How I learned to learn from match videos

Hey all!

I've had a revelation recently in regards to watching match videos. Normally, when I watch match videos I'm watching it with the same sort of mindset that I have when I watch a television show or a movie. I'm watching and waiting for the rise and fall of tension, the drama, and the end result. I never intend to watch match videos this way, but it is almost like my brain goes on auto pilot and says "entertain me!". For instance, I'm watching Daigo fight Iyo in the gamestop national finals, but I'm not 'seeing' what is going on. I'm not taking anything from it other than 'Wow, that was awesome! Holy shit, FULL SCREEN SUPER! Daigo is sick...etc, etc..". I've watched countless match videos, but never really learned anything from them. Like in the film "White Men Can't Jump" when Wesley Snipes character told Woody Harrelson's character he is "hearing James Brown, but he's not listening to James Brown". I thought I was learning, and sure, I was picking up some tidbits i.e. a cool combo or punish, but to really get something out of these videos I've had to approach watching them in a different way.

There are a few things that will always happen in every round of every match of Street Fighter with maybe the rare exception. Someone will always get knocked down, and someone else will always have the advantage of a knockdown, and going a step further than that someone will always be trying to get in for a knockdown while someone else will be trying to avoid it while fishing for their own. These are situations common to us all and the key to unlocking true match video analysis. Some questions I've found myself asking since I've discovered within myself the ability to analyze are as follows: How did Player A get around Player B's fireballs? Maybe he jumped? Ok, how was he able to jump? Was it a psychic jump or was it based on pattern? Did he somehow condition the other guy and bait him into throwing it?". And, conversely, now that Player B just got hit with a big combo and is knocked down what is he going to do? What would I have done? Did it pay off for him or did it fail? Would my way have worked better? What did player A do to keep the pressure on? If applicable, what did he do to give away his momentum?. How did player B get in on Player A without jumping? What pokes are they using? Why is player A getting combo'd? Is it because player B conditioned A to think he was going to throw?

Basically I've had to ask "Why?" the pros do what they do down to the random jab from full screen to the seemingly random vertical jump at mid-screen. By questioning these things I've been able to at least attempt to get into the heads of these players. Consequently, I've been asking myself "How would I have handled that and how is my game different from theirs?" My hope is that I will re-program my brain to always think of the smartest answer to these questions during my own matches. With enough proper match video analysis it really is only a matter of time, like all things Street Fighter.

If you are already doing this or learned to do this after sometime I'd be interested to hear if you saw a big difference in your improvement and how it made you a better player.

Until next time, glhf.