Some Narcissism

First of all, I do not like to be photographed because I am not photogenic - lines of my face, skin color and some other things including faults in (recent) digital imaging technology produce strange effects which make me look old (which, however, I could be considered, although not yet forty), tired, and even evil in some cases. Second, photographs (can steal your soul! No, no, just kidding :) ) usually capture and show things you don't want to be seen. And last, I am not beautiful, so why would someone want to see photos of mine? Except myself. In that case, refer to the title of this post.

However, demands of web activities I perform lately have put it to the front - everyone wants to see how do I look like (and unfortunately those are not only beautiful women). My move - here it is. A fresh photo taken yesterday in Master Kim's dojang after training session. Maybe you even notice that I am sweaty. At least I hope nobody will get too scared after taking a look at the picture. If you are shocked at very start, please do not click the image to see it bigger. ;)

Now that everyone's curiosity is satisfied, a little about photographing athletes and actions in training and demonstration sessions. Maybe we find some more reasons NOT to be photographed during such events.

While practicing some special actions as well as basic techniques for demonstration purposes, we (the "demo team" of our school - several enthusiasts in constant fight against our own age) were constantly told by Master Kim about errors and wrong performance. Which, for veterans like me, sounded strange. I know everything can be made better - even when close to perfect - but at least basic techniques are something I adopted years ago. Other guys did not look like doing anything wrong too. And then all of the sudden Master Kim took video camera out of nowhere and started to tape the training.

Should I say that we were all sorry to take a look at video material at the end of training?

Well, no, the things were not that bad at all, far from critical anyway, but there were so many little things that made good performance look crappy every now and then - so we all asked ourselves - do I do that often? Such mistakes, like tending to force and speed and forget basic positions probably don't show for un-experienced eyes, but in case some expert watching - it would be better if video would not exist at all.

I know that much depends on angle of recording, light, the right moment and everything, but the possibility to rewind and look at the tape again and again can do two things: good for me (to spot the mistake and correct it next time) and bad for observer (to think "Oh my God, what is this guy doing?!") if he knows what we actualy are trying to do. :)

Should the title be "Self-criticism"? Anyways, the picture is there. So be afraid, little children! ;)

Cheers!