New Fundamentals Videos on pedrosauertsd.com

This post is mainly for those with access to pedrosauertsd.com.

If you're a student at a school that is an affiliate of Professor Pedro Sauer's association, you may also have access. I don't know how it works with affiliate schools, so I apologize if this post is for a very narrow audience!

By chance I heard Prof Mike Horihan mention that he had loaded new fundamentals videos into the pedrosauertsd.com site. I remembered seeing Professor Sauer and Prof Jeff Curran posting to Instagram about recording these videos. Professor Sauer said one night in class that about 20 years had passed since he and Jeff had recorded the original fundamentals instructionals!

I wanted to offer a few comments on what I found in the new videos.

First, the easiest way to access the new videos is to select the "Fundamentals" check box in the "Programs" part of the web site, as shown in the first screen capture. Uncheck "Video Pool," "White to Blue," and "Blue to Purple."

You will find 73 new videos. They are easy to recognize thanks to the bright yellow floor and black walls. Mike Horihan recorded these videos at the HQ in Herndon, VA, during the day, using professional lighting and camera equipment.

For comparison, at the left is a screen capture of the original T-position to Hip Throw video. On the right is a screen capture of the new corresponding video.

The new videos play in 720 x 1280 HD format on my laptop. The sound is great as well.

The videos are in the same basic format as the originals. They are only a few minutes long at most. They address a specific element of the curriculum.

One concern I have with the new videos is that it is not straightforward, in some cases, to match them with the 88 techniques of the white to blue curriculum. For example, there are 87 original videos. (Forward and backward rolling are combined into one video.) Each video is named to match the item on the curriculum and has a number to match.

The new videos do not share this convention. While I plan to watch all of the videos, it would be easier for newbies like me to have an index like a technique number or exactly matching language. In some cases this is true for both video sets -- "Mata Leao," "Squeeze the Bread," and so on are exactly the same in the new and the old. In other cases, there are differences.

(I might create a mapping of video name to old technique name and number as I watch each video.)

The content is as excellent as ever. You can tell Professor is much more comfortable speaking English compared to the original recordings. He mentioned having trouble expressing himself back when he recorded the original videos.

The old videos are more direct, explaining the technique with little deviation. The new videos feature more variety. Professor offers more context, more details, and more energy. He tells you why you might need to apply a certain technique and how to adjust if necessary.

If you are new to Professor's curriculum, I recommend starting with the original videos, and add the new ones to your practice.

I'm very happy to find these on the pedrosauertsd.com web site, and I hope all of you can access them as part of your membership in Professor's association.

What do you think of the videos? Stay informed of new blog posts by following me on Twitter @martialvitality.