Wim Demeere's Blog

Martial Arts, Self Defense and a Whole Lot More.

How to learn techniques from video, Part 2

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In part one of “How to learn techniques from video“, I mentioned there are different kinds of videos. Let’s look at that a bit closer.

You can make three broad categories of videos: Live footage, demonstration, and instructional videos. These three are all vastly different from each other and that’s where the trouble starts: if you expect one and get the other, you think it sucks. If you believe  instructional videos are “The Truth”™, then you’ll think demonstrations are bullshit. If you truly believe the best way to fight is what you see in live footage (because it’s “real” and the everything else isn’t), then you’ll laugh at instructional videos .

I believe these two sayings apply whenever you want to learn from a video:

  • Don’t compare apples with oranges. Know what you’re looking at and judge it as such.
  • Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.Instead of focusing on what you perceive is bad, look at what is good, interesting and potentially useful for you.

Especially this last part is crucial. I’ve been reviewing books and videos for a long time and I have only one goal when I write them: Find the value in the book and who would benefit from it. Maybe the book didn’t do much for me, but that doesn’t make it useless. I always try to write something positive in a review and only rarely fail to find it. It’s a matter of picking the good between the bad and mediocre that may also be there.

Throw out the one, not the other.
Throw out the one, not the other.

It’s the same thing with watching a video: If you want to learn from it, whatever that “it” may be, start looking for the positive. If you only want to validate and reinforce your own ideas, that’s fine. But then don’t complain you can’t find any decent videos because you find them all crap.

Back on track, let’s talk about those three categories:

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How to learn techniques from video

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I first wanted to title this post “How to learn fighting techniques form a video and avoid making a fool of yourself.” but that’s probably a bit too much. So I left out the last part but you know it’s there. :-)

I’ll get to  “learning techniques” in a bit but I want to cover something else first. Namely, this post is a case of several random things coming together:

  • I first wrote something on this subject in the last couple paragraphs of this post.
  • I just finished taping the introduction to the free-video lessons for those who subscribe to this blog. In there, I comment on negative reactions on Youtube.
  • Two days ago, I read Bob’s post about some of the feedback he received on-line.
  • But what kicked if of was a a pretty rude reaction I got last week on one of my Youtube videos.

This is a rather old video, one I shot in LA a couple years ago with the help of some dear friends.

As I said before, I’m used to getting silly, stupid and rude comments on my videos and that’s fine. Somebody saying I can’t fight my way out of a wet paper bag doesn’t change my skills for the better or the worse. So why should I get upset about it?

However, when my teachers tell me I’m doing a terrible job, that’s when I bang my head against the wall in both frustration and shame. After picking myself up from the floor, I do all I can to fix the problem they corrected me on. But some anonymous person on the Internet? Fughedaboutit! ;-)

Anyway, “80KungFu” left the following comment on that video:

What are you talking about? The man (Wim Demeere), clearly says, him self, that he is using Tai Chi techniques! Grasp the birds tail and single whip fucking whip! Now I dont agree with his knowledge (mostly I think his Tai Chi skills and knowledge are terrible), but he stills says that he is using Tai Chi techniques! So what the fuck are? you talking about?

80KungFu actually deleted his comments after I sent him a mail explaining:
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Advice, wasted on the young

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I was teaching class this week and found myself unable to completely get across certain things to my students:

  • Why you need to turn your hip completely into that kick, even if you hit plenty hard without it.
  • Why you should always come back to the on guard position in training.
  • Why hitting hard is not the most important thing and pursuing only that limits your other skills.
  • Why it’s vital they follow procedure when training and not get creative before they have more experience.

The list goes on and on. Each of those points requires a long explanation to do it justice when they ask “Why?” But class is not the place for that. So as a teacher, I try to condense the most important keys to answer the question and still get the point across. But that inevitably always leaves out so much. And too often, the student still doesn’t get it.

How do I know? When I spot him doing the exact same error five minutes later instead of practicing what I explicitly told him to. Not all students are that way but many are. It isn’t “fun” to drill in a correction until the error goes away. Sparring and hitting the bag is cooler. But it’s through that error  that they’ll get tagged by the opponent who spots it. And then all the other cool stuff will be useless.

Teacher says, student does...

It isn’t as simple as that, but I’m making it simple to get the point across: many times, you’re better off just doing what the teacher says instead of asking an explanation. Not always, obviously. But most often, you need to follow the advice and not ignore it or simply gloss over it.

I’m not a big fan of the old Chinese teaching method of “Shut up and do it because I tell you to” but it does offer some benefits in this specific area. If a teacher gave you advice on how to do things, you did it until he said otherwise. This is a powerful teaching method. Flawed, potentially dangerous, but it works. Here’s a good example, from my failing memory so don’t sue me if I get the details wrong: [Read more…]

“Don’t be a knucklehead”

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I got this clip via a mailing list I’m on and want to give mad props to Mr. Owen. First, listen to what he says:

“Don’t be a knucklehead”. Isn’t that the truth? At every stage in your training, there is one consistent factor: the need for technical training. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rank beginner or have been training for decades, you always have to focus on increasing both your technique knowledge and skill. Why? Simply because there is no alternative: one day, you won’t have anything else left to make the magic work.

Strength fades as you get older, speed goes away as well, anaerobic conditioning will become harder and harder to do and so it goes on. But technical skills and experience only continue to grow. The one caveat  is that you have to maintain a minimum of physical training to access techniques. Technique can compensate for a lot of deficiencies but there is a physical threshold you have to pass or it won’t work: If your body is as solid as a wet noodle, that Neanderthal brute who’s pissed at you for “stealing” his parking space will blast through your exquisite technique anyway. So there are physical minimum requirements you can’t ignore.

On the other hand, I’m not saying you can neglect your physical attributes anymore when you reach a higher skill level. Technique can certainly trump raw force but what if you can maintain your speed and strength to the highest level for whatever age you are? Wouldn’t that trump just having loads of skill?

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Dojo brutality turns butt-ugly, Part 2

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In my previous post, I commented on Bobby Joe Blythe and what a disgraceful show he put on in his dojo. There were a bunch of comments on that post and I also received a fair bit of email. So let me put things clearly:

  • What happened there was pretty sad for all involved and looks criminal in nature.
  • The part of my post mentioning the importance of “context” is in no way an apology for Mr. Blythe’s actions. I thought that was clear but apparently not. So here it is one more time: Mr. Blythe and his black belt can rot in jail for all I care. You don’t act that way with students, visitors or anybody else who steps into your dojo.

Now that this is cleared up, here’s something else: Dennis mentioned something on my Facebook page, how Mr Blythe reminded him of another video. Here it is:

This clip has been on Youtube for a few years now so it’s nothing new. It looks pretty brutal and harsh but I don’t think it’s the same as what happened at Mr. Blythe’s dojo. First some background: [Read more…]

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