Honestly, I think the best way to get better is just to fight with other people. If you lose, so what? You can't expect to win every time. Hell, when you are just starting out, you should not be expecting to win at all, but you should be trying. You should experiment. Let people in the room know you're trying new things out, for you've done nothing yet. A lot of people are cool, and nice, and will help you out, and just fight with you the whole time.
I started off on a white belt, played around with the Uke a little bit, but not much. I just did the fighting school a couple of times to get those moves down, and then jumped right into Multi-Player. At first I was getting brutally beaten. Arms torn off right at the start, and whatever other bad things can happen too quickly. Then I started to get the hang of it.
Start off learning how to maneuver yourself. How to move your body in certain situations. How to relax, and how to hold. When to relax, and when to hold. I am still new, and I am still pretty bad. I can get beaten quite a bit, but I can still now win my fair share of games. Just bust right into the action, and don't give up.