Step 1: Ask
Regardless of your actual level of skill the people around you may often have things that they can teach you if you take the time to ask. So the answer is yes. This becomes doubly so true if you're new to the game. When in doubt about anything just ask the nearest vet to try to have them clarify for you. When it comes to teaching/training you should still ask for whatever they can offer you. Many vets aren't at their prime any more and as a result enjoy teaching new people even more then they used to. There are some vets who still just want to fight, so if someone tells you they aren't interested in training you make sure you respect their wishes and move on.
Step 2: Learning the approach
Even the most well meaning teacher is going to be vexed if you approach them the wrong way. So there are certain things to avoid when trying to get a person to teach you new things. The first thing to do is make sure that they have both the time and the energy to teach you something. If the person is in the middle of fighting or is otherwise occupied by doing a fighting related thing, that's probably not the best time to ask them to teach you something. If a person has also just stepped off the field due to fatigue, injury, or just needing to stop and breath for a while that's also not a great time to try to get them immediately back on their feet to teach you something. That having been said approaching a person who is off to the side of the field to let them know that you're interested in learning something is probably the best chance you'll get so you can do that so long as you don't expect them to train you right at that second.
Step 3: Picking a subject
There's also something to be said for knowing what you want to learn. I have 13 years of fighting in my head that covers everything from basic footwork to the particular angle and height you hold your weapon in order to best block or strike. If you just show up and ask me to teach you something I'm going to be at a loss of what to do with you. Watching me flail at trying to figure out how to teach someone florentine is already sufficiently entertaining because of the amount of knowledge I have of that thing. Asking me to teach someone either everything or anything just means I stand there looking confused. Now, you don't have to have all the answers, or know exactly what you want to learn, you just need to give your teacher some place to start. If you're brand new, that's probably footwork, blocking, and basic swings. Getting those down right is time consuming.
Step 4: Hey, LISTEN
If you're going to take the time to ask them to teach you then make sure that you're actually going to listen. As a person who has spent a ton of time training people nothing gets me more aggravated then having someone ask to be taught but then who isn't actually willing to learn. Getting as good as I am took me years and it's because of the time that I put in to getting better that I've reached the degree of skill that I have attained. There's no single trick or magic that will allow a person to suddenly get good overnight. You don't need to spend all day every day training to see improvement that will come from fighting at least once a week but you do need to be willing to practice the skills that you learn. I've seen this in the form of people who are too busy talking to actually listen, I've seen this in the form of people who don't want to learn fundamentals because they think they're boring, I've seen this in the form of people arguing with me over the things I'm trying to teach. If you want to wander off and talk to people then by all means do that... but not while you're trying to learn. Socialize or train but not both. You may not want to learn fundamentals because you just want to learn that one sweet move, but if you're new, chances are that you aren't yet skilled enough to pull that move off and need to spend time honing your skills before you can execute that shot. Questions related to a teacher's instructions are fine and welcome but telling a person who you asked to teach you that they're wrong should make you question why you asked to learn from them in the first place. If you think that what they have to say is invalid then why bother asking them for their opinion in the first place?
Step 5: Practice makes perfect
Most skills are not taught in one session. If you really want to get better it helps to have a dedicated teacher. Once you've got one of those it's then up to you to make sure you follow through. There are plenty of people who I've taught one thing to one time. The number of actual students I've had is a much lower number. All of the things above that are good to do, keep doing. Find your teacher when they aren't in the midst of fighting or exhausted. Ask questions about what they're teaching you so that you get to understand it better. Take the time to listen to what they tell you and practice the skills that they impart to you. When you see that they have free time remind them that you want to learn more. As an added bonus try to recall the last thing you learned so that they don't have to. As the student you only have to remember what you learned, as the teacher they have to remember everything they taught to all of their students. You have the easier job in this particular exchange :-P.
When All Else Fails... Any Vet Will Do
While having a dedicated teacher is nice because they can help you along the way you don't actually need that to get better. When in doubt and wanting to learn new things, find someone who has beaten you in a fight and ask to spar them. At the end of the spar talk to them about it, ask them if they see anything you can work on. What shots were they throwing that managed to get past your guard? Ask them to show you those shots. What part of their defense was giving you trouble so that you couldn't bypass it? Ask them to show you how they'd deal with that particular strategy.
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