Posted by Steve on May 06, 2003 at 14:59:01:
In Reply to: Correspondance Programs posted by Dave on May 06, 2003 at 14:41:54:
I think it depends on your current level of experience. If you're already experienced in an art, a correspondence course is fine. You are able to pick up things that a normal beginner would not be able to pick up because you are trained to see things. Plus, a videotape can be good, especially if your instructor is making it specifically for you, because you can use the rewind button and see things over and over. You can't always ask your instructor to rewind.
Forget about systems that only deal with grading. You want a correspondence course that allows you to interact with your instructor. If you aren't sending tapes back just for the purpose of him critiquing you on a period basis, then I think you're not going to get as much out of it as you'd like.
Also, I think that internal systems such as Tai Chi, Bagwa, etc., are more difficult to learn than external ones via video because there's a lot of feeling exercises that you just can't do without someone leading you through.
Incidentally, I think you should treat normal classes like a video correspondence course. Emulate your instructor. This means that you're trying to be more like your instructor (movement wise) without forcing yourself (or causing injury). Your instructor is your example. That of course also means that the instructor better be setting a good example.
Hope this helps.
Steve