Kung Fu by Osmosis: The Usefulness of Martial Arts Books and Videos

What changes in your recovery if your opponent ducks, slips, or weaves? What about if you want to followup with a cross, uppercut, or kick? On a video, especially to a beginner, the differences are nearly indistinguishable. But with a live training atmosphere, you can truly develop an understanding of these issues.

In addition to these three advantages, a school offers a convivial social atmosphere and sense of comradeship that is not only nice, but can serve as a motivator: there have been days in which I made sure I trained because I didn't want to fall behind relative to my peers. On other days, I went into class not because I was in the mood to train, but to hang out with my classmates. Either way, it definitely helped keep me disciplined.

Does all this mean that I think books and videos are useless in your martial arts education? Absolutely not. These materials can add a valuable component to your training.

• Deeper concepts and history. Sometimes it can be difficult or inconvenient for an instructor to sit down and pontificate at length about underlying philosophies and principles underlying the art. No one goes to wing chun class to learn about Confucius's "Theory of the Mean" - they want to train and work drills and spar. No one goes into their Brazilian jujitsu class with the intent of hearing how social and political developments in Japanese history led to the development of grappling arts, then judo, before emigrating to Brazil. They want to get on the mats right away. But these concepts and history are important to their respective arts, and are not just more conveniently, but more clearly explained in a video or printed format than in an oral format.

• Differing perspective Within a style, different masters can have a different approach and perspective to an art. This is natural, as each master learned to make the art suit his or her own needs, personality, and body structure. One has only to look at the Chen, Yang, Sun, and Wu styles of Tai Chih (Taiji) to see evidence of this - even though they each ultimately derived from the same source. The founder of the Wu style was taller and more interested in fighting, and developed and taught his Taiji to fit this profile. The Yangs wanted something that even the elderly could learn, so their form, while it still has some fighting aspects, became
  The copyright of the article Kung Fu by Osmosis: The Usefulness of Martial Arts Books and Videos in Martial Arts is owned by Kent Fung. Permission to republish Kung Fu by Osmosis: The Usefulness of Martial Arts Books and Videos in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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