My friend Paul Genge, a RMA instructor from UK, has
recently written about the place and role of curriculum in training this type
of combat methods, and what shape it should take. (For Paul’s very good and
insightful article, go here: http://combatlab.russianmartialart.org.uk/blog.asp?blogid=2
)
This post is my attempt at offering some guidelines in that
regard. It needs to be clear right away, that the following methodology of teaching
and training in RMA is not my own breakthrough, but rather the accumulation of
knowledge and experience that has been embodied into what is now known as
HomoLudens approach to martial arts, coming from the instructors in the club
Vukovi (Wolves), with whom I have had the pleasure and privilege to work.
The first thing should be sorted out is what is the main
focus of teaching? Is it on passing some specific body of knowledge in a more
or less intact form, or is it making the students, as individuals, capable to
express a degree of fighting competence in their own performance, and
naturally, with their own individual style. We happen to be inclined towards
the latter, which in turn dictates certain “progression”, or maybe it is better
said hierarchy of things. The first issue is somewhat based in our integrity as
a club – we teach what we believe the student NEEDS to know, not what they WANT
to know! So far, it has pushed away many a Specnaz wannabe and Youtube
“warrior”, who were focused on the image of things, over the substance. While
maybe not the best business policy, the Wolves refuse to be feeding people’s
illusions for mere monetary profit, and instead we offer an honest and
authentic environment to train in.
HomoLudens club Vukovi
OK, so what is it that a student of (Russian) martial art
needs? I guess there are as many answers to this question as there are
instructors. The viewpoint also plays a significant role here – is it dealing
with common types of attacks; mastering some “high percentage, surefire”
techniques; having ready-made answers to wide variety of problems etc.
Our starting point is the bodily ability to deal with
certain physical realities, pertaining to combat. Yes, those are many, but some
fundamental ones are: free movement in space, comfort in any plane and any
level of movement (standing, kneeling, squatting, sitting, laying and anything
in between), handling the force of the opponent, issuing force of our own,
emotional composure in dealing with all of the above.
Now that the needs have been identified, one can work on
learning about the best way to execute those movements, i.e. the proper
mechanics of delivery, and then honing and polishing them. Here we come to a
couple more important points to cover. One is that our teaching, like in most
other RMA schools, is based on the emphasis of principles over prescribed
techniques. That does not mean, of course, that techniques are unimportant and
irrelevant, far from it. Everybody needs techniques that best illustrate the
principles that form the core of a training method…however, a technique is but
one possible expression of a principle and should be taken as such. Therefore,
the drills are meant to instill the command of a principle, not to build the
“automatism” of a technique. It means that as soon as the student gets a grasp
over the principle, he is exposed to the dynamic, fuzzy type of drilling, where
his technical expression will have to adapt “on the go”, in effort to properly
respond to the demands of the situation.
Think of it as the conversational scenario when taking a
course of a foreign language. You do not practice your grammar by “drilling”
the same sentence over and over…at least I hope you don’t.
Speaking fluently?
What you take a look at it, there is a sort of dichotomy
here – on one side you need to develop good and efficient mechanics of
delivery; on the other you need to be able of adjust it to the context at hand.
The former focuses on technical precision, the latter on the emotional
composure that enables the adaptation. How do we put the two together?
This is where the great insight of HomoLudens founder Alex
Kostic comes in handy again, i.e. his formula of symmetrical and asymmetrical
“work” in fighting. I have already discussed this distinction before, so let me
go straight to how it applies here. We use the symmetrical approach to
developing and refining the mechanical efficiency and technical precision,
while the asymmetrical work is employed in enhancing the contextual
adaptability, along with its emotional/mental component.
Alex Kostic
If we are to get back to that language learning metaphor,
the symmetrical approach is building your vocabulary and grammar, the
asymmetrical is becoming conversational – thinking in a foreign language,
without the need to translate every single sentence in your head.
My previous post/rant was about doing some complementary fitness training along with your martial art activity. However, in order to avoid becoming a muscle-bound brute, you need a good training regimen, and in the following review I would like to present an excellent option.
Let me say from the start – I have absolutely nothing about training with standard weights (barbells and/or dumbbells) and doing it within the environment of a standard gym, as long as you know what you are doing. However, for some reason (actually, quite a few of them) I have always gravitated to other forms of conditioning and physical training, bodyweight being my preferred mode of operation here. (Nevertheless, revisit my post about the Torqueblade Torsion Training to see some other things I enjoy in this regard).
I do not remember exactly how and when did I first hear of coach Greg Mihovich, but at one point his name started popping out rather frequently in my inquiries about various functional training methods for martial arts, so I looked for a bit more info on his background. To cut the story short, the following article pretty much convinced me to contact him and try some of his stuff:
The two of us sort of hit it off immediately (may have something to do with our Slavic ethnic background), his approach made a lot of sense, and I decided to invest some time in following his training guidelines. To that end, I ordered three of his products, which are reviewed here.
Primal Conditioning 1
While I thought for a moment that the description reading “Definitive guide to complete body mastery” was on a cheesy side of things, even after the first “run through” overview of the package had me in different mood. Actually, in the context of strength training, the only thing that could get you closer to that goal would be joining the nearest gymnastics club… Still, if you’re not in your early teens (like I most certainly am not), even that might not be the right answer.
Anyway, the first thing that really resounded with me immediately, when it comes to Greg’s Compound Conditioning is his emphasis on movement, over the isolation of body parts/muscles. If your are looking to improve the level or performance in your chosen activity, instead of going for the esthetic appearance, this certainly makes a lot of sense.
In order to cover as much ground as possible, Mihovich differentiates between several basic human movements: squatting, pushing, pulling, bending, extending, rotating; and when it comes to treating the core of the body, he works it both its stabilizing and movement initiator roles.
So in this 2-DVD set, we get to see eight categories of exercises: squatting, pressing, bridging, pulling, flexing, rotational, plank and what he calls the upside-down group. Demonstrated in each group are several exercises and their variations of different degrees of difficulty. Coach Mihovich gives some very good pointers regarding the proper technique in doing each exercises, and some of that advice has improved my performance almost immediately. That said, I really like the balance of his verbal explanations – not so verbose to bore you, yet detailed enough to cover all the important aspects.
Now, we come to another feature of Greg’s instructional training products. The DVDs themselves are used to offer a sort of thesaurus-like format. It means there is a chapter dedicated to each of the exercise (sub)groups, so you can find them easily. His explanation of basic program making and exercise selection, along with sample workouts is offered in the accompanying booklet/manual. It is by no means extensive, but covers all the bases you need, including the sample routines for the basic, intermediate and advanced level. The rationale behind those is touched upon as well, thus making it pretty well-rounded.
There is enough material here to keep you working for a long time, especially if you also do some “scull sweating” and use the presented exercises and training principles to compose your own programs after going through all the samples offered in the brochure.
The only question I was left with is how come more people are not using this format in their instructional packages?
Iron Beast Conditioning
This one deals with the use of kettlebells in physical fitness training. Just like the “Primal Conditioning, it comes as a package of videos (3 DVDs!) and a manual (at 25 pages of information, pretty good one too).
In line with the nature of the beast, coach Mihovich divides the entire material into two big categories – grinds and ballistics, and then has them further subdivided into basic movement or skill groups (yes, you’re wielding an external object/force here, so there is some skill involved in doing it properly).
Being a good and responsible coach that he is, Greg opens up with a chapter on preliminary skills and exercises and safety tips. Try not to skip those if you are not already a veteran kettlebell swinger (just could not resist that one:-))
The manual starts with a list and comments on some universal training principles and guidelines one should consider if they are training for performance. Now, this is neither exhaustive in the number of principles mentioned, nor in-depth in the coverage of those that are, but will point you in the right direction to research.
Without the detailed overview, the exercise categories demonstrated are:
I. Grinds: - squatting
- pressing
- rotational
- bending
- pulling
- flexing
- mixed group
II. Ballistics: - pulls (swing, clean…)
-presses
III. Combination lifts
The booklet also outlines the sample training programs for the novice, intermediate and advanced, and the latter two include full and abbreviated options. However, there is also the program for those who would like to get more specific and try the kettelbell sport program, and that one is three phases (four weeks each); and finally the fat loss program if that is what you’re after.
Again, a brilliant package.
Amazing Mobility
Of course, if you only focus on strength and over-emphasize that aspect of the fitness training, you may risk becoming bit stiff. In order to prevent that you should take up some mobility and stretching regimen, so this DVD covers that for you.
The exercises in this one are not revolutionary, but they are presented in a nice manner and in the order that makes much more sense for your body that simply jumping all over the place in a random fashion. Greg treats all the joints and body parts with care, making sure that there are no holes in your overall plan.
That said, we all do have different problematic areas, and you should be honest with yourself here. Unlike the case of strength programs, which are more easy to quantify (via the number of sets and reps), the mobility is concerned with the quality and range of your motion. In practice it means you should focus on and do more of the things that are difficult and uncomfortable, instead of dwelling on the exercises that are easy, comfortable and make you look good.
In this video (and a booklet of course) we are shown mostly the set of exercises done in the standing position (although there is a bonus chapter on the DVD with some more “grounded” exercises), and the brochure discusses how you can use it as part of your warm up before other training, as means of active recovery or as part of what is called the morning recharge routine.
Through my communication with coach Mihovich, I found that he also has a program of ground mobility exercises. What’s even more important, I had the privilege of seeing it and hope that one will also find its way to the general public in another excellent training package like the ones reviewed here.
Finally, you can contact Greg and order these products through his website:
http://undergroundgym.com/
Every once in a while, I get reminded that what once may consider to be “common sense” is not all that common after all. Nowadays I am not any more surprised when finding out that not everybody shares my pint of view on things, but in certain aspect it still leaves me scratching my head and wondering how come.
One issue that repeats itself in this regard is the aspect of physical preparation and conditioning in martial arts training. It only seems normal (to me at least) that in the age of info dissemination we have today, the importance of having some solid foundation in physical training is certainly helpful and desirable, as it can only help your “specific” training, or in this case the chosen system of martial arts.
This domain in training is usually known as “attributes training” and covers a wide array of physical, physiological and psychological qualities, ranging from very general to very specific for a particular activity. For some reason, some of those attributes tend to be unanimously welcomed in any of the fighting methods (eg. speed, endurance, sense of timing), while some are even frowned upon in certain schools. One of those, for reasons beyond me is strength.
OK, this is not the goal
Granted, raw strength should never be used (in training that is) to compensate for the lack of proper technical skill and training, but I would really like to know why in some martial systems having a good foundation in strength is almost equal to cheating? I’d say it is childish to assume that somebody is a “muscle-head” just for being strong, and it usually means stronger than the one “calling names”. Sure, we’ve all met a mindless brute in our years of training, the archetypal guy who only comes to a class to bully other people and then say he doesn’t even need martial arts. Those types usually get their ego busted sooner or later, commonly by someone much smaller and physically weaker (again, I had the pleasure of being the “message courier” on a couple of occasions), but such people are not the subject of my rant here.
In some of the so-called gentle arts, and I include BJJ here, during practice (meaning live rolling and sparring, not drilling a predetermined technique) one side will sometimes manage to pull a technique that should normally end up in “100% sure” submission…but the other partner resists and even breaks out of the bad position. While some people will take it as part of the game, others will cry “foul!” and accuse the partner of muscling his way out of it.
First, in my experience, if a person is able to get out of your submission attempts it most frequently means the technique was not performed just right. However, even if the other guy was actually so strong to resist your armbar, leglock…hmmm, isn’t that something worth considering and including in your own training? Especially of that other guy is just as good as you technically, or even better. After all, everybody wants their sports car to be both good looking and powerful.
Best of both worlds :-)
The way I look at it, strength and speed are just as much elements of proper technique as any of its mechanical details, so they should be trained accordingly. After all, the old JKD saying “attributes are fuel for your techniques” rings as true as ever. Not to mention all the “side effects” of good physical preparation, like injury prevention, faster recovery, ability to train more and with higher intensity etc.
In the end, there might be a lesson to learn from gymnasts. On any decent level of gymnastic competition, it is pretty much unimaginable to see an athlete who is not at the same time an impeccable technician and as freakishly strong, as part of the same package.
The way to go
So, if you are practicing some martial style, even in the arts such as aikido, wing chun or any of the weapon based arts, do yourself a favor and include some solid physical exercising regimen into your overall training. Or at least, do the favor to those of us who do and stop complaining about your own failure to do so.
To set things straight right away, this post will not be dealing with the focus in the sense of being fully present, “right here, right now” during each and every one of your training sessions. As hard as it is sometimes to maintain, I take that one as understood. Instead, I will touch upon the question of one’s focus in view of the entirety of their training. The big picture if you want.
We have two basic widespread problems here, of course, on the opposite sides of the spectrum. One is characteristic of beginners and young practitioners, who are so concerned about covering as much ground in the shortest time possible (running through the belts, or whatever grading system is used, if it is implemented in their chosen school). In the process, they lose sight of the fundamental principles and teachings, so while they may end up having a fairly complete idea about the system they are studying, they also have a fairly shallow understanding of any of its parts, let alone the whole of it. That reminds me of people who run through a museum to see as many things as possible for the price of a single ticket, but in the end do not really remember anything they had seen.
The other problem occurs when a practitioner (either beginner or advanced) stumbles upon a portion of the system that they really, really like. Now, in this case, liking means feeling very comfortable with the execution of the moves (favorite drill, technique, exercises), so just for the sake of enjoying it, the trainee loses from the horizon the place of that segment within the entire system, i.e. the purpose it is meant to achieve. In extreme cases, this will even lead to the skewed view of the system itself.
Distance? Structure? Power?
Probably most frequent appearance of this is the notion of “flow drills” and “sensitivity/softness in training”. The former is quite spread in the Filipino martial arts, Indonesian silat, pushing hands in some Chinese boxing styles etc. namely, in order to make those drills really flow as water, the exponents will often disregard some fundamental principles like mechanics of delivery, posture, footwork and so on. And of course, when they engage in sparring of other drills with resistance, they wonder how come none of their hubud and/or siniwali never seem to appear in those. The analogy I have for this one is a person who reads a book and stumbles upon an illustration they really like, but then only thinks of that particular illustration through the rest of the book, while losing the track of the plot .
Mechanics? Power? Balance?
The overemphasis on softness is traditionally characteristic of aikido, but seems to be spreading throughout the world of Russian systema as well. What was meant to be the exercise developing the evasive ability on defense and swift changing of targets/attacks on offense, has turned into the totally non-resisting performance that hinders the development of both competent defense and offense. So much so, that even the people who offer even the slightest resistance, as in the case of simply waiting for the technique to just start actually working on them, are frowned upon as “brutes and muscle-heads”.
Posture? Intent? Balance? Power?
While there might be such thing as the guiding idea or overarching principle in any martial art system as such, keep in mind that there is no single best training method to attain it, especially not to a degree that would allow and justify completely neglecting everything else. Can you imagine a student of physics who becomes so mesmerized with learning Newton’s second law for example, that he or she then never moves on to any other laws and principles of physics?
Naturally, it is absolutely necessary to have some teaching/learning progression in place when embarking on the study of a martial art. However, none of those steps in the progression is be all end all, otherwise all those other steps would not be there, would they?
Of course, there is always the matter of different people training for different motives and aims, but even they would benefit from keeping things in perspective, as that would help them keep track of how to best enjoy the aspects they like.
If you are one of those who had found the article on guro Roger Agbulos and his Lameco Astig style of eskrima/arnis, it is my pleasure to invite you to the seminar he will conduct on June 2 in Holland, near vicitnity of Amsterdam.
The address of the facility where the seminar will take place: Kapap Center Europe Address: Weversbaan 9B Leiderdorp
The seminar will start at noon and go on for 6-7 hours, so it will be a great opportunity to try first hand the excellent teaching and training methodology of this brilliant instructor.
I will be there, so if you are one of the people who read this blog, please do not hesitate to drop by and say hello...
In my previous post I offered a piece of my mind with regards to the use of instructional media, and what qualifies those media as good or not. The product reviewed here meets the criteria for the former category with flying colors, and if I may say, could stand as the model of a well-executed instructional book.
Before touching upon the contents, let me first address the form it takes. As obvious from the title, at issue as an e-book, but certainly not like the ones you have probably accustomed to. Namely, it is not in one of the familiar formats, such as PDF or e-PUB, but rather comes as sort of a software application that needs be installed on your computer and then registered online with author Erik Petermann. While that may sound as bit of a bother, it is well worth the effort. Namely, once it opens the layout is very clear and flows continuously within each chapter. There are no pages as such, and each chapter looks more like a web-page, so you can move through it simply by scrolling down, which makes the reading somewhat easier and faster. Also, from each chapter you can choose to go to the previous one, next one, or jump back to the table of contents. NOTE: Mr. Petermann, according to his own admission, has spent a lot of time and money on finding this solution, in order to prevent the information in the book from getting in the hands of just any irresponsible individual or hormone-driven kid, which means it cannot be copied or printed, so you will have to deal with reading it on your computer.
The material is processed and presented just brilliantly. The author’s writing style is amusing, tongue-in-cheek sometimes, yet serious when needed. If you like the books of Marc “Animal” MacYoung, you will find yourself at home with this one, although I’d say it is even better, since it does not spend much space on author’s own “war stories” and digressions, as amusing and useful they may be in MacYoung’s case. While Petermann covers a lot of ground and topics, each one is given just the right amount of space and time in coverage, so the amount of redundancy is minimal. Certainly helping in making the book easy to follow and to the point is the fact that the author himself underlines in the introduction, when describing the Piper system of knife handling in combat as something “…so different, yet coherent and congruent within itself”.
Author - Erik Petermann
With that said, the book opens up with commentary on the legalities of using knife in self defense on the streets, which is in my opinion a mandatory section in such manual, but without trying to preach. No, this is simply a reminder of some very important issues one needs to pay attention to in a modern society. Petermann is open about being strongly opinionated in regards of the subject discussed, but also about not trying to impose his own personal beliefs and opinions onto readers. In relation to the chapter on legal implications of carrying a knife, he then moves to Ten golden rules of carrying a weapon.
Next chapter is very interesting and one of those mentioned tongue-in-cheek moments. It pertains to the history of Piper knife method, but written in a style that is unlike any other you may have seen in other martial art books. Aside from obviously pointing to the merits of Nigel February as the man who had systematized the body of knowledge in what is now termed Piper, everything else is laid without embellishments and decorum so often seen in other martial arts.
Nigel February
Without going into detail (you’re better off reading it for yourself), there is one very important thing that can be gleaned from this chapter. The Piper approach to combat is probably one of the most vital found today, with all the good and bad implication it bears. See, these very methods and techniques are still used on a daily basis in the urban centers of South Africa, especially among gangs and/or on unsuspecting civilian victims. SA being considered the death-by-stabbing capital of the world, it means all the techniques and “tricks of the trade” taught in Piper are really proven and very much present to this day in the streets and dark alleys of Cape Town and other cities there. Here is what the founder of Piper, Nigel February has to say himself: “I think the first thing to remember is that Piper or the Piper System is a research project, based on SA criminal knife use, and not a super-cool new knife system. To understand Piper is to imagine it as Frankensteins monster, containing bits, parts, strategies and attitudes of all SA gangsters into one organism....Which we then study so we can kill it [...] kill this monster, who comes at you with relentless energy, power and movement“.
Scarry? Well, it should be!
We are then treated with another quite significant matter that is way too often ignored in many other martial systems, let alone the books and videos depicting them, and it is the subject of fitness. Now, this chapter does not attempt in any way, shape or form to instruct the reader in exercises and/or regimes to follow, but does stress the importance of being in a fairly good physical shape if you wish to gain maximum use of the methods presented later. Petermann points that most important physical attributes for street combat, especially involving edged weapons, are speed and lively footwork, and thus suggests some form of specific physical preparation for it. When the specific requirements translate as the short and violent bursts of anaerobic activity, the method of training proposed is some sort of interval workout. In line with the later chapter on Intent and mindset (which is probably the common thread that runs through all of the Piper segments), addition of practices that call for emotional involvement is also recommended.
The next three chapters are closely linked, tackling the issues of awareness, being afraid and the abovementioned intent and mindset. In the last part, we are reminded of the scary and cruel environment from which Piper has evolved, so the magnitude of how much the proper intent and perception of your training mean is reiterated.
And now, the book moves into the more specific material relating to the “tools of the trade”. If you are thinking “finally!” then I must advise you to not skip over the above issues, as they are extremely important and put everything else in perspective. Anyway, the five chapters that follow pertain to the target areas on your enemy (the actual term used by the exponents of Piper, once more stressing the attitude in what they do and why), selecting a knife that will suit you best, applying the skills to improvised weapons, using other body parts in the totality of the real world altercation, and also training equipment that will help you in adopting the skills.
Petermann then presents the chapter on how to practice Piper. No, not the course on how to organize your training session etc, but what qualities to look for, how to approach developing them and where to look for insight, better understanding and inspiration. He also warns that this way of using the knife to fight is not some stylistically “rounded” entity that can be fully mastered as such. Instead, a lot of time and effort needs be invested in practicing the basics ,as that is what really makes the system functional, despite the commonly met obstacles of boredom and physical inconvenience. He puts it very succinctly in saying that ““…this is not a skill-set you’re learning to be cool at a cocktail-party or to show off to your blind date”.
In the following chapter, once again we see author’s excellent pedagogy in treating the subject matter. Namely, he puts together an overview of the technical material to come and therefore provides a look at the complete picture that the pieces of the puzzle. I find this to be a great way of helping the reader/attempted practitioner to not fall into the trap of failing to see the woods from the trees, which is a common problem in learning something from books or videos.
The topics of the carry and the draw of your chosen knife are often neglected and overlooked, but not in this case. The discussion on the eternal dilemma of forward vs. reverse grip is included, in a sober and rational fashion and with conclusions drawing from the entirety of Piper as such.
From here on, the reader will get their hands-on instruction in the fundamentals of the technical arsenal in Piper. The author goes into detail about the areas previously briefly covered in the overview. It is these chapters where Petermann’s analytical and pedagogical ability shines through. Namely, he demonstrated the exquisite capacity of analyzing and putting into meaningful (digestible) chunks of information the deceptive moves of Piper.
First, we are shown and explained the basic ways of keeping the blade in motion – shimmering and twirling. Most techniques in Piper generate their power from the wrist, so these are very important. Not to mention the psychological effect it may have on your adversary.
Passing the knife from one hand to the other is usually seen as detrimental ornamentation in most other knife systems, but within Piper it is an integral tactical element, and in that context very much acceptable. Shown are the four options/variations, and while you may not find all of them according to your liking (like I did not myself), you should be able to take at least two that can be integrated into your repertory.
At the first glance, this chapter will seem inadequate, as it only shows two stabbing techniques, but is a deceptive impression (as so many things are with Piper). Once these basic ways of doing it are under your belt, your are given some hints and guidelines on how to expand their applications in conjunction with other technical element.
The chapter on body movements may be the greatest obstacle to the grand majority of western practitioners of martial arts. It has to do with cultural and socially acceptable ways of moving in the African communities, but Petermann does a wonderful job of explaining it, and all you have to do is sweat over it.
The footwork is the driving force behind everything else that Piper does, like it is the case with most examples of great combatants, regardless of the style/system they represent. While different than in most other systems and styles, it is still practical and understandable, so among the explained methods, you should be able to find what suits you body type and physical ability and then put it to use.
I have to add here, that with the practice of body movements and footwork as done in Piper, you will probably get a very good workout out of your training session, and in a way that is pretty unique, so you will end up gaining some more value out of it all.
With all the previous techniques under your belt, the book now offers some more advanced material as a challenge to sink your teeth into, and possibly provide inspiration to be creative and find your own voice in expressing Piper.
In the end, it is probably wise to remind ourselves that the controversy that has been following this fighting system is simply the consequence of the novel dynamic patterns it shows and thus the lack of understanding of it. For quite a while, the main exponents did not even feel compelled to clarify the things. Again, quoting Nigel February: “Piper's global release & hype wasnt planned, but got out by accident. It was never meant to have ever left Cape Town, as we felt it was a local problem. Well it got out & has been misunderstood ever since. I guess its reason for existing now is down to its original purpose....It’s a live bad guy that all of us are now able to study & dissect....in person though! Understanding intent though doesn’t translate well by watching some vids on the Net.“
In conclusion, while the physical expression of Piper is very unorthodox and initially difficult to understand, this e-book really does an excellent job out of trying to teach the most important aspects of it. In the meantime, the people from Piper have finally produced an instructional video as well, so paired up with the manual that should really give you the next best thing, second only to personal tutelage under one of the advanced exponents. Personally, I have not seen the video yet, but judging from this review, it is certainly worth getting.
As so many other websites out there, this one too features some video and book reviews, so relevant to that fact is my take on the widespread question of whether it actually possibly to learn martial arts from a book or video. Well, the only right, but also unsatisfactory answer is – it depends! In order to make this conundrum somewhat clearer, what follows is my criteria on what makes a good “media carrier” of martial art information.
As always, when it comes to my views and opinions, there is the issue of context. With regards to evaluating an educational media product, we can look at it either from the standpoint of the product in itself, or its worth to a particular customer.
User-related criteria
I believe the first and foremost element of importance in the tough task of teaching/learning any physical activity from a book or a video is the “student”, i.e. the end user of the product. From that perspective, let us divide those as belonging to one of the three possible groups – a beginner, an intermediate or advanced practitioner of fighting studies. Each of those should first try to define and understand what are they looking for in a product.
So, we might as well begin with beginners. In case of a row novice, or more precisely someone deciding to take up a study of some martial system and still choosing the right one, they should look at videos and books as kind of a review, to see what is out there and if something appeals to them especially. For this purpose it is obvious that videos have advantage over books, but the latter will offer more details once our budding practitioner narrows his or her choice to three or four potential approaches to fighting. The problem here is the lack of proper perspective on the quality of movement demonstrated by the author of the product, so it is completely possible that some people will reject certain systems simply due to the dislike for the particular instructor on video. Fortunately, today we have within easy reach the overabundant resources of Youtube, so the search is much faster, wider in scope and cheaper…and time consuming, yes. As the matter of fact, there are downsides to it as well, but let’s leave that for another time.
Choices, choices
Once the prospect martial artist has finally picked his thing, he should actually refrain from using videos as the source of information in their training and rely on a qualified instructor. Books however, can and should be used as the source of information regarding the historical and philosophical background, so your training time with an instructor will be spent more efficiently, and potential questions (maybe) more pertinent and be less of time-wasters.
Of course, some people will reach for these forms of instruction for the lack of qualified instructors in their area. That one is really tough…still if you decide to go for it, make sure to also have a training partner (or a couple of them) who are as enthusiastic about it and then try to practice the material as closely as possible and with as much diligence as you can muster. Be aware that it is long and difficult path, especially undertaken like that, so the progress will be slow and irregular, comparing to training under an instructor. Also, whenever possible, take the opportunity to partake in a seminar or take a private lesson, for the reality check on what you have achieved thus far.
As you reach some level of training, certain books and/or videos are really handy as reminders of the curriculum requirements within your art or school. For those, you are well advised to ask your instructors for recommendation.
For the intermediate student, the media could be of much different use and value. Namely, with some serious training under your belt (or sweat on your shorts if you do not wear a belt :-) you will probably have achieved some understanding of the core principles and tenets of your chosen martial art, so the media products could provide a couple of useful things. First, how some other people within the same system approach their training. It will hopefully offer a fresh perspective on some already familiar things and further increase your understanding of those, maybe also add some new fire to your training sessions. Second, if looking at another style of fighting, you could expand your horizons on the coherence of your own system (would it hold on just as good against various other schools as it does against your fellow practitioners), or even see something that fits in nicely with your work to address the areas your style does not.
Context and coherence
However, be honest here – do not approach looking at other schools with preconceptions. Be aware of both their good and bad features (same goes for your own stuff) and how that fits with your thing structurally. Do not add some moves just because they look cool, but only if they can be embedded with your already existing method, as seamlessly as possible. To see the wrong way to look at it, just read some of the stupid comments and flame wars under any of the videos on the abovementioned Youtube.
The advanced practitioner should already be at the level to understand and appreciate the quality of movement, instead of getting lost in canonical technical minutia (yes, it means that spending 30 years growing more and more dogmatic and biased does not make you an advanced practitioner). With such understanding of principles, one can glean something of use from any other martial art, related or unrelated. It could be a drilling tool, training method, teaching progression, tactical consideration…whatever.
Teaching perspective
Also, the advanced practitioners have already established a good filter to sift the observed information through, so it is easier to take what is useful and discard the irrelevant. For these people, the next link in the evaluating criteria of a product becomes more important.
Self-contained criteria
Now, all that said, all books and videos are not created equal either. Two primary measures that make an instructional product are its contents and presentation. Both are rather important, so it is hard to tell which one takes precedence. However, there can be no presentation without something to present, so…
The content, in order to be valuable, needs to be first and foremost relevant and in accordance with the advertised features. In other words, if a video is advertised as the “street solutions for self defense” it should not then spend 90% of instruction time (if any) on teaching the “hidden pressure points application of karate kata”. Also, there should be at least some amount of the pertinent material included. Please note, however, it does not necessarily mean dozens of different techniques, and at least 90 minutes, or 200 pages (certainly, 15 minutes does not qualify as a full-feature instructional video either). I am perfectly satisfied with a book or video that focuses on a single technique/tactic/method but then offers a comprehensive treatment of the subject, in-depth and thorough. Of course, copious material is no bad, but in that case the next point becomes all the more important.
With products that have valuable content to offer, it is the presentation that will make it or break it. Essentially, it means that no matter how relevant and maybe innovative the material is, it needs to be presented in a coherent manner and logical order, so that the end user could benefit most from watching or reading it.
There are a few ways to achieving that goal, all good and acceptable, so in the end the customer will decide, based on their own affinities, what videos and/or authors they tend to like most in a particular field. Of course, some people just have naturally good on-screen appearance or “literary” style and it will only help them if they have a good product, sometimes even make an average one come out as better. On the other hand, I have seen some examples of good material and solid organization, but with somewhat bland “personal touch”, which in turn made the product not as well received as it could and should have been.
Maybe you will ask for some more specific pointers regarding what is a good presentation. Fair question, but due to the limits of this post, here are just a few broad strokes:
-chronological approach starts with what the practitioner will need to have grasp of first, in order to attain a good command of the material, and then move in successive steps from there. For example, a knife method would start with weapon carry and deployment, followed by stance and footwork, distance management etc. A grappling package could start with closing the distance, placing a takedown, taking the dominant position…
-lexicon approach will divide the material in more or less rounded categories/chapters/ (maybe even volumes) and then offer the instruction in each, for easier reference. Some pointers on how to integrate the material are certainly welcome (training methods and progressions, drills etc).
-flowchart approach opens up with some technique or method and then discusses possible reactions/counters to it, followed by possible solutions to those counters and so on.
There are other possibilities and combinations, but hopefully by now you get the idea. Of course, certain types of material or martial arts may have the built-in inclination towards one of the above presentation methods, so going for it would make for a more certain outcome.
Partially relating to the presentation are the technical production values, like lighting, sound, visual and graphic effects etc. Personally, I do not care much about the fancy package, as long as the image is clear enough and sound intelligible enough that I don’t have to physically strain to receive the intended information.
In conclusion, when reviewing the instructional products for this blog, I have in mind predominantly the “self-contained” criteria relating to the books and videos themselves, but in hope of providing some useful reference points so that you, the reader, could decide if they fit well enough with your personal “user-criteria”.
