New Beginners FAQ

For me I've found that just by doing something is better than nothing. I wanted to get started when I was younger but lacked $$ and a place to train/ I would train alone, but when I first started learning formally, it really showed as I had the mind for what they are teaching and picked it up fairly quick.

Best thing is learning directly from an master/instructor, next best thing is finding a training partner and some good training videos. Just by observation and practice you can pick up quite a bit.

In Krav Maga, they just jump into the hitting pads and practicing the techniques as real as possible. It's different than TKD or Kung Fu, where they want to train the movements first (kicks/punches). But so just by beginning and training as close to reality as possible you will see quick progress. And then when better opportunities come up of where you can train, you can jump in and get started.

 

So if you have no experience and your training partner has no experience who decides when things could be better or are not quite right?

I cut all ties with club I helped to set up because the "teacher" was learning Jujutsu from distance learning DVDs and then trying to pass it off as Aikido. And when the techniques didn't work in class as they invariably didn't, he couldn't explain why. Which left me with the job of trying to figure out what he was actually trying to do and why it wasn't working. I wasn't pleased at all when I found out what he was up to.

If it works for you then fantastic. Based on experience it's not something I can recommend.

 

Learning to swim is useful and swimming is a really good way to keep fit. How old are you?

 

Yeah that is true, there are things that are not so easy to spot and things can go wrong when you don't understand how it's applied, often there needs to be someone to point it out.

About finding a training partner and some vids, that's just an option if you can't find good instruction, but by all means, go and learn from someone that's the best route if it's available.