It is possible to learn swimming from a instructional video?

People that say you can't learn from media are addressing it from a very limited perspective. It is a reasonable argument that sounds logical, but it is being argued in paragraphs. This forum doesn't even allow for succinct explanations, in the rare cases that require them.

Knowledge is power. When stated as such, it is easy to argue. What good is knowing how to punch, if you live on an island with no other living creatures? What good is speaking 5 languages if you only know people in da hood and dat b da crib? Realistically, learning from books, or media as we have now, when approached from the view of "Can this be learned online or through media?", the answer is generally no, because of how the individual responding is interpreting the question.

Historically, rulers feared books, because that had the potential to give the uneducated the opportunity to know what they might. It forced them to think, and thinking is not often conducive to loyal subjects treated as animals. It wasn't the knowing so much, as the thinking and what they did with it. "Knowing is not enough, we must do. Willing is not enough, we must apply." (Bruce Lee) The burning of Alexandrai and other historic erasures of knowledge, was due to the fear that knowing would be done, and willing would be applied.

The argument of, learning Karate from a dvd jumps forward to will you be able to fight? Nobody takes into account, and I agree, most won't, but it is presumed the person will do this isolated in a cell and is not smart enough to work out, it just might take testing. "Can I learn to fight if I take Karate online?" "No, because your mechanics will suck, you have no opposing force, no partner to gain a functional replication of a fight." This is mostly true, but discounts that person having a brain.

For instance, the suggestion of taking someone never having been in the water, giving them a sidestroke video, and leaving them 100 yards from shore. There is a very good chance that person drowns. However, if that person "eases" in as you have stated, discovers they haven't drowned but got more than expected and the rush of adrenalin was not all that comforting, they might say, "ok, I don't think I did this, I forgot to do that.", then watch someone in the water, go back to dry land practice, presume you have refined the technique, go back in, and manage to swim. Now take that person 100 yards out, and they have a much better chance of making it, albeit in a sloppy manner.

A kid, and that is most of the people asking questions here, most likely will not be able to self examine/critique/adjust their online training and be able to "swim" when it hits the fan. I would never advise it, but it can be done in rare circumstances. Basic form for basic technique, can be had in a book, dvd or online.

When my daughter was three or a little older, she began to watch the Johnny Wiesmueller (sp?) Tarzan movies and when we would go to the local pool she would try to do what she had seen him doing in the swimming scenes....

She taught herself to swim by watching what amounts to a video.

One actually can learn techniques and kata from videos, and many have, however, until one has practiced the same with an opponent (at first with the same being a willing partner and eventually getting to where they are not as cooperative so as to force one to truly learn the technique) they will only know a movement without application which can and often is impractical.

I agree with anyone that says this has nothing to do with martial arts.

Media does not teach. It should be used as a reference to what has been taught; not as the instructor. The media can't tell you if you are making a mistake. Media can't help you make adjustments to your technique. The media can't help you if you begin to drown when you finally get in the water.

I have worked in education fir over 14 years. I was over technology. I had to remind instructor all of the time that computers do not teach. The computer is a tool that can be used to supplement what has been taught and to reinforce what has been covered in the classroom. The computer can help because some learners are visual, some are auditory learners, and some are more hands on. Integrating technology into the classroom helps to reach all 3 learning style better than some individual teachers do without the use of technology. Reason being many teacher only teach rote material or to one learning style when in most classrooms you will have several different learning styles that need to be addressed.

Depending on whom you believe there are 3 learning styles or 5 learning styles. I believe there is a small sect that says it's 7 learning style.

3 styles

auditory

kinetic

visual

5 styles

visual

logical

physical

aural

verbal

for 7 learning styles you add

social

solitary

No matter which theory you subscribe to they are all addressed if you use methods to include the first 3. But it can be broken down further into the 5 or 7. Every person uses more than one of the learning styles in order to learn. In other words you may be a strong visual learner, but you can also learn by auditory stimulus. You get a better understanding quicker visually but can be reached by a teacher that lectures.

But if you are very weak in term of being an auditory learner a teacher that only lectures will lose you as a student. They have nothing to help you.

Nope.

Go ahead and try. But... do it for real:

Go watch a DVD on how to swim. Then have a friend drop you off 100 yards out from the shore line. Use a boat, ski-doo, or surf board. If you come back alive, then you would be proof that you can learn to swim by reading/watching.

Remember, though: no cheating. If you're going to do it completely from DVD, then do it completely from DVD.

EDIT: It's not that you can't learn from DVD/internet, it's that the learning medium must be appropriate for the subject. You can't learn math from a book without writing down the questions. With swimming, martial arts, music, or science: it all requires hands-on. Why do you think you are required to take labs before passing physics, chemistry, and biology? Same principle.

Don't be silly. You can't learn swimming by watching videos. You can't learn it even with a teacher. You have to get in the water and swim, to learn what it's really like. That's how you learn how to swim.

That doesn't mean you ONLY swim. You can add other things to it. Whatever method you use, you NEED to incorporate swimming into it. You can practice on a table, you can practice with weights, but in the end, you NEED to actually get in the water.

I think this is a really poor example. I learned swimming at about 8 years old long before videos were available and I never read a swimming book in my life. I never once had a swimming lesson, not even the help from a parent before I reached 17. I could swim 45 minutes straight in my early teens without having to stop and cross our mountain lake where I lived. At 17 I got my lifeguard license being one of the youngest life guards in a different country than the US where being a lifeguard is much more involved and demanding than in the US.

I am also trained in martial arts and let me tell you it's not even like comparing apples and oranges. The motions of swimming vs the motion of martial art is nowhere even close within each others league. There are 'sports' which are motion studies and martial arts falls under that category. Swimming does not. Just about anybody could teach himself to swim more or less, like I did but if you want to be any good you will eventually get training, like I did.

Besides, in martial arts if you do it wrong you will not know without an instructor and since you are so full of yourself already thinking you can teach yourself it is very unlikely you will see your mistakes and make corrections. Swimming is a little more unforgiving. You don't do it right and refuse to make corrections, you drown. You get immediate feedback if you do it wrong. Not so in martial arts. If you try to learn martial arts like that sustaining injuries in fights before you figure out how to do it right you just might have injuries to such extend that your training is over or you are dead. Sure you could learn to make a fist and swing and if you bend your wrist upon impact a few times you just might figure out how to make a tight fist and keep your wrist straight but martial arts gets much more complicated in it's moves than that. Water pretty much takes care of your balance when swimming. Not so on the ground. Footwork, proper body alignment and other things all come into equation too to make a technique.

I could go on about many more differences in training and in the motion of swimming vs martial arts but it is simply too tedious and unproductive. Someone who wants to learn from a video and does not want to listen will do so and nothing will convince them otherwise. So no, I do not agree with you at all.

If you learn in a school then do go to a tournament, not a high profile one, one of the more local ones where everybody goes and try to pick out the people who learned from videos. I am a judge and it is really easy to see unless you yourself learned from a video. There is also a really good reason why you will never find such competitors at high profile competitions.

jwbulldo has it right. Watch as much of other people doing martial art as much as you want, but learn and practice with an instructor. You may then use the knowledge you gain from watching in some meaningful way. But sadly, he is right in that you will likely get hurt sometime without proper instruction. Martial arts are a very potent and powerful thing with which we all can hurt ourselves. Good luck, and be careful. J

You will succeed....You do not need to do it on a dry land though...I swim in the pool and in the sea since I was 4. Mainly in the sea....The sea is like home for me....

P.S Some things that some people are telling you that are impossible, I have see them happening and some they were not even that much of a big deal. So a good question should be.....why do some say that certain things which many times are not even that much of a big deal can not even be happening.????

P.S 2 I have explained it a few times on similar questions:)

No you can't learn how to swim by watching a dvd. Or reading a book. You need someone to show you how to do it. The same applies for the martial arts as well, thanks!

Instructional videos and books are only reference material. What is wrong with you people? Do you think the answer is going to change the more you ask the question? Why don't you find an instructional video on juggling chainsaws and see if you can do that from watching videos.