your opponent, and try to determine what your opponent is about to do.

Two very good points, but again I disagree, I will do harm if the situation calls for it. I'm not going to try and figure out what they want, if they advance all bets are off.

I'm sure my view is a bit warped. I hear about the criminal element of our society everyday, and have to deal with the chance my husband may not come home from work one night. I have no tolerance for criminals.

It's like I tell my husband, if someone breaks into my house, first I'll send the Rottweilers after them, then they'll be looking down the barrel of my shotgun and hear "take one step towards me and you're dead" and if they do, it will be the last thing they hear, I'm a great shot :D
 
I have to respectfully disagree on several points.

1. Teaching yourself a style would be a total waste of time. You will miss out on learning proper form, sparring, discipline, self control, etc. Many of the fundamentals of karate cannot be taught via YouTube. Form is very important as to not injure yourself. Sure you can learn basics like kicks, and punches. Go try to break a cinder block with improper form and see how well that video has taught you.

2. I have trained with some bad ass mutha ****ers in various styles and trust me if you know what you're doing any size guy can take down any size guy. Sure you're not going to do acrobatic flying kicks in a self defense situation. I have subdued bouncers at a bar, and some guy who threw a punch at me at a bar. I have never actually struck anyone as I think I would seriously hurt them. But wrist manipulations are your best friend and they work very well. I have also disarmed someone with a knife back in high school. I'm confident that I could hold my own in any situation on the street if I had to.

Please if you are interested in learning a form find a good instructor one that isn't just in it for the money. Passionate instructors are out there and you can usually tell who they are by observing a few classes. My son and I were lucky enough to find one through the local parks and rec. We are currently taking Ishinru classes. I'm not a huge fan of this style because it is more for Hollywood than anything else but the instructor is very good, its great exercise and its affordable.
 
I have to respectfully disagree on several points.

1. Teaching yourself a style would be a total waste of time. You will miss out on learning proper form, sparring, discipline, self control, etc. Many of the fundamentals of karate cannot be taught via YouTube. Form is very important as to not injure yourself. Sure you can learn basics like kicks, and punches. Go try to break a cinder block with improper form and see how well that video has taught you.

2. I have trained with some bad ass mutha ****ers in various styles and trust me if you know what you're doing any size guy can take down any size guy. Sure you're not going to do acrobatic flying kicks in a self defense situation. I have subdued bouncers at a bar, and some guy who threw a punch at me at a bar. I have never actually struck anyone as I think I would seriously hurt them. But wrist manipulations are your best friend and they work very well. I have also disarmed someone with a knife back in high school. I'm confident that I could hold my own in any situation on the street if I had to.

Please if you are interested in learning a form find a good instructor one that isn't just in it for the money. Passionate instructors are out there and you can usually tell who they are by observing a few classes. My son and I were lucky enough to find one through the local parks and rec. We are currently taking Ishinru classes. I'm not a huge fan of this style because it is more for Hollywood than anything else but the instructor is very good, its great exercise and its affordable.


Did i read that correctly?
 
Sorry mate, teaching yourself a style is a waste. No sparring, no professional instruction? You would get crushed. Do your research and head to a good school.
 
Is there anything on the net like videos that teaches you certain fighting styles? I am moving soon and am thinking about learning something. My friend wants to do boxing but i am to tall for that and dont have the kind of required build. I think something like karate or kung foo **** would be more for me :p
There is but you can always do your own style by taking something from evrey style and making it bettre

I have trained some Karate and Boxing so it's just mix it up and there is also some videos on the internet
 
Is there anything on the net like videos that teaches you certain fighting styles? I am moving soon and am thinking about learning something. My friend wants to do boxing but i am to tall for that and dont have the kind of required build. I think something like karate or kung foo **** would be more for me :p

There are videos out there to help. I have the Pat Miletich Fight to Win series. It's a series of 6 videos.

There are many series out there like this. It's a nice start, especially getting down the basics like footwork and such. But A class would be best, but it wouldnt hurt going into a class knowing basics.

With this...Evan Tanner a 185lber in the UFC started his career off by videos, no classes and begain to take classes after a couple amature fights.
 
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