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Home » Blog » Martial Arts Training: The iPhone as a Teaching Tool

Martial Arts Training: The iPhone as a Teaching Tool

October 2, 2010 By Sensei Matt Klein

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The iPhone as a learning tool for martial arts

The iPhone is a handy tool for teaching martial arts

How to Use the iPhone as a Training Tool for Martial Arts

Let’s get something out of the way first. I am not a techie. But I got sick of schlepping my heavy, battery hungry notebook with fiddly dvd’s into martial arts training sessions. Through a bit of trial and error, I have figured out how to use my iPhone as a great learning and teaching tool. If you are teaching something difficult like forms, or are workshopping techniques, like complicated grappling moves, this will come in handy. If I can do this, then you should have no problem with it.

Download the Programs

First, you will need the Firefox browser for Windows or Mac. It is free.

Second, go to http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ and download VLC player (windows or mac). This is a great multi-purpose video player, and the reason we need it—it will play Flash files (or any other format). Adobe Flash is expensive and complicated, but if you are familiar with it, you can skip this step. VLC Player is open source, which means it is free.

Third, go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/handbrake/ and download Handbrake. This excellent program transcodes and converts any video files into mp4 or other formats that can be used on the iPhone. This is also open source, and free.

Fourth, get Download Helper for firefox at http://www.downloadhelper.net/. You will need this to be able to copy and save your downloads. This is also, you guessed it, free.

If you are running mac or windows you will need iTunes, but if you have an iPhone, most likely you already have it.

Play and Convert the Video

Ok, here’s how you do it. Go to YouTube or any other video site, pick a short video, up to about 4-5 minutes, on any technique you want to learn. Start it, and as soon as it’s playing, click the downward pointing arrow next to the little coloured rotating balloons (the Download Helper) and save the file to desktop. It will appear there as a “flv” or flash video file.

If you have Adobe Flash skip the next step.

Right click the file and use the “open with” button but do not pick VLC, use “other”, and then pick VLC from the list. First, make sure you tick the “always open with” and then pick VLC. For some reason, you need to do this to convert it to a VLC file. Unfortunately, you will need to do this every time because it does not seem to do this on a default basis.

Once you see the file in the VLC icon format, open up Handbrake, select the file, open it, hit the “source” button on the top left. Pick mp4 as your format, then hit start. You will see it encoding on the bar at the bottom, it takes no time at all. Once it is converted, Handbrake will inform you by saying “Put down that cocktail…” your Handbrake queue is done! Look on your desktop and you will now see the new mp4 file.

Drop the Video Into iTunes

Open iTunes to the movies section, simply drag the mp4 file there, drop it in, and now you are ready to drag and drop it into your iPhone. This might sound complicated, but trust me, after you’ve done it once or twice, you can do the whole process in less than a minute, not including download time. Small snippets are the best as you don’t want to cycle through a long video to find what you are looking for. If you create a long training video, break it down into small chapters that you can use on the iPhone.

Of course, respect all copyrights, you are only viewing it for personal use. Support the creator of the video by visiting their website. They might have something there that you will find useful, whether it be martial arts training videos, martial arts supplies, or whatever you are interested in. If anyone has any shortcuts or better ways of doing this, please let me know. Have fun and go learn something new!

This is an original article by Sensei Matt Klein.

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Filed Under: For the Martial Arts Instructor

New Term Starts 16th October

September 24, 2020
Hey Kenpo Freestylers! The first week of classes for next term starts Friday, 16th October, through Thursday, 22nd October. The last week of term will end on Thursday, 17th December. It is a nine week term. Please mark your calendars! Times and dates are also posted on our website at http://www.karate-kids.com.au/locations/.

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Our regular classes are starting this Friday, the 24th of July through Thursday week the 30th of July. It will be a nine-week term and will continue through Thursday, 24th September. Please see our Locations page for times and dates. Welcome back returning students and we look forward to meeting all new students. Sensei Matt

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Great Deals Online Kids Karate! Welcome back Kenpo Freestylers! We now have pre pay options available on iKarate for our loyal students and families – with something extra… Our way of saying thank you We have been so touched by the overwhelming support for you all for our beloved Karate Club. The emails & facebook […]

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Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate
mihir-joshi-kenpo-freestyle-sydneyOver the years, through Karate, I found that my confidence and self-esteem levels had sky rocketed to heights I never thought it would go. I thank Sensei Matt, and all those who have helped me in Karate, for helping me understand such values in a fun and social learning environment.
Mihir Joshi

See our Karate Success Stories Page for Mihir's story.
09/01/2014
Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate
mihir-joshi-kenpo-freestyle-sydneyOver the years, through Karate, I found that my confidence and self-esteem levels had sky rocketed to heights I never thought it would go. I thank Sensei Matt, and all those who have helped me in Karate, for helping me understand such values in a fun and social learning environment.
Mihir Joshi

See our Karate Success Stories Page for Mihir's story.
09/01/2014
Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate
Friendly yet disciplined approach towards karate at Australia’s Youth has helped enormously. It enabled Mihir to build a sense of belonging and improved his motivation to excel. It’s amazing how learning the Martial Arts helps build confidence and improve overall personality.
Yogendra Joshi, father of Mihir JoshiImage
09/01/2014
Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate
I like Karate because it is really fun and I love going on the weekend to see all my friends and Senseis. Karate makes me feel safe because I don’t worry about bullies at school because I know they can’t really hurt me.Tyvian-Macfarlne-Kenpo-Freestyle-Sydney
Tyvian Macfarlane

See our Karate Success Stories Page for Tyvian's story.
09/08/2014
Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate
The confidence karate has given Tyvian is amazing. He is takes pride in himself and he has matured. The focus, confidence and discipline he has gained through karate has transferred to other areas of his life such as educational tasks, looking after younger children both in and out of his family and demonstrating empathy for others.Robert-Macfarlane
Robert Macfarlane, father of Tyvian Macfarlane
09/08/2014
Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate
I owe my confidence, strength, fitness and leadership skills to Karate. It has taught me to persist with everything and that the only way to improve is to try harder.Adam-Loader-Kenpo-Freestyle-Sydney
Adam Loader

See our Karate Success Stories Page for Adam's story.
09/01/2014
Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate
Look at what you have achieved Matt, we can’t thank you enough for your contribution to shaping these two young men. We are often complimented about the maturity of the boys and we know their Karate has played an important part in developing that maturity. Brings a tear to my eye!
loadersRobert Loader, father of Adam and Jacob Loader
09/01/2014

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