ma notebooks

[rachel]

Do any of you keep a journal on what you learn in your MA? One of my instructors brought hers in to show us. I just started one because of her. It's amazing how much I've learned. I didn't realize until I started writing it all down. She had a great idea.:)

[Jill666]

I didn't for the first few years, but as I got more material and vocabulary, it became necessary. I just don't have the memory I used to (what? Pot, booze & coke are bad for you?) and now am cross training. Lots of material.

I have three notebooks going, and binders for handouts I get at seminars. Just jotting down concepts, rudimentary moves to remember kata, or names. Especially names. I'm a poor student of Japanese, and so when an instructor says "do Sukenstashita Haku No Sai" I look at my training partner. If I'm lucky he'll pantomime the first move, and I can say "yes Shihan!"

:rolleyes:

Then there are those other times when he's as clueless as I am (pot, booze & coke are bad for you). I can do a lot more pushups than I used to.

Keep notes, Rachel. Lots and lots of notes.
:asian:

[Matt Stone]

Keeping a journal is a great thing. I carry two notebooks around constantly (the small 8x5 kind), and make notes for whatever I am working on or thinking about...

I have "the Archaeology of Forms" as an ongoing project.

I have the book manuscript I am working on as an ongoing project.

I have my weight lifting (using Pavel Tsatsouline's methods) to keep track of.

Not to mention any other notes I may need to jot down when I have a momentary glimmer of inspiration.

When the notebook is full, I take it to the PC and either compile the good stuff for posterity's sake, or destroy the useless crap with my shredder...

Gambarimasu.
:asian:

[Jill666]

My training partner is trying to make sense of all the info we've got to burn to disc. A few of us are typing up forms and other curriculum so he doesn't have to do all the work. If we all keep up our ends (I'm probably the most delinquent) this will be a nice resourse for our dojo.

[Elfan]

I have a small notebook where I keep notes on what I'm working on and varius sheets of paper I have for whatever reason. Its not organized in any special fasion though and is far from complete.

[Matt Stone]

For our use in Yiliquan, we have a rather large MS Word document containing 4 separate "termsheets" (more like student workbooks with notes, explanations, lists, etc.) that comes to about 2.5 MB.

We have volumes of lectures sent out by our teacher via email totalling another several MB.

Making a CD like that is a daunting project, but once it comes together it is an awesome resource for everyone, student and instructor alike.

[D.Cobb]

When I was training in American Kenpo, it was part of the grading requirements to present a current, up to date "training manual".

I ended up with 2 of the lever arch type folders full of stuff and I wasn't at Black Belt yet.
These days I jot most things down on the PC.
--Dave:asian:

[cdhall]

Originally posted by rachel
Do any of you keep a journal on what you learn in your MA? One of my instructors brought hers in to show us. I just started one because of her. It's amazing how much I've learned. I didn't realize until I started writing it all down. She had a great idea.:)

Good for you. My original instructor required us to keep one. We were told this in the intro lesson. "You are required to keep and maintain a notebook. It may be presented for extra credit on belt tests."

Notebooks are great ideas. I have about an Inch of paper in my notebook now that I have printed from here on MartialTalk.

[cali_tkdbruin]

When I was at the lower colored belt ranks I started compiling a training manual of everything I had learned in the MAs. Now, it has everything in it such as terminology, basic hand techniques, required kicks, combination hand techniques, one-step sparring techniques, poomse (aka forms/kata), etc., etc., etc. Everything.

Over the years since I've been training in TKD the little training manual has grown into a tome. It has been very, very helpful in assisting me advance up the MA ladder. It's good for refreshing my weak memory.

I recommend that all martial arts practitioners keep their own training journals... :asian:

[brianhunter]

Originally posted by rachel
Do any of you keep a journal on what you learn in your MA? One of my instructors brought hers in to show us. I just started one because of her. It's amazing how much I've learned. I didn't realize until I started writing it all down. She had a great idea.:)

The school I attended when I was a kid didnt do anything like that and I was always asking to be shown stuff in class again...When an adult the school I started at kept notebooks and had belt packets as a requirement, it make a big difference in my practice and training!

It was definately nice for review! and Practicing on my own!

[jfarnsworth]

It's almost a necessity! I have mine as a running notebook. It's around 7 yrs. old and full of notes from Planas/Wedlake/Conatser. Without it I would have lost a lot of knowledge. Now I can go back and look at something from 3 yrs. ago and find 3 variations of something that was forgotten. Rachel, keep the notebook it will become a very useful "tool".

[lonekimono]

Wow i never though of that r u for real u mean when u go to the dojo u are writing down what u learned?
what will they think of next??

once again i'm only joking

yours in kenpo:o

[cali_tkdbruin]

Originally posted by lonekimono
Wow i never though of that r u for real u mean when u go to the dojo u are writing down what u learned?
what will they think of next??

once again i'm only joking

yours in kenpo:o

Well for me, I don't literally carry a notebook to the dojang in order to jot down notes. :p

I wait until I get home, and while everything newly learned is still fresh in my mind I put it all into my ever expanding MS Word doc. Hmmm... although if I had a Palm Pilot maybe I could take that to the dojang and... ;)

Yours in Taekwondo :cool:

[Mormegil]

Originally posted by cali_tkdbruin
Well for me, I don't literally carry a notebook to the dojang in order to jot down notes. :p

I wait until I get home, and while everything newly learned is still fresh in my mind I put it all into my ever expanding MS Word doc. Hmmm... although if I had a Palm Pilot maybe I could take that to the dojang and... ;)

Yours in Taekwondo :cool:

That is exactly what I do. I've been taking notes on my Palm (Sony Clie actually, same thing). I have a database set up, with a notepad to describe the moves, a drawing pad to draw anything I need to make it more clear, a selection area for which teacher taught it, a selection area on what martial art it came from (I do JKD), and a check box if I "get it." This is all with a program called ThinkDB. If anyone has this, and wants this database form, e-mail me.

My new Clie also has a camera, and I asked a couple of guys to demonstrate a technique I wanted to get right, and took video clips of them. Plus today, the head instructor and teacher said it would be OK for me to take video clips of his demos as he teaches for my own personal notes.

Man is this thing useful. Apparently it also has a calander and address book function or something ;)

[ace]

Originally posted by rachel
Do any of you keep a journal on what you learn in your MA? One of my instructors brought hers in to show us. I just started one because of her. It's amazing how much I've learned. I didn't realize until I started writing it all down. She had a great idea.:)

For the Last 6 Years it has pic's from my Fights
Flyers from seminar's My 1st black belt Certificit
Study's From Arnis,Ju Jitsu/Submisson wrestling, Bando ,JKD Mauy Thai. The Flyer from Combat Zone Were i fought my 1st MMA Fight.

New's Letters From Horizon Martial arts
I Like looking Back on it & Using it to Remeber my Past.
it's geting full im about to start a 2nd one.

[Aikikitty]

I've kept a journal ever since I started Aikido a couple of years ago. I mostly write about my experiances in class, what techniques we did, anything funny that happened, and how I feel about certian techniques. I like to flip through and read sections of my journal occasionally and I feel encouraged when I'm reminded how much I really have progressed in my understanding and ability. :)

Robyn :asian:

[Dronak]

Didn't this topic come up a while back? I'm almost positive I posted about this before. Yes, I write down all the forms we learn in class. It helps me remember them and it serves as a reference in case I forget something while still learning or just want to confirm some detail later. I have a little trouble learning just by copying what our teacher does, so when I do basically figure it out, I write it down. Having to think about all the basic movements and their flow in order to write them down helps me remember them a little better. I don't have a whole lot of notes outside of the descriptions of forms. There might be some, but for the most part I write down whatever we're told in the process of learning a form or exercise or whatever, so it all goes with something and I don't have a separate section of general notes.

[D.Cobb]

Originally posted by brianhunter
The school I attended when I was a kid didnt do anything like that and I was always asking to be shown stuff in class again...When an adult the school I started at kept notebooks and had belt packets as a requirement, it make a big difference in my practice and training!

It was definately nice for review! and Practicing on my own!

This may sound dumb, but what is a belt packet?

:confused: :confused:

--Dave

[tshadowchaser]

I have told my students many times to get a notebook and when they get home each night take time to record anything new that has come up in class.
Do they do it most likely not DO I care. Yes. They are loseing out on being able to look back (in years to come) and say yes it was done done that way or he said we could do it this way.
It is also a reminder of where we /they where and how they progressed.

[stone_dragone]

Part of our black belt requirement is to present our training notebook/scrapbook to show our journey and what we have learned. Most who go for black belt at our school include some special research project in the book.

I have gotten into the nerd-age and keep everything on my computer (with some printed back ups).

[green meanie]

I have a journal that use to keep track of what I teach at each practice and what went well or went badly. I used to have a box full of index cards that I used to write down techniques as I was learning them. I put them on file on my computer several years ago. *sigh* I kinda miss the index cards though... http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif

[HKphooey]

I have a journal, video tapes of seminars and downloads form any kenpo/kempo websites that post ther material. I like comparing/trying ever option that others have tried. I enjoy blending my material with the material of others. It is alos nice to have something to reference down the road.

[fnorfurfoot]

Instead of a journal, I wrote each technique on an index card and kept the cards in a recipe box. I created tabs so I could catagorize them according to attack. On the blank side of the cards I drew diagrams if they were needed to help clarify anything.

[Jade Tigress]

I always bring a notebook to class and seminars. I don't make notes in it every single class but it has proven an invaluable tool when needed.

[Phadrus00]

I have been keeping notes for years and find them an essential part of my learning process. It is great for forms as it forces me to imagine through the form after the fact and capture informaiton about transitions and body mechanics. For techniques it is essential! I have developed some short-hand notations to try and capture things like foot and hand position but ultimately good prose is the best way to capture it.

We also encourage our students to be taking notes and I like to lead by example by making notes after class and letting the other students see my notebook. The younger students are particularly impressed and I think for them it reinforces the idea that good note-taking is not a silly skill that only teachers in school want you to have. *smile*

Rob

[IcemanSK]

In the organization I belong to, keeping a portfolio is a part of the training starting at white belt. In it is a training log, goal setting pages, places for photos, memories, autographs & a lot of other neat things. At first I though it was going to be a pain keeping records of all of these things. But now I see how helpful it is for me. My students like doing it, too.

[still learning]

Hello, We always have training manuels, as well as many new updates of our techniques.

Besides a journel...you may want to collect any outside information from magazines articles,new articles, and so on. Today the collection of many articles has fill more than one folder...great to go back and read all those great information from many masters and martial artist.

Able to share with many students today..........Aloha

[bluemtn]

I keep a notebook because it helps "cement" things that I just learned. I have a book with my forms in it, but it really helps if I write it down myself- I can visualize it better.