 So here's a question I see and hear a lot. Can I learn karate from videos? Seems kind of weird answering this in a video, but we're going to take a practical look at using videos or even text reference material in your own training. Okay, so can I learn karate from videos? Sure. All you have to do is purchase my exclusive elite Mr. Dan Karate Do DVD set for just $99.95 plus shipping and handling and in six months I'll mail you your black belt. Just kidding. But seriously, don't ever invest in a program like that. However, using video or text material to learn your curriculum does have its merits. Now I want to first kind of define what I say by karate videos. I'm talking about instructional DVDs or instructional YouTube videos, something that shows you in art and kind of breaks it down and teaches you how to do it. I have not talked about movies. I don't care how many times you've watched BloodSport, you can't learn to kick box by doing that alone. Okay, movies are something else, they're glamorized, they're not instructional. So we're taking that off the table. Also I want to point out I am not talking about gimmick or quick self-defense videos. How many times have you seen in the magazine or an online ad it says the top five fail safe self-defense street techniques or three guaranteed ways to defend yourself? No. Those are usually scams because there is no guaranteed technique that's going to work all the time for all situations. So you don't want gimmicks, you don't want quick, you're not going to learn to defend yourself in half an hour, okay? So avoid those. What I'm talking about are actual curriculum videos. Video I believe is a very great source of reference material. It's great for reinforcement. You can see the application, it's kind of a backup to your instruction. It is however not a replacement for a live instructor, okay? Video is awesome. I have used it many, many times but by itself you're not going to get your full benefits from training, okay? You need an instructor who can actually work with you in person and guide you because what's one thing a video cannot do is correct you. So you might think you're doing something right. You might be copying what you see but maybe you've got something fundamentally wrong that you don't notice. Maybe your foot's in the wrong position or your knees aren't bent or maybe you've got a joint position slightly different. You don't want to get hurt. So video is a great reference tool but it is not a substitute for a live instructor, okay? If you want meaningful training, you need the actual instruction and hands-on experience. You also can't spar with a video and if you can't apply what you're learning, you're not really learning the full rounded curriculum. Now for example, how did I use video? And this is why I'm kind of a little bit of an advocate for it because in my system my schools have changed over many times. My curriculum has changed over many times. It got confusing. Instructors switched. We switched from this curriculum to version B, version C. So a lot of times stuff was knowledge conflicted so I used video to go back and refer to old material and new stuff and see kind of what the difference was. Additionally, my school closed for about two years. So for about from 2005 to 2007, I trained on my own. That's when I went and pulled out all my DVDs. I had stacked up even my VHS tapes. I watched them all. I kept myself refreshed. I practiced in my garage. I wanted to stay up to date. Also, there was other material out there so I went and purchased a few other similar curriculums and watched those so I can keep learning. Now, like I said, it's not a replacement for an instructor, but this was stuff I had learned. So this was my way of learning, okay, how is it adapting with some other versions that's out there. And also when my instructor came back and I was training for my second degree black belt, my third degree black belt, he actually would spend a lot of time with me. We went hours on materials and techniques and application. But then he also was awesome enough to record himself doing a video instructing it so I could take that home and practice it. So if I had a question, I popped the video in, boom. Okay, that's right. That was that step or something wasn't working right. Why am I facing this direction instead of that direction? Pop the video in. Oh, okay, got it. So for me in Kempo, it was a great resource for reinforcement, okay? So if I had learned, but it was awesome for reinforcement. I'm also using video now for Jiu Jitsu. I just started it and I'm using it in a different way. I'm not learning from it in terms of, oh, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm gonna learn the whole curriculum by watching video. But what's useful about it is there's a lot of stuff I'm not familiar with. Something I'm not familiar with too is a lot of Japanese terms. This is kind of a fun learning experience for me. Kempo doesn't have Japanese descriptions for techniques or counts or anything like that. So going into Jiu Jitsu, it was a little bit of a culture shock because I get this syllabus and it's all Japanese words. I'm like, okay, I got some homework to do. So by reading that material and going to class and seeing the instructor doing it, he's got reference videos. So now when I'm watching it back, I'm like, oh, okay, words are now reinforcing what I see. So now when I have a question, well, what does this mean? I can go in the video and see it. Oh, okay, it's that technique. I got it now. And you know, it's a learning process, but because I'm watching the videos and even the text material, I wanna be sure to include text material in this as well. It's a great tool to reinforce what you're already learning from an instructor. Also, using videos for backup and reinforcement is amazing for testing your coordination. For example, here's a brand new technique. I know the basic steps, but here's a new technique. You pop in your DVD player on your TV and you're watching it. Well, you're watching like a mirrored image or someone facing the camera. That might not be how you're standing, you know. They might have their right foot back and you find yourself going, let me try to mirror my position so that can get awkward sometimes. So that's also a good way for you to learn your coordination. So when they have that foot back, you know, oh, when they're standing like that, I stand like this, you learn to mirror it. So it's like, to me, that was a fundamental practice for myself because I found myself years ago going, was that right? Oh, there it is, okay. So it's a good reinforcement tool. It's kind of, kind of keeps you on your feet a little bit. Now, a lot of schools will have curriculum DVDs that you can purchase. Be wary if they make you purchase it though. You know, we did a video on McDogos and one of the warning signs is they have a bunch of merchandise that they make you purchase. This is kind of one of that, one of those. If they have a series of DVDs and you have to buy it or you have to do private instruction along with your tuition, it's kind of frowned upon. But if they have the DVDs and they're optional, it might be a good resource to get. I would recommend it, but maybe do it as you, you know, don't go by the whole set. You know, if you're a white belt or a yellow belt or just starting off, don't go by the whole curriculum. Don't worry about the advanced stuff until you can master the beginner stuff. So get them piecemeal, get them at a time unless there's a financial discount or something to get them all. But again, worry about your level. Don't try to use the video that go ahead too far because you might just confuse yourself more than you're helping yourself. Also, I would like to throw in manuals. A lot of schools will have instruction manuals on their curriculum. I found these incredibly helpful. When my school closed, I'd already been training about 11, 12 years at this point. So I knew the terminology. You know, I knew what the front crossovers were. I knew the clock directions. I knew the principles and the descriptions, but there were still a few techniques I hadn't learned yet. So part of my own personal training was I'd watch the videos that my instructors had recorded and that we had had from class reference and I would have the manual and I would read it step by step and I would walk through it. Now, this wasn't for me to apply it and actually say, hey, I know it now, but it was a good start for me to get a beginning idea of the new techniques I hadn't learned yet. The principles were the same. I knew the terminology I could follow through so that when my instructor came back, I at least had a really good idea of it. So with just a little bit of adjustment and him modifying some stuff, I was able to pick it up quicker that way. So manuals can be very, very beneficial, but everybody learns differently. Not everyone can read a technique and know how to do it. Some people can read it better than watching it on the videos. So it's just a tool. So again, videos and manuals, they are not a replacement for a live instructor. They are not a replacement for going to a school, but they are simply tools to reinforce what you've learned. And additionally, I like to throw in some people, some instructors offer online live video streaming. So I kind of consider that more of a seminar. So that's really good for having feedback so you can learn from a video, reinforce from a video, but now you've got the live feedback. So if you do something wrong, they can see it and give you live, real-time correction. It's not quite the same as being in the same room with the person, but it's better. It's better than nothing. So I'd like to throw that out there because some places you offer that, some schools do have that system. And it's just another beneficial supplementary tool for your training. We also live in the age of YouTube. The one thing that really helped me and I find interesting is that you can go see other styles. Again, Kempo has many, many different versions. I like to go and see how other people are doing it. I've seen so many videos where I don't even recognize their techniques and others that look exactly like what I'm doing and everything in between. So it's kind of really cool to see what others are doing and it gives you other ideas. Also, that's within your own system or how I found jujitsu. I knew Kempo, well, I wanna train another art. What do I do? I just started watching YouTube. I watched different schools, different studies. I almost went into judo. I had a debate between judo and jujitsu and by watching videos I kind of narrowed down my focus. So it's a great learning tool just to see what others are doing. There are a ton of martial arts out there. There are so many styles, so many methods to do it and it's really cool to see how others are doing it. And we have the biggest online video resource in the world that can show us. So all this put together, take your manuals, the YouTube videos, see what others are doing, reinforce your own, record classes, play them back. All this combines to reinforce and improve your training. You can get ideas sometimes. You know, I've looked at watching videos from other arts and saw someone pull off a technique and I'm like, oh, I should try that in sparring and either it worked or it didn't, but it was cool to try it and it was a new idea. So can I learn karate from videos? Absolutely, I do it all the time. I don't use it as a replacement for actual training but it is very powerful to reinforce and analyze your material on a deeper level and at your own pace. Thanks for watching this video. Please subscribe, help our community grow and tell me about some of your favorite videos and if you have any recommendations. Thank you.