Notebooks

[MJS]

How many of you have a notebook in which you've used as a MA journal, writing down techniques, kata, etc. from your early days of training? What about one that you use when you attend seminars?

When I first started training, after each class, I'd write down any new techniques I learned. I'd even go so far as attempting to write out kata, although that can be a bit difficult.

For seminars, I usually bring a notebook with me, to jot down the material covered. Usually things are moving at a quick pace, so its hard to take solid notes, but I usually try to re-write things ASAP, due to the fact that there have been many times, I'd go back and look at what I wrote and was unable to figure it out. :)

[Drac]

For seminars, I usually bring a notebook with me, to jot down the material covered. Usually things are moving at a quick pace, so its hard to take solid notes, but I usually try to re-write things ASAP, due to the fact that there have been many times, I'd go back and look at what I wrote and was unable to figure it out. :)

I hear ya MJS..At the seminar I did in Halifax there were about 1/2 dozen MA/LEO's there...After the GM would show a technique we's run to the end of the mat, bow out and start writing...The bowing rule was suspended, but old habits die hard...

[crushing]

I think having a notebook is a great thing. I doubt highly that I would be this far along without my handy dandy notebook. I actually have a binder that has my techniques in it twice. Once when I take my notes down in one of those little spiral bound notebooks, usually immediately following a class. The second time is where I type them up on the computer in a more organized manner then print it out and give it the three-hole punch for easy reference. This 'double entry' method really helps the techniques and concepts sink in.

[Blindside]

I wait until lunch or after the seminar is over to take notes, immediately after the portion is shown is when you are supposed to be working out, not writing things down.

But yes, I write everything down, and it is something we recommend to all our students. For me the process of writing makes me think through the movement, and locks in the memory a bit better.

Lamont

[jdinca]

I have every technique I've learned written down, as well as a few forms. The most important thing I have is the written notes from the lectures.

I tell my students to start taking notes in the very beginning of their training. I've lost several incredible northern forms because I never wrote them down.

[Bigshadow]

I don't take notes.

[IcemanSK]

In our organization, we keep a goal portfollio to record the times training & teaching, etc. This is a great help to encourage me in my training. I do take notes when I go to seminars & things, also.

[Shaderon]

We have a system where what we are learning at each stage is kept on the instructors computers, then after we've graded, they are printed out and we all get a sheet with what we are about to learn on it (actually we tend to learn things a few grades ahead so we have plenty of time to practice but you know what I mean). That way, we don't need to make notes.

I do have my own note books though, with everthing in it that I have to learn for all my colour belts, patterns, techniques and korean for everything, I go through this about 3 times a week and I'm always thinking thorugh techniques in my head.. I know I'm a bit obsessive but then we all obsess about something... don't we? :uhoh:

[kidswarrior]

We have a system where what we are learning at each stage is kept on the instructors computers, then after we've graded, they are printed out and we all get a sheet with what we are about to learn on it (actually we tend to learn things a few grades ahead so we have plenty of time to practice but you know what I mean). That way, we don't need to make notes.

Pampered! ;)


I do have my own note books though, with everthing in it that I have to learn for all my colour belts, patterns, techniques and korean for everything, I go through this about 3 times a week and I'm always thinking thorugh techniques in my head.. I know I'm a bit obsessive but then we all obsess about something... don't we? :uhoh:

OK, then. Since you obsess like me, guess you pass. :high5:

Seriously, I have shelves full of notebooks--even print out things some people write here on MT. :ultracool

[TraditionalTKD]

Except for some notes I have taken in years past regarding verbal lectures and information, I don't take notes. Anything physical, I practice it and mentally go over it until I understand it. I have never written down descriptions of techniques because I don't learn that way. I learn by practice and physically doing it. I will write down notes on history, philosophy, names etc. Past experience also dictates that this information tends to be already available from various sources, so writing it down in not necessary.
I have never written down forms. Since I used to teach, I did the forms every day. Writing them down was unnecessary. If I have any questions, I can call people and get answers.

[jim777]

In my school everyone is required to have a three ring binder. Sheets are handed out to all students that specify what will be the minimum requirements for their next belt test, as well as sheets dealing with counting in Korean, the philosphy behind the art and the 5 tenets, and other stuff as well (common Korean terms, etc). You are required to bring your binders to all classes, and you will not test if you forget it on test day.

[Brian R. VanCise]

I used to take notes a long time ago but now I do not. Notes are good but sometimes take away from the learning happening at that moment in time. I think if you want to take notes do them after training with some of your partners while the material is still fresh. That may work the best and during the training you will not be distracted by taking notes.http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif

[Kacey]

I wrote things in my requirements handbook until it disintegrated... then I started using other notebooks.

[tellner]

It's great that your teacher provides this service, especially for beginners. You might want to keep your own notes, though. No matter how good the class notes are it's important to developing your own insight into what you are doing, to write down the stuff you're having trouble with and recast it in ways that make sense to you. It helps set things in your mind to a degree that simply reading someone else's notes no matter how well written can not.

As you progress the process is less one of learning new things and pulling stuff out of the curriculum than it is of using the movements as a repository and mobile memory palace for what you know. Keeping your own notes will develop that and help the later stages immensely.

Of course Brian is correct. Take the notes after class rather than during unless you have some divine epiphany that simply has to be recorded before it goes away.

[jks9199]

My teacher always encouraged us to take notes and maintain notebooks. Writing it down serves to engrave the material on the mind in a different channel, and I need my own notes because yours may not be helpful to me. Frequently, when my teacher held seminars, the day would start with a lecture/note-taking period.

I now require my students to take notes, and penalize those who fail to bring their notebooks to class.

[jks9199]

I used to take notes a long time ago but now I do not. Notes are good but sometimes take away from the learning happening at that moment in time. I think if you want to take notes do them after training with some of your partners while the material is still fresh. That may work the best and during the training you will not be distracted by taking notes.http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif
It is important to know when to take notes... I would never interrupt the teacher or lesson to write notes -- but I'll use every spare moment or break to jot something down. One of the best times for me was a stretch when I was working as a guard, and would go from class to work. I'd sit down, and write my notes out between making rounds.

[Drac]

One of the best times for me was a stretch when I was working as a guard, and would go from class to work. I'd sit down, and write my notes out between making rounds.


My problem is being able to decipher my chicken-scratch.. By the end of the day when muscles and joints are sore printing is a real task..

[IWishToLearn]

The only during-class time I require my students to take notes for is during lectures, because a lot of the lectures are what I candidly refer to as "grey-matter heavy" and it's easy to miss important points if you get overwhelmed. By having all the students take notes, they get together and compare & contrast their notes and get a clearer picture of what's going on.

Everyone brings their notebooks to every class, and quite often during breaks people are seen writing down observations and making technical notes.

[Bigshadow]

My teacher always encouraged us to take notes and maintain notebooks.

That is probably why I don't take notes. ;) My teacher always encouraged us to focus on the feeling of what we were doing and commiting these things to muscle memory rather than comitting them to paper. So I never got into the habit. :) As with anything it has it's pluses and minuses.



My problem is being able to decipher my chicken-scratch.. By the end of the day when muscles and joints are sore printing is a real task..


I am with you there for sure.

Then there is whole dynamic aspect of it as well. IMO, what I would write today would seem so simple to me 5 years from now that I would probably wonder why I even wrote it... Much like as if I kept my 3rd grade math work and was looking at it today to try and draw some significance from it.

[jks9199]

Then there is whole dynamic aspect of it as well. IMO, what I would write today would seem so simple to me 5 years from now that I would probably wonder why I even wrote it... Much like as if I kept my 3rd grade math work and was looking at it today to try and draw some significance from it.

But -- by going back and looking at some of that "old kiddy basics"... I've solved problems in my current training! Sometimes, a piece of something just drifts out of my memory, or even was so well absorbed that it disappeared... but then, when I needed it back "visible", it wouldn't come out! And, I've still got things in notebooks that were taught that I haven't had time to really concentrate on properly yet! I've got enough there to keep me training for at least a couple of years!

I don't think this is a right or wrong issue, either.

[Bigshadow]

I don't think this is a right or wrong issue, either.

Me either. Just was trying to get my thoughts out as to why I don't. There are times I wish I had taken notes. ;) Especially for remember names of katas and such with a rough description of what to do.

[kidswarrior]

But -- by going back and looking at some of that "old kiddy basics"... I've solved problems in my current training! Sometimes, a piece of something just drifts out of my memory, or even was so well absorbed that it disappeared... but then, when I needed it back "visible", it wouldn't come out! And, I've still got things in notebooks that were taught that I haven't had time to really concentrate on properly yet! I've got enough there to keep me training for at least a couple of years!

I don't think this is a right or wrong issue, either.

Yeah, I agree with everything in this post. The one category that will definitely be lost if I don't write it down at the end of the session is those brilliant one liners the instructor willl spin off every now and then. You know, the insight that seems to make the whole art, or a whole aspect of it, work? The thing that comes from 45 years of practice? It's like the cute things your kids say when they're little. You promise yourself you'll always remember them, they're just too good to forget, but if you don't record 'em, they're gone.

[kidswarrior]

I don't take notes.


Except for some notes I have taken in years past regarding verbal lectures and information, I don't take notes. Anything physical, I practice it and mentally go over it until I understand it. I have never written down descriptions of techniques because I don't learn that way. I learn by practice and physically doing it. I will write down notes on history, philosophy, names etc. Past experience also dictates that this information tends to be already available from various sources, so writing it down in not necessary.
I have never written down forms. Since I used to teach, I did the forms every day. Writing them down was unnecessary. If I have any questions, I can call people and get answers.

I wanted to remark on something TraditionalTKD said, and I think Bigshadow may have implied through his posts. Have been too busy to do it justice until now.

Here I am a professional educator, and one who prides himself on always watching for the legitimate differences among how people learn, and yet I read right past this very important point. Namely, some people learn the most by seeing something, some by hearing and/or speaking it, and some by doing it. In educationese, it's virtually cliche to separate these into the categories of visual learning, auditory or aural learning, and kinesthetic (or tactile-kinesthetic) learning. Schools traditionally rely on the first two; doing martial arts is obviously kinetic--body movement--and so it stands to reason we would attract more kinesthetic learners to MA than other pastimes might. (NOTE: I know this is a gross generalization, as are most categories used of people, but those who may be well versed in learning theory, please cut me some slack in order to allow me at least a chance to make a worthy point. :asian: Thank you).

And that point is? A notebook is mostly superfluous to kinesthetic people. Just as talking at visual people is mostly dead air. Example from a guy who's been married decades: My wife used to tell me what to pick up at the store. She remembers what she's told, so what's the problem? The problem is, I remember nothing I'm told (could just be a hard head, too), but almost everything I see, and definitely the things I see which I also value. So, for a couple of decades, she'd send me to the store for maybe 7-8 items, and I'd always come home with the wrong stuff. I felt lower than low. How could this happen to me? I finally convinced her I needed her to write it down (Why, stupid?), and then I started getting it right--perfect, I might add. :mst:

Now, I wouldn't presume to choose for someone else how they might best learn. But I do need to withdraw the earlier arrogance underlying my posts that having shelves packed with notebooks makes me special. It just makes me, me. Just like for others, not taking notes makes them, them. My apologies to anyone who may have felt slighted by my tone, and a hearty 'well done' to everyone who has posted here. Takes courage to reveal these very personal things about ourselves. :cool:

[bluemtn]

I use a notebook almost everytime something new is started- form, self defense, etc., especially when it's more complex than normal. That's just the way I learn, and it helps things sink in more for me to visualize/ redo. I've been quite successful at remembering more of what I learned than some students, when I do that for the next class. Then again, I'm more of a visual learner...

[Drac]

My problem is being able to decipher my chicken-scratch.. By the end of the day when muscles and joints are sore printing is a real task..


I am with you there for sure.

I actually thought about hiring someone to take notes for me...

[CuongNhuka]

I've done something like that. I do it with concepts and philosophys that aren't taught in Cuong Nhu, as well as techniques. We issue training manuels, so there is no real reason to keep a list of techniques/katas taught.

[Juggernaut]

I am rather obsessive, I have notes on everything.....lol. I too am guilty of printing off very interesting posts not just from this forum but from others for the last 7 years....lol...I have almost as many notebooks as I do books...

When I teach my students I hand out manuals with each phase which includes a cognitive curriculum and a tactical curriculum with a place to take notes throughout.

[Langenschwert]

I have one particular training partner in my Historical European Swordsmanship studies with whom I train 2-3 times per week. I have other training partners that are less frequent, and class as well. Anywho, we started keeping a journal of our practices to keep everything straight. We train three different arts: German Longsword, Italian Rapier, and German Sword & Buckler. We try to throw a bit of dagger work in once in a while, too. We track what techniques we practiced/learned and whether we used blunt steel, wooden wasters, or padded sparring weapons. We track whether we sparred, and what type of sparring we did, either "technical" or freeplay, using steel, padded or wooden weapons. We also write down what we plan to do in the next practice.

Frankly, if we didn't keep a journal, we would have a hard time directing our training in a cohesive manner. It's been a big help, really. If you do a fairly large amount of training, then I'd highly recommend using a journal.

Best regards,

-Mark

[Phoenix44]

I keep notes, but I learned an even better technique from some fellow students at a Special Training of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation:

After a seminar, go back to your room, and video yourself doing the techniques. That will help jog your memory long after your notes cease to make any sense.

[tellner]

That's great if what you're trying to remember is the movement or if an insight is keyed to them. Notebooks have their place if there's something you've articulated and need to remember that way.

However you do it, whatever your learning style, the whole point is to develop skill and understanding and to turn the movements into a repository for what you know.

[jks9199]

I keep notes, but I learned an even better technique from some fellow students at a Special Training of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation:

After a seminar, go back to your room, and video yourself doing the techniques. That will help jog your memory long after your notes cease to make any sense.
I'm not personally a fan of videos.

I've seen too many cases where people relied on video tapes, and missed crucial details that either weren't visible because of the angle, or simply weren't apparent from the tape.

That's what I like about notebooks; I can write something like "gotta keep weight back for..." which might not be visible on a tape. I also personally prefer to run things through multiple "mental channels"; when I watch and listen to the explanation of something in class, that's one channel, then it's another as we do the drill, it's another, and writing the notes is a third.

As I said -- there's no right or wrong here. This has worked for me & it's produced solid results in both my students and my instructor's students. (In fact, we haven't required it in our youngest -- but I'm thinking that I will soon, simply because I've noticed they forget a lot of stuff!)

[kidswarrior]

(In fact, we haven't required it in our youngest -- but I'm thinking that I will soon, simply because I've noticed they forget a lot of stuff!)

Good point. I haven't either, but might do so now.

[tradrockrat]

I have notes on every single drill and form I've ever been taught - in Bando, TKD, JKD, Escrima, Jiu jitsu, Seminars, etc. To me it's insane to NOT write it all down.

However, I only write the skeleton of the form ansd intent of the move (for example, my white belt form called the point form starts with this: move 1: double X block, back L stance right, low block left [clearing front kick - evasion/redirection not blocking]). That's all I write. As for proper weighting and little asides I've found that after 24 years in those are the things I remember without notes! ;)

[TraditionalTKD]

Maybe it's just me, but I've found that after 24 years in Tae Kwon Do, except for very occasional times, I've never needed notes or a notebook. My memory tends to be pretty good, and what I don't remember probably isn't that important.
In fact, I can count all the TKD and martial arts-related books I own on one hand.

[MarkBarlow]

I've got notebooks and handouts going back to the mid 70's and I find myself referring to them often. So many times, something that I jotted down from my sensei didn't seem important at the time but a few years down the road, I'd look at my notebook and it would directly relate to something I was working on right then.

Assuming that if you don't remember it, it must not be important may work for some folks, but I know just how capable I am of forgetting important stuff.

[kidswarrior]

ISo many times, something that I jotted down from my sensei didn't seem important at the time but a few years down the road, I'd look at my notebook and it would directly relate to something I was working on right then.

Yeah, this is my experience, too. The stuff I often wrote off as unrealistic or irrelevant has turned out years later to be exactly the next step I was searching for in my growth!

[ArmorOfGod]

Ooh, I get to brag on this one.
I have a notebook that I started on my first day of training back in Jan of 1991. I have maintained it ever since then and it has gotten huge. I did mine using looseleaf pages in a binder. It has notes on katas, tons of self defense, and even diagrams and pictures of how the moves should look. Also, I put dates and names of who I learned the moves from.
A year ago, I transfered all of it to disc and even uploaded it into my online Yahoo briefcase ( http://briefcase.yahoo.com ).
I tell my students every couple of weeks that they should be keeping one as well and I have one student who I know is keeping one.

AoG

[TraditionalTKD]

As far as requiring people to bring notebooks or physically record what I say or do, I've never done that. Nor would I ever. If someone wants to record something I teach, I wouldn't have a problem with it. And if they think they can remember down the road what they learned without a notebook, they are perfectly welcome to try. I really don't think what I have to say is so important that I would make people write it down.
Anyway, if someone has a question about a point I made, all they have to do as ask.

[MarkBarlow]

I really don't think what I have to say is so important that I would make people write it down.


I don't mean to sound harsh but if you feel that way, why are you teaching?

[TraditionalTKD]

I teach people because I love to do so. How they choose to remember it is up to them. Our GM is the same way. In all the years he has taught, he has never required people to write down what he said or did. Some choose to during special seminars. He teaches what he teaches, and people learn or they do not. If they forget along the line, then they lose what he taught. Anyway, writing it down doesn't guarantee that it will be recorded accurately. Even written down, people will perceive what is written differently, or write based on what they think he did or said.

[MarkBarlow]

I don't have a problem with folks not taking notes, it's the idea that a teacher would think what he has to share is not worth the effort. For me, it seems that cheapens both my effort and their involvement. I'm not trying to be judgemental or argumentative, just trying to understand your perspective.

[Drac]

I've got notebooks and handouts going back to the mid 70's and I find myself referring to them often. So many times, something that I jotted down from my sensei didn't seem important at the time but a few years down the road, I'd look at my notebook and it would directly relate to something I was working on right then.

Assuming that if you don't remember it, it must not be important may work for some folks, but I know just how capable I am of forgetting important stuff.

Truer words were never typed....I have notes and handouts from EVERY MA seminar or LEO class that I've ever attended..Excellent reference materals...

[tradrockrat]

this thread is killing me - I ws up till almost 1 am last night looking over old notes - I'll prob'ly do it again tonight.

so much that I've forgotten or neglected...

[jks9199]

this thread is killing me - I ws up till almost 1 am last night looking over old notes - I'll prob'ly do it again tonight.

so much that I've forgotten or neglected...
Ain't it amazing when you open up an old notebook, and find some drill or exercise that you haven't worked since it was first taught that answers just what you needed today... Or find some little piece that you'd absorbed so thoroughly you've forgotten it, and it's why your student isn't having the success you expect?

[Bigshadow]

I actually thought about hiring someone to take notes for me...

Now that is an idea! LOL they must be an artist too... They also need to be able to quickly draw the kamae and footward in production quality. :rofl:

[Bigshadow]

I don't have a problem with folks not taking notes, it's the idea that a teacher would think what he has to share is not worth the effort. For me, it seems that cheapens both my effort and their involvement. I'm not trying to be judgemental or argumentative, just trying to understand your perspective.

My opinions are if you have to remember it via notes, you truly haven't made it your own. To me they are just distant and fuzzy memories archived in a book preserved as when they were scribbled on the pages.

I believe it is far more disrespectful to the instructor to give less than 110% in class, I should be doing instead of writing.

I couldn't tell you how many times I have seen someone run to go take notes and miss a very important and crucial nugget of information, because they were too worried about writing it down on their notepad.

I have missed things for just taking the time to whisper something about the training to a training partner while the instructor was demonstrating or talking. Yes, I shouldn't have said anything, but that shows how quickly crucial things can be missed.

Taking notes after class and stuff like that is fine, but my perception of things after class isn't always the same as they are 3 days later or a month later.

Hopefully that helps.

[MarkBarlow]

It's never occurred to me to take notes during class. I'll jot down comments or sketch during breaks or after class.

As for giving 110%, to me that implies that I don't quit training when I leave the dojo. Notes help clarify faulty memories and no one remembers perfectly.

I guess it all comes down to what works for the individual. If you believe that you can retain enough without notes or out of class study, great. For me, I need all the help I can get.

I was blessed with a sensei who didn't mind me calling him at home to ask him to explain or elaborate on techniques. He was also gracious enough to let me visit and train with him on weekends. Even with my being in the dojo 6 days a week for over 10 years, I still missed important facts. Thank God for notes.

[Drac]

I need all the help I can get.

You aint alone brother!!!!

[Shaderon]

but those who may be well versed in learning theory, please cut me some slack in order to allow me at least a chance to make a worthy point. :asian: Thank you

Certainly, I'm positive most of us aren't versed in learning theory even though some of us are... and a few like me, will need reminding....



And that point is? A notebook is mostly superfluous to kinesthetic people. Just as talking at visual people is mostly dead air. Example from a guy who's been married decades: My wife used to tell me what to pick up at the store. She remembers what she's told, so what's the problem? The problem is, I remember nothing I'm told (could just be a hard head, too), but almost everything I see, and definitely the things I see which I also value. So, for a couple of decades, she'd send me to the store for maybe 7-8 items, and I'd always come home with the wrong stuff. I felt lower than low. How could this happen to me? I finally convinced her I needed her to write it down (Why, stupid?), and then I started getting it right--perfect, I might add. :mst:


I have read through all these posts feeling quote confused at why I don't feel that my own note taking would help me much beyond what I get provided, however your post reminds me that I don't learn this way. I learn through discovery, experimenting and doing. re-reading something I've written leaves me cold and switches me off. In fact, one of the ways that I learn is to tell someone what I need to do, show them and then things come flooding back to me and I remember. I often forget to even look at notebooks, but a folder with lists in it is something I can refer to that will job my memory.

As I get higher up the food chain I'm sure note taking will become more important to me, but even then I can't be sure I've not misswed anything out. I'd rather buy a book, or use my teachers notes, highlight what I consider important in one colour, things I need to rote learn in another and so on. I guess I just learn better that way.

[Bigshadow]

It's never occurred to me to take notes during class. I'll jot down comments or sketch during breaks or after class.

As for giving 110%, to me that implies that I don't quit training when I leave the dojo. Notes help clarify faulty memories and no one remembers perfectly.

I guess it all comes down to what works for the individual. If you believe that you can retain enough without notes or out of class study, great. For me, I need all the help I can get.

I was blessed with a sensei who didn't mind me calling him at home to ask him to explain or elaborate on techniques. He was also gracious enough to let me visit and train with him on weekends. Even with my being in the dojo 6 days a week for over 10 years, I still missed important facts. Thank God for notes.

That is cool! :) I just try to train as often as I can. :) I do read often, but not my notes, but books from others in the art. They aren't my notes, but I guess they could be notes (so to speak). ;)

[tradrockrat]

[/i]

Certainly, I'm positive most of us aren't versed in learning theory even though some of us are... and a few like me, will need reminding....

[i]

I have read through all these posts feeling quote confused at why I don't feel that my own note taking would help me much beyond what I get provided, however your post reminds me that I don't learn this way. I learn through discovery, experimenting and doing. re-reading something I've written leaves me cold and switches me off. In fact, one of the ways that I learn is to tell someone what I need to do, show them and then things come flooding back to me and I remember. I often forget to even look at notebooks, but a folder with lists in it is something I can refer to that will job my memory.

As I get higher up the food chain I'm sure note taking will become more important to me, but even then I can't be sure I've not misswed anything out. I'd rather buy a book, or use my teachers notes, highlight what I consider important in one colour, things I need to rote learn in another and so on. I guess I just learn better that way.


Well I have to say that notebooks are a great thing even for Auditory and Kinesthetic learners like me. Sure the notebooks mean very little while I'm actually writting them down after the class, but 15 years later? From a weekend seminar? I don't care how you learn - unless your memory is damn near perfect you have forgotten something! I have always felt very blessed to be one of those guys that just gets it pretty quick. My quick level of proficiency has been commented on several times by many different teachers, but that's because I learn by listening and doing - perfect for a seminar environment. My short term memory is also very good (all those years of theatre), but after the training is over and the weeks go by, little things the teacher said fade and the reality of training a new technique without constant reinforcment sets in - That's when the notebooks are worth their weight in gold.

[geocad]

I agree with most of you too. Taking notes during class is, in my opinion, not recommended. But taking notes after the lesson or during breaks is important. Although I've been out of the training scene for many years, I'm back now and more dedicated then ever. I recently pulled out my old note book to review my old HRD forms. What a mess! So my 2 cents are this... Write your notes. Compare your notes with others (very important). Rewrite your notes (or add to your original notes) with A DIFFERENT COLOR PEN each time you edit.

I picked up the technique using different colors in college when I studied Geology at ASU. Using different colors allows the reader/writer to see how their notes progressed over time. Hopefully you see the value in understanding the progression of the edited notes. ~Cheers!

[Laurentkd]

I've got notebooks and handouts going back to the mid 70's and I find myself referring to them often. So many times, something that I jotted down from my sensei didn't seem important at the time but a few years down the road, I'd look at my notebook and it would directly relate to something I was working on right then.

Assuming that if you don't remember it, it must not be important may work for some folks, but I know just how capable I am of forgetting important stuff.


I agree with this exactly and keep a notebook for just this reason! I do seem to have a good memory and I always think at the time that I remember the important stuff, but when I make myself write it down I can go back later and find something important that was important at the time. I don't often write down actual techniques (unless it's just a quick reminder of the technique while I am still learning it) but I mostly write down summeries of conversations I have had with my instructor, as far as philosophy or history or how to approach certain problem students or parents, etc. It is those conversations that really still speak to me later on (and I don't even have stuff that is years and years old to look back at yet!)

I have also been keeping a seperate notebook for almost a year now. In that one I just write down what kind of class I was in (kids class, adult class, review for test class, etc) and then write down everything we did. I try to do this all the time, but I really make sure to do it when it was an extra-good class (either a really good workout, or a new drill or way of doing something). Then, on occasion when I am teaching and want to change things up a little bit, or make sure I really focus on a particluar aspect I can go back and look in my notebook and find pages and pages of good drills and exercises. For example: I taught a class of about 10 young men who wanted a really good workout a week or so ago, and all I had to do was go back and find all the "best" hard workout drills from previous classes and string them all together. It really helps keep training exciting when you have lots of exciting drills right there at your fingertips that you might not be able to think of at a moments notice.

[utb1528]

I think taking notes is a great idea for seminars. The student should wait until a break or after the seminar.

I always forget my notebook though :)

[Drac]

I think taking notes is a great idea for seminars. The student should wait until a break or after the seminar.

Absolutely!!!! Now I've been to seminars where the Grandmaster or Instructor will ask "Do you all have photographic memories? No? Then where are your notebooks?"


I always forget my notebook though :)

It should be the FIRST thing you put in your training bag..