Hi! Sorry to barge in like this but you seem like you're pretty knowledgable about martial arts so I just wanted to ask you do you think it's possible to be self taught? And if so, which martial arts is the best to start off with? I know there is no substitute for an actual instructor but my job schedule changes and I have more bills than money so I'm kind of short on resources. I REEALLY want to learn though. :/ and yes, I am the "20 year old wanting to learn wing Chun" person hehe.
So I answered a question like this, sort of, once before, and I wanna share part of what I wrote on that other ask:
While it’s not a bad thing to learn from videos or books, as long as you’re dedicated and put in the enormous effort required, a teacher is quintessential for corrections, proper development of technique, stances, guards, and of course, so that you don’t cheat during training.
That said, maybe find a friend willing to help. Imitate the videos as best as possible and keep a critical eye on each other, always looking for mistakes when it looks different than in the videos. If alone, find a big mirror and scrutinize yourself at every moment. Learning styles like these, alone, is complex, and takes a lot of time, effort, patience and a lot of discipline. The smallest shortcuts or cheats means ten steps in the wrong direction. But, it is not impossible to learn and get good at least up to a basic to intermediate level.
We were talking about Bagua, but this can applies to any martial art.
So, it’s not impossible, as long as the practitioner pays attention to as much detail as possible when looking as demos and instructions, either from video or books, and replicates what they see as best as they can, and then practice as much as possible, while being careful not to develop bad habits.
It is a bit easier to self teach when the practitioner has martial arts experience past intermediate to advanced level. Depending on their discipline.
Now to start off with, I would recommend a system that isn’t very complicated in it’s movements, such as Karate, or Moo Duk Kwan, and to start by learning as much detail as possible about their basic punching, kicking and defense (blocking) style, practicing those basics first, and then learning their basic forms (should be 2... 3 at the most). That alone should keep you training for at least 6-8 months, before needing to move on.
