Can self taught martial arts be effective?

Q&A with the coach

Shanghai based MMA Coach and Kunlun Fight Combat League ringside commentator Ramsey Dewey answers questions from the viewers.

This channel features original music by Ramsey Dewey

[davidtheamazing]

Get into lifting weights, if you don't have weights then lift heavy rocks and logs, also run long distance, physical fitness is one of the best martial art. At least that's what I did, I started lifting when I was 11 and didn't get into martial arts until 20 and I was able to learn quick because on my athletic background.

[elpanamoe]

"Do you want to be better than crap, or do you want to be better than good?".
Priceless!

[KirstenBayes]

What I'd say is there's always someone to learn from. My dad was a cop, so he taught me and my sister. Grandfather boxed in the army. Neighbour did judo for many years. They're not classes but you'd be surprised what you can pick up outside a formal dojo. Sparring and trying it out is key.

[shaytepes]

Experience is a great teacher. To be humble enough to know when you are out-classed is something most find out after a couple black eyes.

[GhostRider-hyzt]

The moment Ramsey realized he almost told a minor to meet strangers on the internet is priceless.

[Yace]

When I was a kid I used to train in my garage lifting weights, hitting my punching bags and makeshift cobra bags. Also I watched and studied a lot of boxing through YouTube videos. When the time came for an underground boxing match I knocked out the other kid. I also knocked out my cousins abusive boyfriend when he attacked me. I was 14 and he was 20 and had at least 60 pounds on me.

[lancepabon]

There's no way to find the holes in your technique without sparring, especially against opponents better than you...

[scottmacgregor]

I know someone who was self taught and wound up taking bronze in his first tournament. It's not the norm, but it can be done.

[inyalgaico]

I actually started out self taught with the right mindset its very effective but you need to test yourself

not to different from playing a multiplayer game in single player mode sure you have practised and learned but eventually you need to compete with others to see how effective you really are

[GeorgeOu]

Back in the old days, former UFC Champ Evan Tanner taught himself jiu jitsu watching VHS tapes. Obviously that's nowhere near as efficient and effective as going to a good Jiujitsu gym and being able to train under John Danaher. But we have to make do with what we have.

[tedsketches]

My guy has a voice like buttermilk goddamn. I would love to listen to a narration by this beautiful man.

[TheKillaMethod]

If your smart and stick to simple effective techniques and martial arts than yes you can learn by yourself. Stand up is easy. Grappling is not as easy. In anyway you need to test yourself with live opponents.

[swim.p]

You can learn a good bit on your own but you still need to put it to the test

[jeffreylook]

Every martial art started off self taught developed by an individual or a small group. It's the refinement of those techniques over time that make it effective against what they're training against. Without further adaptation due to changing circumstances and threats, it will stagnate. Learning from the established traditions will cut down on the learning curve. Is it better to make your own martial art or learn an established one? Maybe you're that kinesthetic genius who can learn very easily. What is a martial art? Basically a system of self defence initially.

[bosschick]

I am a self taught nunchaku user im just picking up on staff and I do boxing at home plus 30 to 50 kg weights I train over 15 hours a week just on the nunchaku alone.ive never been in a club I do not conform to one art as I like to be diverse. A method to my own perfection in my training is i film myself and look back to see my faults and correct it.im very critical on myself and im absolutely strict on myself.

[garyleeheard]

Growing up, we never had dojo in our town but I wanted to go somewhere and learn how to fight . As I was always bullied badly as a kid ..even when we finally did get a dojo. Still my mom couldn't afford it monthly.. instead of asking every week how about now . I rented every book from public library and school library on karate, Taekwondo, Boxing, jujitsu, kempo.. just anything I could learn from I grabbed it . Even a gymnastics book as well for better stretches and learning proper way to flip . I studied each book for as long as I could rent them out . Went out in the yard and tried my best . Punching and kicking the air or on cardboard fridge boxes ..most of the time the bullies would always travel in packs my case was 7 usually.. they were never bad ass alone .by the time I reached 15. My brother bought me a birthday gift . Tao Of Jeet Kune Do book, some of it I didn't understand but he would go out and spar with me pretty much full contact. Every day after school that became my home work . 1 day I finally got my chance and was tested . Got jumped in bathroom by 3 dudes . Man I never felt better . I knew then that it paid off . The way I learned to block from Bruce Lee was bad ass . These kids never picked on me again . Some of their other boys tried it on the bus .. you know, the old spit wads and tripping in the isle shit...1 kicked me into the other dude . Then pushed me into the other . I Thrust kick him back down on his ass, back fist to the other one and that went on for a few minutes.. once I walked off bus . I apologized to the driver . Cause I never caused issues on way home before .he said to me Gary Lee about time you kicked their asses I'll see you Monday .
Self taught might not be complete accurate on the exact form but it is a thing that can help if your options are limited..100 percent. Saved me from anymore bulling and from that point no more people bullied me and others that were like me or in my shoes or even my friends with disabilities.. I stood up for them all I was no longer afraid . And now as an adult . Where I am a little more financially stable I have thought about joining a Dojo close to me . Just because it has been something I've always wanted to do . Earn my degrees . Even tho self taught has done me great . Choice is ours ..

[WeaponryFitness]

I am for the last 22 years self taught in Capoeira, Taekwondo, and Ninjitsu. Still very active. I don't compete but I use it as mental and physical therapy. I may not be the best fighter in the world, but I find myself much more physically capable than the majority of those around me.

[martintanz]

I am a defense attorney who once represented a guy on appeal who was a "self trained martial artist". My client preferred to train in bladed weapons such as knives and swords. And he started to carry knives on him so when the time came, he would get a chance to use the techniques he practiced on the streets. And that day came one night when two drunk guys who had just left a house party in his neighborhood had words with him. The guys were unarmed. My client had his knives. And a physical confrontation ensued.

The good news was, the techniques that he trained were effective. The bad news is, when he used the techniques, he seriously injured two people and almost killed one of them. He went to trial and wound up serving 10 years in prison.

Had this guy worked with a good martial arts instructor, he may have learned some non deadly techniques for self defense that would have served him better against an unarmed attacker in a self defense situation than using a deadly weapon in a situation that didn't warrant using a deadly weapon. Or at least, he might have learned the difference between controlled violence in a gym or dojo vs. the uncontrolled violence in the street.

[swordsmen]

"the unpopular weirdos in the corner" that was me to a T back in high school and I've wanted to learn how to fight for years.

[ethienosinsky]

I've been training strking for a bit more than a year, i met a Muay Thaï guy who trained and competed for a decade, we sparred and i managed to not get rolled over and tag him multiple times, but he did say "I was going somewhere [if i kept training]"