Yeah you can do it. Look up synchromesh and dog clutches. With a typical manual transmission all the gears are meshed and spin freely on the output shaft. A dog

Yeah you can do it. Look up synchromesh and dog clutches. With a typical manual transmission all the gears are meshed and spin freely on the output shaft. A dog clutch is used to lock one gear to the output shaft while the rest just spin. Popping the transmission out of gear can be done but it's bad for it. You'll wear out the dog clutches and then it eventually won't stay in gear.