I thought it might be good to post various things that people have found to make online training work for them as a student or teachers. What technologies worked, outdoor online vs indoor online. I'm curious to see what people have learned about the whole online experience using some of today's technologies.
Great idea!
Having used online training for the majority of the last 18 months (as a student), I've absolutely loved it.
I'm certainly not of the belief that you can learn martial arts online, but as a valuable resource and supplement for those who already have a foundation, it has proven invaluable for me.
But I guess you're more posing the question from a more regular consistent online training program. I did and still do fortnightly sessions with one group I already had membership with. They started sessions midyear last year and they've been incredible. More recently they started an online remote dojo program which you train weekly on much a more in depth, progressive program. Both of these offerings have been so very enriching... and honestly have elevated my practice in immeasurable ways. Particularly because I've been searching out a dojo that I connect with, and this is the exactly the trajectory and style I've been looking for. Moreso, the instructor, and how he teaches. The ability to train with him consistently now when previously I would have to travel halfway across the world is... amazing haha.
So it's basically been not so much do this and that, but more of a presenting different insights and exploring them together.
So most of the sessions I've used were through Zoom, which I found very easy to use, barely any issues. Also used Facebook live video (which isn't great as it's one-sided, you can see them, they can't see you), YouTube live (which was pretty choppy and laggy at times), and Microsoft Teams (pretty good).
And all through last year, the opportunity to train with people from ALL over the world was just incredible...
The biggest thing I got from it was a broadened perspective. My primary art is karate, but training with such different styles was a real eye opener. The fact we had the technology and learned how to do this last year was such a blessing... was such and now still IS a bright spot out of a very dark time in history.
Also, getting your setup right hahaha... this took a little playing around, getting the camera in a good spot, with good lighting etc. And a room with enough space obviously. I didn't want to do it in the lounge room and have to move too much furniture every time, so use the back of the house.
Do you have to move slower when teaching online for live streams?
I haven't found this to be an issue with those who use a good camera and have good internet connection. The instructor's technique moves.... FAST haha.. but I can still very much pick up on the nuances. He still moves slow to demonstrate, but no issues when he moves fast.
Any camera or webcam recommendations?
My laptop camera was pretty shocking haha, so I tried some free apps on my iPod. First I tried was Droidcam, then the one I tried and have stuck with is iVCam. Really easy to connect and use, and I recently upgraded and bought the premium version to get better video quality.