SKILLZ & DRILLZ-THE IMPORTANCE OF VIDEOTAPING FIGHT TRAINING

In December 2005, a Florida based fighter visited Maryland to train with friends and brought along his coach.  The young man seems to be a promising new professional but his coach says his fighter has a hard time absorbing some important techniques and strategies that he has been trying to teach.

I noted it may help to save time and his voice if he videotaped some of the workouts, it may help his fighter learn his craft quicker by watching some of the mistakes he is making.  He can sit with the fighter at least once a week to review his technique through viewing videos.   As the old cliché goes, “One picture is worth a thousand words.”  Pictures and videos is the best way to archive the exploits of fighters, amateur or professional.

The young fighter pictured above is Cung Le, a Long Beach, California professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist.  I have had the pleasure of meeting and watching Cung Le and his USH Team fight in Baltimore, Maryland for the United States Wushu Kung Fu Federation’s Championships (USAWFK) in the late 90’s.  His school and fight team specialize in Sanshou, a combination of kickboxing and wrestling with its roots in Chinese Kung Fu.

In Cung Le’s amateur rise in the USAWFK, he and his promoters use videos as a key source of promoting his school, the brand of fighting, and his career.  Mr. Le never stopped filming himself, his students, practices and even his preparations for  fights.  This practice still continues today.  He appeared on TV in one of the last episodes of Walker Texas Ranger.

Mr. Le and his organization used pictures and videos to its maximum.  They continue to tape and sell everything from the young master training with his personal trainer on the steps of a football stadium to his visits to his homeland Viet Nam.

Cung Le is an international star in the world of mixed martial arts and Sanshou.

For the struggling fighter, please remember, life is a crapshoot, we are all taking a chance in the world of combat.  The grapevine does not cut it anymore when it comes to promoting your career.  If you are waiting for a promoter or friends to spread the word about your exploits, you might as well say that you are putting your career on hold.  There are millions of talented young fighters out there and a lot of them are not better than you or your fighter, if you are a promoter.

Again it takes organization, creativity, and strategy to boost your career.  Filming your career takes time and if you are promising, it is like money in the bank.  For example, your tapes or digital images of you fighting sparring partners may not be a big deal now, but when you hit the big time, mass media will want to know everything from when you took your first baby steps to the first Boys Clubs fights you had to your first championship fight.

If you go through a losing streak and make a comeback, videotaping it all will make your career all the more interesting, everyone loves to hear a comeback story. To the public, this is always better than the guy who went undefeated because everyone out in the audience can relate to the guy who loses and come back; if they can see every phase of it, the better for you.

Don’t be afraid to sell videos of your fights for fundraising or for profit.  As I always say on this website, “America loves a good fight.”

I have notice the young fighters in the Washington, DC area will go out to the shopping centers and ask shoppers for donations, so they can travel somewhere and fight.  This is ok, but you will get two cents to a dollar dropped in your bucket.

On the other hand, a dance school for girls, who was raising funds for a trip to New York City to enter a dance competition, gave the shoppers an option.  They had their table set up with a video and disk player, they allowed the shoppers to watch their practices and past dance recitals. They were selling their videos for $20.00, but if the shoppers did not want the videos, they had the option of dropping a donation in their buckets.  The shoppers thought that the girls were cute and talented, they went in their pockets and rained these youngsters with ten and twenty dollar bills.

The shoppers had something to relate to, the video.

Video equipment is getting inexpensive every year and easier to operate.  Your talents can go further, if you put it on disk or put a few your workouts/practices/fights on a website.  Everyone from friends to promoters can see how talent you or your fighters are.

Not to use pictures and videos is like grinding your career to a halt.