Can you learn/train from watching movies?

[rebbryan]

yes you can. athletes use "visualization", in which you visualize yourself doing something properly, because you know your limits and how your body moves and bends. with practice, you can get it pretty good. but it does depend on what you're trying to learn also. watching proper shooting techniques and movements and visualizing yourself doing them and then practicing them will work.

If you mean watching Jet Li or the like (Steven Segal and Jean-Claude VanDamm come to mind), then all you'll probably learn is how to put yourself in a very vulnerable situation by trying some outlandish move that looks awesome in the movies but is totally unsuitable for reality

I have to disagree, pool ball in a sock could definately whoop some ass

 

[Damon]

Movies are a bad source of instruction for anything.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Nothing beats actual practice.

You can learn how the move looks from a video or book, but until you try it on a person, you won't truly understand it. A friend and I tried sparring from the "Rocky" movies and discovered a few things. "Rocky's" technique would have gotten him beat to a pulp in a real ring. His ability to take a punch left us bloody and in a few cases, in stitches with concussions.

Take the "movie" techniques with a grain of salt. Practice the "video" techniques to see if they actually work. Nothing beats ring time for actual practice.