The importance of video

In an interview for his Fighting Films DVD "Total Judo", Olympic Champion Mark Huizinga talks about how video played such an important part of his judo development.

Like Huizinga, video was a very important part of my competition training as well. When I first arrived at the Los Angeles Judo Training Centre (now defunct) the late coach John Ross gave me a video tape of the great Japanese Champion Toshihiko Koga and told me to watch it.

In particular he highlighted how Koga adopted a lapel grip instead of a sleeve grip for his seoi-nage and how he entered into the throw with a straight leg. He also told me to watch how Koga starts his lift as he enters into the technique so that by the time he completes his turn to the front, uke is already on his back. "Watch and learn this technique," he said.

I lost count of how many times I watched that tape but I was at the LA Judo Training Center for three months and I'm sure I watched it at least once a day, so I would say perhaps I watched it 90 to 100 times during that summer of total immersive judo competition training.

Of course it wasn't just Koga that I watched. My coach had a big library of judo videos and I watched plenty of footage from the Olympics and World Championships. Sometimes my coach would ask me to pay particular attention to something. Other times I would notice something and ask him about it.

And so, judo video analysis became a part of my judo training. Through watching videos of the best players in the world, I got to learn a lot of stuff. Much of my gripping training was learned through watching the likes of Koga and Neil Adams and how they came to grips with their opponents. Interestingly, the former had an unorthodox style (he gripped left-handed but mainly threw to the right), the latter had a very traditional sleeve-lapel grip (which was somewhat unusual for a European).

Later, when I went to Camberley Judo Club in the UK to further my competition training, I watched a whole bunch of Fighting Films videos. Camberley was a full-time training facility and it was located in a small town with nothing much to do. So, when I wasn't training, eating or sleeping, I was watching judo videos (back then we didn't have the Internet to kill time with so there was no e-mail or chatting or browsing).

The interesting thing about judo videos, for me, was that each time I saw the same footage, I learned something new. I might have seen a clip dozens of times but the next time I watch it, I see something that I didn't notice before. It could be something the player did with their grips, or their stance, or how they reacted etc... There was always something new to learn. So, I couldn't get enough of it.

I usually start the training by letting the players watch some videos on the TV screen mounted on the wall. The clips serve to emphasize the points I'm trying to make to them. As they say, seeing is believing.

As my judo progressed, I continued to watch and analyze judo videos. Not surprisingly, video is a part of our training system at the KL Judo Club. Early on when we just started the club, a judo player from France came to visit and commented how innovative it was for us to incorporate video into our training.

Last Sunday we had a lot of beginners so I showed them a clip of what happens when you try to prevent a throw by stretching out the arm (disaster happens). It was a clip of World and Olympic Champion Yoshida breaking his arm.

I never thought of it as innovative because video has been a part of my training since the very beginning of my competition training journey so many years ago. But his comments made me realize how uncommon it is in judo clubs. If you notice, most judo clubs don't have TVs mounted on their walls.

At KL Judo, I would usually explain some concept before teaching a technique or skill set. After I demonstrate something I would usually show some clips from top-level competitions. I pride myself in teaching real-life, practical techniques and not some theoretical mumbo jumbo. So, it's important to show the real-life examples.

The players also watched clips of  World and Olympic Champion warding off newaza attacks. Koga doesn't like to engage in newaza but his opponents have a difficult time keeping him down on the ground. 

The purpose of showing the videos is not for them to analyze the clips. I've already done that for them and will be showing them how it's done in detail, in person. But it's to let them wonder at the brilliance and mastery of top level competitors doing their favorite techniques and to be inspired to learn such techniques.

I've been lucky to have been able to attend many top level competitions including the Olympics (as a volunteer official) and the World Championships (as a competitor and later on, a journalist). But most judo players in local clubs have not had that opportunity. So, through video compilations that I edit myself, I'm able to share with them some of the best judo out there.

The tachi-waza technique we worked on was ouchi-gari so I should them clips of top players doing this verytechnique at various international competitions from recent years. 

The video viewing portion is a small part of our training. Usually the clips I show are five or six minutes long. But they are an essential part of our training. I believe they add great value to the training and help players to better understand the technique they are about to learn for the day.