Creating a repository of judo knowedge

Our club's closed Facebook Group will become a repository of judo knowledge once we re-open.

When I was training in competitive judo as a brown belt in Los Angeles, I was given a stack of VHS tapes containing competition footage that my coach wanted me to study. I found the tapes fascinating and watched them over and over again.

Until today, I'm still fascinated with judo videos, which I think are incredible tools for learning. There's nothing like watching actual footage of top competitors doing their favorite techniques. It's even better watching on video than watching the competition live, in person, because with video you'll be to watch instant replays in slow motion, which is great for analysis.

So far at our club we've used video for two purposes. Firstly, I use video to show the players how certain techniques are performed in top-level competition. Sometimes I teach unusual variations of techniques which are very different from the classical versions and it's understandable if might be some skepticism or doubt as to whether such a technique could actually work in a real competition situation. Well, seeing is believing. Judo videos are really good for that.

We also use videos for publicity purposes. We are very active on social media, often posting highlight clips of our technical, randori or shiai sessions. We also regularly do livestreams of our entire training sessions, which can last two to three hours. Our highlights and livestream videos have proven to be very popular. I guess people like to see how we train and what we do differently from others.

We will continue to use video for these two purposes. But, I plan to use video in another way starting in December, which is to provide an in-depth recording of technical instruction.

This is important for two key reasons. Firstly, it's easy to forget aspects of newly taught techniques. With these detailed videos in place, our players can refer to them to refresh their memory of what had just been taught. Secondly, sometimes people have to miss class. With these videos in place, they can catch up with the rest of the class at their own pace.

We have a closed Facebook Group for our members which is currently not very active. Once we re-open the club in December, I plan to turn our FB Group into a repository of judo knowledge. There will be a lot of instructional videos in there.

We've occasionally had some non-members come across our closed FB Group and request for permission to join. Unfortunately we've had to say no because that group is for members only (yes, there are privileges to membership).

As a coach, I believe in teaching my players everything I know, which is quite a lot as my involvement in international judo spans nearly three decades. Putting all that knowledge down onto video will be a major undertaking but it's something worth doing as it will make that knowledge so much more accessible to our members. One of my players is a professional video editor so hopefully she can help me with this endeavor!