Are videos an effective way to learn BJJ/MMA striking/ or any other type of MMA? Or are classes better?

go to http://www.youtube.com/submissions101

look up escapes, holds, chokes and arm-bars

Hi there Basically its all down to which parts of the world the art comes from. History has shaped the forms and how they were practiced. Karate for example comes from Okinawa and its not a Japanese art but more of a chinese one. You find that the chinese arts come from the imitation of animals in battle or a re-enactment of a fight. Bundle this together with the history of banned arts in okinawa and the result is big forms. Japanese arts such as judo and jujutsu come from kobudo or koryu battlefield arts. These schools were mostly formalised after the 1500's when the fighting was all done and dusted in japan. Basically warriors that survived their experiences came back and wrote down techniques that worked for them on scrolls called densho which then became the kata and list of techniques that are practiced today. Theres many views on sequence kata being used to hide its secrets or that it represents a fight sequence? No one other than the founders know for sure. So really its all boils down to history, location and purpose. Theres no real answer other than that. As for the benefits of doing them in sequence rather than singular depends on your opinions and views. Both have benefits and disadvantages but if all you do with them is memorise them and collect them then a kata libarian shall you be. The principles behind the movement are whats important not how they are strung together. Your footwork might be technically correct, your dynamic tension and breathing excellent but if you cant extract it and apply it in a variety of situations then what really is the point? Art for art sake. Yet art is creative by its very nature and not by numbers. Learn it, extract it, use it! Best wishes idai

if you try and learn something by watching or by sight, you might forget easily especially if you are not a visual learner. in the case of sports kinesthetic or rather tactile learning (physically doing an exercise) is the best, most efficient way to learn things and for them to stick. jiu-jitsu is a sport that take a lot of practice and even years to progress in for instance you start with a white belt, it could take you a year to get a blue belt. even up to 4 years to get a purple belt it all depends on time on the mat and how well you learn and progess.

Absolutly not. Videos are supplementary. Not a replacement for a gym. It would be absolutely impossible for you to learn BJJ by yourself, without a training partner, much less through video. You simply will be wasting your time if you do it through video.

The reason why is because in order to learn correctly, you need to apply correctly, meaning you need to practice with a fully resisting opponent. You also need an instructor in order to tell you if you're doing it correctly. Without one, you maybe doing something right in your head, but in reality it maybe wrong.

Please don't waste your time. Go to a gym/dojo

classes. i would think a 20 year old in college would be smart enough to figure that out