Opinions on my videos

I just posted some videos to you tube and would like the opinions of martial artists. Comments on quality, length, etc. Thank you. Mukashimantis

 

http://youtu.be/SvriuJ5wRjM

Sorry, forgot the link. Here it is.

 

nice troll job - seriously this is a joke right?

 

Not sure what a troll is. Why do you think I am joking? I just want some feedback from Martial Artists. You tube viewers may not have an experienced eye for MA's. This site is for martial artists, right?

 

pull up a chair...

opcorn:opcorn:

 

Just looked up the definition of a troll post. I came to this forum thinking that I could get opinions without "emotionally charged " responses. Am I wrong? If a moderator thinks this is the wrong spot for this post, just move it. Only trying to get feedback.

 

I believe the "troll" comment was directed at the contrent of the video. The drill being performed is some what comical from an outsiders perspective.

To answer your other question, the video was clear and of the appropriate length.

 

OK. Here's what I get. Basically white gi is practicing simple four-sided or "box" defenses against moderate speed, light to moderate power attacks with a shinai.

Basically the concept of the drill is sound, but I'd like to see the defender defend more aggressively. That is he could be more explosive with his blocks, using explosive forward energy and advancing on his "attacker". This disrupts the attacker's rhythm and balance, putting the defender in a much better position. Mentally try looking at the defense as an attack, or at least as a segue to an attack, and it will change the whole feel of the drill!

Now as to the quality of the video... I'm technologically inept and have never even posted a vid... Still, I know what I like to watch, and there were a few problems here. The lighting was a bit dark, and the framing was too low at first. I couldn't see the whole body of the attacker or his strikes. I'd recommend, starting with a wider frame that let's the viewer take in the whole scene, then zoom in on the action.

Another issue is the that the pacing is a bit monotonous. What if you were to begin with the attacker and defender moving very slowly to demonstrate the scope and purpose of the drill, then progressively pick up the speed and power until you are going at it really hard and fast, finally closing with the defender taking the offense and finishing off the "attacker" with a nice combination. Might add a touch of drama for fun.

Anyway, thanks for posting. Forget the "troll" comments. It takes some guts to put up a vid for comments, so kudos to you for that.

 

You have to thicken your skin if you're going to post videos & then solicit comments. You can't pick & choose. You wanted feedback. You get what you ask for... good, bad, ugly & beat with a stick.

So your choices are to pull up your big boy panties or don't post videos asking for feedback. Either way they're out there & they've been seen.

My comments aren't necessary because they're not going to give you what you're looking for.

 

Jason,
With all due respect, your reputation rating is in the red. I don't think your in a position to call out trolls. Sorry, but that's my opinion.

 

I don't mind constructive criticism, name calling and comments like " big boy panties" are childish and serve no purpose. Geezers comments were just what I am looking for. As for skin, it's rhino hide. But, as life is short, I would rather not wade through any more BS than necessary.

 

Thanks Geezer.I will try out your suggestions for my next video.exactly the advice I was looking for.

 

Then don't sound like that's what you're wearing because that's how you come across.

Criticism is criticism. Constructive or critical.

 

I like very much that you are brave enough to put these up. Well done. what kind of criticism or feedback were you looking for in particular?

(the Body Hardening.. this is hilarious I hope it is meant to be?? I do not mean to be disrespectful I promise.. uke had very unbalanced stance? why is this?? put a little Juno Reactor or Prodigy sounds to it and I think it will go viral!!)

Wishes x

 

Basically, I had my Iphone with me and I thought, lets get some video of the class. No planning, just the students and me throwing around ideas. Our fighting stance is very stable. This was just some quick exercises in body blow absorbtion, getting strudent used to getting hit. As a MA, you know that many people are unaccostomed to being hit, so we try to harden them off a little at a time. We had fun with them. I am looking for what you would like to see in terms of:
1. subject matter
2. length of videos
3. subjects too close or far away from camera
4. sound
this type of info. Thanks for your help.

 

Look - I meant nothing mean about my post. After watching the videos I SERIOUSLY thought it was a spoof or joke. I could care less what people "think" about me on the interwebs nor some rep rating on a forum either (neither seem to have much basis on anything real).


@ dougmukashi - Understand that I am not a mean person nor do I wish to discourage you at all. Let me be VERY honest with you as to not waste your time - my opinion (owning over 500 training videos personally) is that the video quality, scripting and direction are all bad. I have seen worse yes but these are bad and have a lot of areas to improve upon. However, what's more concerning to me is the content. If you are the instructor then, with all respect, you need to find an instructor to help you out. The training methods are at the VERY least poorly executed and something that I competent instructor would not allow. Even if the students were just starting out, like that was their first day, they should be doing things differently IMO. I can't in anyway shape or form see how any of the training that I saw on those videos will lead to anything that could actually protect someone.

Again Doug, I say this with all respect, kindness and love and I would NEVER discourage anyone from training. I do ENCOURAGE you to seek instruction, or better instruction or something else than what I saw going on in those videos.

PM me if I can help in anyway.

Sorrry - just saw your post asking for; 1. subject matter 2. length of videos 3. subjects too close or far away from camera 4. sound - so just disregard my posts. Sorry.

 

Right. This ain't gonna be gentle. Just a quick heads up there.

Really? The opinions of martial artists, you say? Let's see....

Actually, yes, you would. This is another case in point. Basically, Jason was right, you're here to wind us up... or worse, you are serious with all of this. And that's just sad.

Hmm, I thought you wanted the opinions of martial artists? Why the focus on the angles, distancing, framing etc, then? Not really a martial artists area of expertise, typically...

But let's take this bit by bit, as there are some specific elements to deal with before I get into the real thrust of what you're presenting here.

Okay, lack of planning is one thing, and not really a problem in and of itself, so cool.

Where? Not in any of the videos I've seen (which are all the ones you've put up, as well as ones that others have put up on you-tube). In fact, what I've seen has me asking quite a large number of questions, as I'd place you at the level of a low kyu grade at best. But honestly, that's not the biggest problem... it's what I'd place you as a low kyu grade in.

No, it was terrible, badly thought-out, ineffective attempts at what you think such training should be. For the record, the issue with not being used to being hit has nothing to do with body hardening training, it's more to do with the mental aspects. So, uh, no. Not good.

I would prefer to see martial arts. Ideally, skilled. In all honesty, I'd advise removing the videos and not making any more, unless you want to avoid such comments.

That would depend on what you were trying to show. I find them short, but that could be merciful, really.

Would they be worried about being recognised...? Honestly, the issue with having the subjects at an incorrect distance is that it makes it difficult to see what's happening... here, I don't think they are too far, or too near, but it's still not easy to see what was going on, as what was happening was too messy and poorly done.

What sound? There was the sound of sticks hitting each other in one, slapping in others... there really isn't anything like a soundtrack, voices to describe what's happening, or anything similar to comment on.

Well, that's not what you actually asked for. You asked for the opinions of martial artists. And now you're going to get it.

After seeing the highly questionable clips you provided, I did some research into who you are. Now, this website has some very particular rules and regulations when it comes to referring to anyone as a fraud, so I'm going to tread carefully here (as I'm not necessarily calling you one... just perhaps mislead by others who are). I would say I'm sorry for any offence, but frankly, you've brought this on yourself here, as you have before. So I'm aiming to more put this all to bed in one hit.

You are Doug Derenzo of "Mukashi no Jutsu" on Long Island, with a website address of http://www.mukashi.org, yeah? I'm going to start with exactly what that is... or, more realistically, what it claims to be.

The tagline is "An ancient art for a Modern World". Being rather interested in the ancient arts, particularly the Japanese ones, this caught my eye. Mainly as that name is very odd, and doesn't really come up as anything related to old Japanese arts (or new ones, for that matter). Still, might just be a name you came up with for your system, based on old arts... except that the only listing for any ranking in any art whatsoever for you is a 3rd Dan in "Aikijiujitsu", which apparently came to you from the "Kokusei Aikijitsu Kai Renmei". And at this point it starts to look very, very bad.

The only traditional art that I am aware of that uses/used the term "Aikijujutsu" or "Aikijutsu" is Daito Ryu. And I don't know of anyone trained in such an art who would make such a mistake in terminology as to call it "Aikijitsu". And the group you got your ranking from (the Kokusei Aikijitsu Kai Renmei) doesn't appear to have any connection to Daito Ryu. It does, however, claim a connection with a Kokusei Aikijitsu Kai Renmei - Tokyo branch, but try as I might, I can't find any reference to that that doesn't come back to the US group, either in English or in Japanese. Additionally, the name is just plain odd, especially to be a Japanese organisation, as it basically means "International Aikijitsu Club Federation"... typically, it'd be either Kai or Renmei, not both. Add to this the connection with the "Nippon Jujitsu (sic) Kai", who show every hallmark of a "Soke council" with all the authenticity and quality of passing off a McDonalds as a 5-star French Restaurant. For reference, we have this page on cross-ranking (http://nipponjujitsukai.tripod.com/njjkusa/id12.html), all the way up to Soke!

But back to you.

Your website states that you have been training continuously since 1986, and mentions your 3rd Dan ranking as listed above. It also says that you "maintain the traditional techniques" while "adding and updating through research and practice". Honestly, in all your photos, videos, statements, comments, posts (here and elsewhere), there is no evidence of anything even resembling anything "traditional" in what you do, let alone much evidence of informed research. Even more interesting is that nothing you have shown looks remotely like anything Japanese, especially not anything related to Aikijutsu/Aikijujutsu, or similar. Additionally, the weaponry aspect is made up of primarily Okinawan weaponry, and there is a large number of issues with all of the weaponry work demonstrated http://www.mukashi.org/Pages/WeaponsTraining.aspx (the chain blocking the stick, for instance, would result in the stick crashing down onto the kids head, but that's not as bad as the chain wrapping the attackers hand... leaving the rear hand [holding a stick] free to cave the kids skull in!).

But, I have to say, my favourite bit of your website is this: http://www.mukashi.org/Pages/TheBulshidoStory.aspx. Seriously? The Bullshido story?!? Well, a google search on "Mukashi no Jutsu" gives that thread as the third hit, so I guess you thought you had to counter that thread... which you started! The best part is that, when you read through it, it's pretty obvious that you went there as an instigator ("I decided to try an experiment"... "I pretended to be a student"... "when someone inquired (sic) who the teachers (me) instructors were, I answered with a few phony and a few real names"... ), as well as not understanding what they were telling you, or why things like the absolutely atrocious kanji show that you really don't have a clue about Japanese arts (for the record, the kanji on the wall in the photos isn't four characters, it's three. And it should look like this: 昔の術. Note that the first character isn't split into two, as it is on your wall, the second character (third for you) you have at 90 degrees to the way it should be, and the last one is just horribly done. As to the name itself, "Mukashi no Jutsu"? "Art of Ancient Times"? Right...

So, frankly, the entire credibility of your "art" is more than questionable, as well as what you're teaching in terms of actual applicability and effectiveness. But you did ask for martial artists opinions on your videos, so okay... here we go.



Right, this is the first one. Martial artist perspective, you're both terrible. All the actions are sloppy, powerless, and completely without any structure. There's no body movement at all, just the defender pushing out with his hands, and leaning over (constantly losing balance). The attacks have no congruency to them, nor any power, and show no knowledge of using a stick as a weapon whatsoever. The sense of distancing is terrible, both far too close and cramped, but without any idea of how to change that (say, step?). I could forgive a student, but the attacker here is you, with your constant training since 1986, and your 3rd Dan.



I see kids in playgrounds with better form than this. There is no sense of a martial art at all, just kids imitating what they think it is without ever being taught it. And, like everything else, there is no, and I mean no, evidence of the only art you claim to have rank in coming out in what your students are doing, and certainly nothing "traditional" here either.



This is pointless. There is literally no point to such an activity. The stick is stopped before impact every single time. Additionally, there is no real benefit to this activity other than telling them that they are now "hardened warriors". They're not.



You've got no grounding, you're basically just lightly slapping the poor guy, and still knocking him back? How bad is his stance?!? Honestly, both you and the student are showing very bad form here, with you leaning over constantly, and the student having their weight too far back (on their heels), which robs this of any benefit as well. Actual proper sparring would be your answer to what you're trying to achieve, but this is just frankly embarrassing.



Oh, dear lord. This is one of the most inane things I've seen as a "martial arts" training exercise. You do that with someone like me, you have a broken hand. But really, this is just one step out from the game "knuckles"... how do you convince people that this is martial arts?



What do you know, I found something worse! What the hell were you thinking?!?!

So, in short, you have a highly questionable martial history, with the only rank you claim being from a group that sells ranks, and have been pulled apart on Bullshido, mainly in a thread you yourself started. Now you've come along here and asked for marital artists' opinions? My frank and considered opinion is that this thread should be moved into the "Great Debate" area... perhaps into "Horror Stories". There is nothing good in anything you've presented. I'd recommend starting again and with a proper instructor this time.

 

If you're wanting feedback on the cinematography ... it's not good. Lighting is poor, angles are poor, framing is poor.
If you're wanting feedback on the presentation ... it's not good. There is no introduction, no break-down, no technical analysis.
If you're wanting feedback on the exercises ... they're not good. Stances are poor, training techniques are poor, poorly performed and flat-out irresponsible.

I don't see anything about body dynamics in any of these videos.

I'm not getting into your lineage because it doesn't interest me. You asked about videos and I've answered your question.

Good luck to you and your students.