At-Home Martial Arts

My work schedule is erratic. I can get a phone call now (8:40pm) and say that I'm on night shift tomorrow. I'm given a week's notice to be told I'm working abroad. As such, I cannot honestly commit to a martial arts dojo or academy at this time. I really want to get into a martial art, though. It's a complete pain.

So I was wondering, what martial arts, if any, can be learned by a solo student at home, and what resources are available that you know of? Youtube instructionals, DVDs, books, et cetera?

That is really hard, there are correspondence courses...

But, nothing beats a live instructor...

Are classes available to you if you had a more set schedule?

Yeah, there'd be classes available to me if I worked regular hours. MMA is huge here at the moment so there's an abundance of martial arts places around.

Yeah, I've been part of an academy before, when I was a kid, so I know the personal experience. I just don't want to commit to something and then be told I'm going a thousand kilometres away, and can't follow up on that commitment.

My aim was just for something to practice out the back or with a guy I work with.

Sure...

Did you practice forms? Did you advance a little?

Start there... Practice ytour forms...

Then do basic with your friend...

He's got an advanced Kung Fu background. I've got a year of Taekwondo, green belt /w stripe. I still remember a bit of it, and I'm surprised that my form is still good. Haven't done any of it in about ten years. I got bored at work and started kicking a truck tyre and he was a bit surprised to see that I had form. Then we talked martial arts. He does crane-style kung fu and blends it with tricking and breakdancing. It's pretty awesome to watch.

I might look up the old TKD patterns and such...

I'm 4th Dan tkd...

The point of forms is to solidify your stances and harden your body in positions....

As well as sparring with out an opponent...

As you advance through the ranks, it is not apparent...

At a certain point, for me, it was like a light switch, you see how the forms are used in the actual moves... I tried showing my students this, lol, none ever said "it clicked!"....

Oh well....... it may some day....

Start with your forms, at the same time, work on practical moves with your friend...

WTF, or ITF?

I know the kukkiwon has the taeguk and palgae forms on their website, I'm not sure where to find ITF poomse....

I hope that helps...

It was a fairly typical McDojo, as far as I've heard. 12 year old me was all "YEAH, Taekwondo!"

Edit: A google search reveals that I did ITF TKD.

there's always the option of creating a "freestyle" or "freeform" style that's unique to yourself...the more contemporary name would be mma...work on the fundamentals you learned when you were in a dojo, use them as the foundation, then experiment with various techniques that just pop into mind, take a few classes whenever opportunity allows and incorporate what you learn...learn from friends with m.a. experience...there's also videos/movies...just remember that most techniques in movies are over-exaggerated, and not practical...but they can be modified to be practical...just like pro-wrestling...a tweak here, a turn there and a harmless technique can become dangerous....

When I got busy with life my martial arts took a back seat and faded away. What I found out and learned about myself has always stayed with me.

I don't see how much you can achieve without combat. Nothing sharpens up you focus and teaches you a quicker lesson that fighting. Dojo fighting. I hated it, did OK but hated it. Learning to deal with that was a valuable lesson.

You can learn form from books and videos but the lessions one gains from one on one combat, with both a superior and inferior opponent, seals the deal.

Ti Chi may be a good practice if you don't have a place to practice fighting skills with a real person. Personally I've discovered Qi Gong but I'm a bit older than you.

You can do the pretty martial "dances" all day, they won't help you be a better fighter. Perfect technique often times is still BAD fight strategy. So you would need to ask yourself what your trying to accomplish.

If you want to be a better fighter, get a practice partner. Skip the classes. Spar and have a mutual end of getting better at fighting. Use minimal gear, glove and a mouth piece mostly work. Shin pads if your doing a lot of kicking i guess. DON'T spar for points. Spar to the ground or fatigue.

If you want kongfu dance, then yea, that is best learned in a do jo. I am not a fan of Mc Dojo's and takeyour-do.