Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Intro

The martial arts industry has been upended as we have gone through this pandemic. Several martial arts schools in the vicinity of where I live have closed. One school was in its location for 30 years only to be brought down by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Several martial artists, like myself, have shifted to backyard or garage training. As indicated in previous posts, I ditched the group classes in September and strictly private lessons in the garage. I LOVED IT. And so did my students. Their martial progress went through the roof. Unfortunately, due to another lockdown in Ontario, I had to put the private lessons on hold.

Beyond the devastation that the pandemic has wreaked on the brick-and-mortar martial arts businesses, it has also profoundly affected the shift of martial arts instruction to an online format. Much of that is out of sheer necessity as martial arts businesses struggle to survive.

Zoom Classes

I have been teaching students in Ottawa four Zoom Arnis classes per week. First off, there is no doubt that Zoom training is not a substitute for live training. I initially thought, “at least this is better than nothing.” As the months passed, I started to experiment with my classes. My creativity is starting to pay off.

Lately, I have emphasized my Bamboo Spirit flow drills with the adults. My students and I are virtually going through the flow drills. My flow drills are structured like the well-known sumbrada drills used by many FMA groups.

For Zoom purposes, there is an element of acting in that we “respond” to the training partner’s actions and reactions. I have seen Oscar-worthy performances during some of these sessions. 🙂 We often experience a Zoom-related time delay that throws us off, which is a nice way of dealing with broken rhythm and timing.

To date, we have covered the first ten flow drills.

Below is one of my flow drills.

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That said, flow drill training over Zoom does not come close to live training.

I’ve often commented that I wish we had the Star Trek holodeck technology during these times. Pandemic or not that is my ultimate fantasy. If I don’t have a training partner, I would love to be able to say, “Computer, Modern Arnis holodeck program level 10.” For that reason, I envy Worf!

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On the other hand, Zoom flow drill training is great for retaining important material. I do not doubt there will be some rustiness once we resume hands-on/live training. But they’ll have muscle memory from hundreds of virtual repetitions.

One upside to Zoom training I like is the option to break up the class into breakout rooms. This allows me to separate the students by rank and skill level. This way, I can simultaneously teach to their skill level.

What are the downsides to Zoom training?

Free play is nearly impossible and would be too confusing to do virtually. Instead of free play, I have begun to mix and match elements from different flow drills in prescribed sequences. This is an excellent way to mix things up and avoid the predictability of flow drills. More importantly, mixing things up is FUN.

YouTube

Before the pandemic, my students commonly said, “I saw this technique on YouTube” or “There is this cool FMA channel.” One friend of mine is obsessed with finding and watching FMA YouTube videos. Occasionally, he’ll pass them along and ask for my commentary.

This points out one inescapable fact for many martial arts instructors. They have to accept that their students are going to watch YouTube videos. The times we are living in are profoundly different than 20 years ago.

To put this in perspective, YouTube did not yet exist when Professor Remy Presas passed away in August 2001. Remember, YouTube was not created until February 2005.

Think about this. In the pre-YouTube era, we were limited to buying videos at martial arts seminars or camps.

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The above Six Count drill clip was in one of Professor Presas’s 1980s instructional videos. Remember VHS tapes? Yeah, I bought all seven tapes!

Nowadays, you can find different variations of the same drill on YouTube. Bored from doing the Six Count drill over and over? Find the variations on YouTube!

As you know, there are untold numbers of martial arts videos on YouTube for you to browse. This has had a profound effect on the martial arts industry, as explained below.

The Effect of YouTube and Zoom on Cross-Training

Before moving here in 2007, I scouted some martial arts schools in Oshawa and Ajax to get a feel for the market, prices, and martial arts being practiced in the area.

As part of the market research, I stopped at a local karate dojo. While waiting for the instructor to come out, I spotted their training schedule. At the bottom of the sheet was a reminder to their students that no cross-training was permitted. Further, “attendance at outside seminars is not permitted.” This seemed like a desperate attempt to control the students and keep them inside a martial arts information bubble. Keep in mind; this was just barely a year or two after YouTube was launched.

Fast forward to the last 12 months. With restrictions and lockdowns, folks have been online more than in the past. I would not be surprised if martial artists surfed YouTube and checked out technique videos, podcasts, and whatnot. Also, I know several who have attended Zoom seminars and classes with instructors from different martial arts backgrounds.

With martial information available on YouTube and Zoom, the day and age of discouraging students from cross-training, like the above karate dojo, is TOAST.

I know some react negatively when they learn a student or several are watching YouTube videos or attending Zoom seminars. They take offence to this notion “How dare they question my teaching?! I HAVE IT ALL.“

Message to those instructors: “Suck it up, buttercup!”

Maybe it’s time for those instructors to snap out of their teaching complacency and step up their game. Perhaps, they should change your messaging to: “Bring back what you’ve learned and teach us.” Play with it and see if there is anything in their system that can counter a technique. Speaking for myself, I do this often with one of my senior students who has studied Balintawak.

Side note: it is not about “countering Balintawak” as much as seeing any holes in my training or teaching.

Ditto for “cool” YouTube techniques that your students find. Might it be better to embrace a different drill that fits your system instead of criticizing your student for watching YouTube? Think of the effect that it may have on the student body to realize that their instructor is open-minded and willing to experiment. Of course, as the instructor, you have to draw the line somewhere.

Or perhaps dive in and attend Zoom seminars and search on YouTube for inspiration? You might learn a few things!

An online flyer advertising a worldwide martial arts seminar taught by female instructors
This seminar was broadcast on Zoom worldwide on March 13th. A phenomenal event!

Let’s face it, this is the Zoom and YouTube era. Martial Arts instructors are going to have to adapt to this reality. Let go of the ridiculous notion that you know it all. You never have. And you never will.

I’m going to bet that the pandemic-related changes wrought by YouTube and Zoom will profoundly affect the martial arts industry. And I haven’t even scratched the surface of the networking opportunities afforded by Zoom.

What do you think? Please post your comments!

Additional Reading