As the time goes on and technology keeps progressing and developing, we are often tempted to look for the latest piece of training gear, gadget or app that could propel our training further and faster. In that search for new and more it is easy to lose sight of the fact that often the improvement can be achieved quicker by working on the old. Specifically, on mercilessly identifying and removing the mistakes we make in practice, and with this insight working on enhancing our performance through the elimination of own weakness(es).
Of course, this identification process is best achieved in the presence of a good instructor/coach. But what to do when left to one's own devices? Exactly that - use the device we all normally use on the daily basis! While martial arts have been around for much longer than video recording technology, I am dumbfounded that there is still so many people who fail to recognize the valuable aspects of regularly taking footage of their training.
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| Not all cameras are spying on us |
If you are on a true, incessant pursuit of improvement in training, video recording is priceless help. Even if you do have a coach, they are only able to see and process so many things at once, but when analyzing footage, it is possible to rewind, slow down, isolate and really focus deeply on any little minutia of the practitioner's work. Even more so when forced to work on your own. And it works both ways - finding out good solutions that have emerged spontaneously in some situation, and then trying to work them in one's regular game; also, recognizing the recurring mistakes and omissions that need to be eliminated.
Cameras can be very useful in a group setting, too. As an example, when the whole class is involved in an activity, some people may be more successful in doing it, and the video footage may later be used to better explain to other trainees how to approach it more effectively.
Finally, if you are an instructor in a system that does not rely on ranks/belts as the means of tracking the student's progress (or even if it does), as I have witnessed in the RMA circles, you will be regularly met with students' periods of doubt and resignation with their progress. Naturally, it may lead to their sub-optimal effort, or even giving up on training altogether. In such situations, letting them compare their performance, captured on video in the span of a few moths can offer a great boost to their confidence and motivation to carry on with the work.
A word of warning - depending on you age, pulling out a phone for its camera capacity may tempt you to make the training session into a posing session for Instagram or TicToc or whatever... Make sure that other participants in training also understand that at issue is not a demo, but the regular workout, so that you would have authentic material input to work with it for the benefits down the line.
