Company: Goldstar Video
Tape Name: Combat Jiu-Jitsu/Atemi Waza - Striking Techniques
Tape Cost: as low as $2.99 per rental!
Length of Tape/Time: varies, see "written summary"
Number of Moves/Techniques: Varies
Return Policy: Rental
Experiences in dealing with this company: Great with Goldstar!
The Instructor: Norman Leff
Company's Address: 413 Briarwood Ridge, Carl Junction, MO 64834
Company's Phone Number: 888-884-7482
Web Page: http://www.goldstarvideo.com
E-Mail: customerservice@goldstarvideo.com
Primary Grading Criteria:
1. Production/Tape Quality: 50
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 50
3. Comprehension Score/Immediate Understanding: 50
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better Martial Artist: 50
5. Score on delivery vs hype: 50
6. Degree to which we would recommend this product: 50
7. Wasted Time ( The higher the number,the less " fluff" /repetition ): 50
8. Playback Score/Watching it over-and-over again: 50
9. Would I purchase more of this company's products: 50
10. Overall grade based on cost vs. value: 50
Grand Total: 50% (Fair-to-Good = 2.5 Stars)
Secondary Grading Criteria:
1. Beginners benefit: Fair-to-Good
2. Intermediate benefit: Fair
3. Advanced benefit: Fair
4. Time to benefit: Immediate
5. The need to buy additional tapes to understand this one: No
Written Summary:
Norman Leff explains at the beginning, this style of his is a mix of Kempo and Jujitsu. That of course felt like 2 topics this reviewer would certainly have an interest in.
Tape 1 (of 4): The first 10-15 minutes or so of this first video was tons of talking, stuff that anyone who spent 1-3 months in any dojo would/should hear. After this the next 20-30 minutes is spent on showing you how to hold your hand for certain strikes, where to strike, what the basics kicks are, and where to kick. Leff goes into stances, foot movement, and alot of basic tradtional stuff, that I felt chewed-up too much time. The last 15 minutes or so went into specific techniques, and I thought that provided the most value for this first tape. My overall opinion of the first tape in this series, 75% of it was slow and a little boring, yet the last 25% of it was a bit better.
Not a horrible tape, not a great one either, Leff talks very slow, showed little enthusiasm and sorry to say, kind of bored me too tears. Yet there wasn't really anything technically wrong with what Leff showed. Between our 1-5 Star scale, I'm going to place it right at the mid-point and say it was 2.5 Stars, a.k.a. 50%, and move on.
EM
