Do The Announcers for VF Tournaments Know Common Move Names?

I've been watching a lot of old and some new VF tournaments. An the announcers are good. They do add to the match. They usually bring some excitement. But I'm starting to wonder if they know the common names for the character's martial arts attacks and throws , or do they just know the names of button push sequences or generic names of fighting engine mechanics When the announcers are calling the match, I usually hear stuff like:

• Down 4, 1
• Down Forward One
• Down Back
• Wall Splat
• Throw Escape
• Side Step
• Oh Noooo, he pushed a button
• Fuzzy Guard
• Dropped a Combo
• On nooooo, she got caught pushing a button
• He took his turn back
• He had the advantage how did that $#it work?
• Is he dead?
• That's gonna kill

But as I'm going through the move, attack lists of the fighters in VF , I find the following moves that characters routinely perform in the game that I almost never hear the announcers even mention

• Iron Mountain
• Double Dragon
• Dragon Palm
• Kimura
• Rear Neck Choke
• Tiger Claw Strike
• Jab
• Five point palm exploding heart technique
• Vibrating Palm
• Touch of Death
• Tiger Scratch
• Left Hook
• Round House Kick
• Arm Bar
• Scissors Kick
• Flying Kick
• O-soto Gari
• O-goshi
• Right Hook
• Full Nelson
• One-Inch Punch
• Crane Kick
• Kiss of the Dragon
• Iron Fist
• Dagger Kick
• Death Touch
• Body Slam
• Axe Kick
• Elbow Strike
• Knee Strike
• etc

Is it that the announcers believe the spectating audience would rather hear button press sequences, and the names of game mechanics e.g. down foward 2, fuzzy guard, they're playing footsies, OMG 12 hit combo, etc. Rather than calling out Akira just ended the match with Iron Mountain, or Lau Chan just took back the advantage with Tiger Claw Strike Is it simply easier to memorize button press sequences and situational game mechanics maneuvers than memorize the common martial art names for each character's move list

Or are the announcers just following what they think they should be saying during an e-sports event?

 

To the casual audience, they might say Akira's elbow, instead of Rimon Chonchu.

 

I had not thought of it from this perspective, thanx. That makes a lot of sense

 

@akai I think this goes for all of insider comments the announcers make right?

The casual audience will also not know what down, 4, 1, or down back to side turned, or wall carry, or dropped the combo means.

I do understand that Japanese names for moves would not make much sense in other languages and other cultures, So casual spectators would have no idea what Lei Fei's Hai Shiki, or Bokutai is even referring to. I get that., But the casual spectator will also not know anything about fuzzy guard, sabaki, or frame advantage. These terms are routinely used in calling matches.

Only hard core players would know whether some specific set of button presses would lead to a launcher, or whether this, or that move is safe on block, or what whiff punishing is, or what Nehan Shiki, Hai Shiki, Bokutai refers to.

Is it possible that the announcers (volunteer or otherwise) are using the vernacular that advanced, or hardcore players prefer to hear Not necessarily the vernacular that is most digestible to a casual audience, the uninitiated, first time viewers and so on.

Over the last couple of days, I went back and listened to announcers of tournaments dating back to the very late 90's and early 2000's up until present day. It was a very interesting exercise. Announcing has not always been done how its done today

I'm not criticizing anyone here. I am grateful to the many volunteers, and efforts for all those that put on tournaments, and stream tournaments for the rest of us to enjoy. I personally know how much work goes into hosting a tournament I realize these volunteers are doing a tremendous service to the community.

And I do agree the Announcers should use whatever terminology they are comfortable using, and call the matches in a way that they believe communicates the best with the
audience

But that said, what kind of terminology is used to describe the combat in the basic action or martial arts movies, like John Wick, The Matrix, the Raid, Grand master, Kill Bill, IP Man, etc. These are all targeted at casual audiences, that are interested in watching high octane martial arts conflicts. In those contexts:

• Round House Kick
• One Inch Punch
• Flying Knee
• Dragon Palm
• Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique

Seem to get the point across Granted this might not work for the casual audience watching a fighting game

I guess I'm wondering is there any lessons to be learned by our announcers that might help grow the spectating casual audience

 

IMHO the real question is: do the announcers know the community nicknames for moves? Stuff like Sarah's "Dragon Smash Canon" being shortened to Dragon Canon by everyone ever, Kage's running K being called his "slide", Lei Fei's Senshippo being called his arrow punch, Lion's 66P being referrred to as HIS "arrow punch" due to resembling the Lei Fei move, El Blaze's KKK string being affectinately called "Racist Kicks", Vanessa's OS 9P superman punch or DS 66K "Vacuum Boot" (when it connects at the very tip), Taka's 66 "Snusnu" throw etc.

That's a very difficult skill to acquire, since it requires frequenting/rewatching community streams to pick up the lingo. So, personally, I'm more impressed when i hear commentators do THAT, instead of "just" using notation-based or official names for the moves, which seems* like the bare minimum.

* DISCLAIMER: I assume knowing the names/notation is the bare minimum. I have never commentated. I teach for a liviing though, and in my field it is expected that one be familiar with the material before proceeding to present it to others.

 

So true

Agreed, but like @akai posted many of the announcers are just volunteers and may be doing the best they know how.

Eariler today I listened to a bit of Tekken World Tour, from another room. I couldn't see the match , I could only hear the match. If you just listen to a match without seeing the match whoaa and you don't know the lingo the announcers are using, you really have no idea whats going on. I guess if TWT was broadcast on XM radio, that would drive the point home. Its possible for a casual audience to just hear a tennis match, or baseball game, or boxing match, or karate match and know what's going on without seeing the actual game or match. A high level , hard core, player can listen to something like a Tekken match or VF match without seeing it and know whats going on, but, noobs, casuals, wouldn't stand a chance. What does down-back-forward-1, neutral, wall damage,
minus 6 on hit, buffered-the-guard-cancel etc even mean to the casual audience But this is the kind of terminology that is regularly used in calling a match. It must be effective for some audiences because its used so frequently. I just wonder if its the best language to be used to attract casual audiences, new players, and so on

 

A hilarious one from the 90's, coming from the Street Fighter Alpha games, is Sakura's panty kick. Now that is quite, an interesting nickname, for an attack. Lol!