WaldoW,
I would concur that he is playing a Helikon type instrument rather than a C system CBA, and I haven't heard him playing yet. The shape and bass side configuration of the instrument are the main giveaways.
Yes, it is very difficult to work out exactly what CBA players are doing, especially when they are playing fast. Try slowing the You Tube video speed down, or better still, check out a Swiss guy named Jean-Yves Sixt, who has a series of free C system CBA lessons on You Tube, albeit in the French/Swiss style. You should be able to ascertain from his lessons if it's going to work for you. Best Swiss CBA player ever was Rene Dessibourg (in my opinion).
There are other methods for CBA which do not use French system fingering, if it all looks too fingerbusting with the thumb on the side of the keyboard for too long. All I can say is if you can manage it you'll be a better player than if you range across 5 rows, as teachers like Sixt will make you use your pinky until it turns black.
The Italians from the Bologna and Parma areas of Emilia Romagna, where CBA is more popular than PA, develop a playing technique where the right hand largely remains in a position at right angles to the edge of the keyboard. In that area of Italy some of the older players also only had 4 row instruments, although the thumb was a major performer on the keyboard. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any methods which concentrate on the system used by the Italian players from the area, and if I could that's what I would recommend any beginner on C system CBA to use.
If you want to hear what the players sound like, check out Carlo Venturi, Tiziano Ghinazzi, or Davide Salvi on You Tube.
If none of those players or their styles appeal to you I've a couple of surplus electric guitars that I may consider selling you!
Seriously, the world of CBA is vast, it's just that the instrument isn't well enough known in most of the world.
Sorry if I've not made it any easier for you, but as Rancoman says, it will all come with experience if you commit yourself to go for it.
Maybe your brain just needs a "dunt" or two to convince you. I'm Scottish too, although I am also dual British/Irish.
In the North part of County Antrim where my father's family come from, they speak an Ulster Scots dialect. They have a saying:- "Thon fella'll not break much delph", inferring that he needs a "wee dunt" for encouragement. Ulstermen and Scots share a lot of common vocabulary, and "dunt" is one such word, although as far as I know it has no accordion connotations on the west side of the Irish Sea.
