[Help] Martial Arts Question

[lumineth Realm Lord]

If you wanted to learn Martial Arts, but didn't live anywhere close to a class, what would you do?

 

[HellenaHex]

There are some online classes assuming you’re okay with contact free. You can buy books on it, I personally own some on jujitsu and Krav Maga. There are many free YouTube Chanel’s worth checking out on the subject as well as useful quick tutorials on instagram by teachers of self defense. You could also order DVDs on a martial art you are interested in. Anyway, those are the best options I can think of if there is no where to train locally.

 

[HoldAll]

As boring as it may sound, the best start in your situation is to get fit. I mean it. Books and online videos overstate the importance of technique as if it alone was the answer to everything – it isn’t. All martial arts rely on strong support and postural muscles as a fulcrum, whether for throws, blocks, punches, or kicks, so I’d recommend bodyweight exercises (plank, crunches, etc.) instead gym weight machines which isolate the arm and leg muscles with enganging those support and postural muscles. Brazilian jujitsu guys swear by

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, it’s one of the best bodyweight systems there is.

I wouldn’t recommend any formal systems like karate and similar Eastern striking arts, there’s too much room for error here if you don’t have an instructor to correct your mistakes, mistakes you won’t even notice as a beginner, like tilting your pelvis backwards instead of forwards which will make you fold like a concertina the moment you hit a solid object. If you’re able to enlist the help of a friend for those pool noodle drills I wrote about, this can be a more reliable way to learn blocks instead of repeating the same old formal karate blocks for years. Incidentally, a good idea would be to acquire a boxing heavy bag or fashion yourself a

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(

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) – in this way, you’ll acquire a solid and firm stance instinctively instead of practicing formal stances for years and years. It’s how boxers learn to punch effectively, learning by doing instead of following theoretical instructions.

Throws, locks, and chokes probably can’t be learned without a partner but that’s outside my area of expertise.

 

[Taudefindi]

If you wanted to learn Martial Arts, but didn't live anywhere close to a class, what would you do?

Online classes can be done for certain types of martial arts, and those can be paid or free, depending where you seek them.YouTube for example has a great range of professional martial artists that can teach well the basics of their styles, though I would stick with the easier to get into ones like Boxing, Kickboxing or Muay Thai.But I can be a bit suspicious in talking about that as I do have some previous background in martial arts so it isn't as if I was starting from scratch.

As @HoldAll said, you could focus more on the fitness aspect rather than the technique.After all a good condition will serve you way more than learning the techniques, and once you can join a gym or somewhere to learn face to face from a master/coach your body will be primed for it.
One thing I got recently(to help me with my reflexes and proprioception) was this:

You can find small ways to train yourself now, that will translate for pretty much any martial arts you seek.
As for exercises I do basically just calisthenics(save some exceptions where I use weights), usually a mix of exercises I already do for my theater practice, Desi wrestler workouts(mostly sapate) and the exercises taken from Georges Hébert's Natural Method.

 

[HoldAll]

One thing I got recently(to help me with my reflexes and proprioception) was this:

What an excellent idea for solo training in that video! It will also teach you that punches should be retracted to the guard immediately after landing as to avoid leaving you open for counter-striking – some grappling arts and self-defense systems seem to proceed from the assumption that a striker will always leave himself open after throwing a punch, giving grapplers enough time to grab the arm and do their thing, when there’ll hardly be any time for it in practice. I suggested letting a friend pelt you with ping-pong balls to learn blocking and dodging but a reflex ball is even better (also see

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here!).