# Committing thoughts to paper



## ikenpo (May 11, 2002)

Do you have to have an organization to commit your thoughts to paper? Do you have to be a Paul Mills, Dr. Chapel, Dennis Conatser or Skip Hancock to explore AK in a systematic fashion? Is there anyone out there that has notebooks full of concepts they've explored? Do you guys carry notebooks or tape recorders around to record your thoughts on MA subjects? 

I see a lot of good stuff here, but I wonder how much is just off the cuff pontificating never to be explored again and how much is the beginning of an exploration that might move the system forward?

jb


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## Rainman (May 11, 2002)

> I see a lot of good stuff here, but I wonder how much is just off the cuff pontificating never to be explored again and how much is the beginning of an exploration that might move the system forward?



Are you questioning free information?  You sound pretty ungratefull.


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## jfarnsworth (May 11, 2002)

Mr. Planas comes around 100 miles of where I live once every 3-4 months to conduct seminars. If you don't have a notebook you will be lost. With the amount of material he has to offer at every seminar you better have a notebook. Well unless you have one heck of a "great" memory (which I don't) an individual will never remember all of the little details he fixes or slightly different endings he uses on techniques. I believe notebooks are a must.
Jason Farnsworth


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## ikenpo (May 11, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Rainman _
> 
> *
> 
> Are you questioning free information?  You sound pretty ungratefull. *



:shrug: 
Are you posting just to get your numbers up?

That just sounds crazy. On an open forum "am I questioning...", well of course. Is this the location that you exclusively keep all marital arts body of knowledge? 

Do you explore the things that GD7 actually says? Do you get on the mat and say, "ok, that work" and "Oooww, ok that didn't work". Like the other poster said, he writes info down from Mr. Planas. But my question was, do you explore those issues or do we simply pontificicate? Personally, I'm off and on. Sometimes the writing is on going, at other times there is a writers bloc and I don't even jot down what was done in class. Normally, I will write down the drills we do, techs, comments of interest and who was there (I do that for some reason???). But from there I try to explore the topics that were covered.

On this forum there is some real interesting that I do like. There even some good stuff in the other folders. But a lot of what is written is information. We are not exploring techniques and forms much. There isn't a lot of mental training dialogue going on. So I'm wondering if people are formulating these ideas to someday share with the group?

My thought is that SGM Parker wanted us to dialogue, but he also wanted us to explore beyond the surface....

But hey, I'm an ungrateful cuss, so I could be wrong...:ubercool:


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## Rainman (May 11, 2002)

Pontificate= to offer an opinion in a pompous or dogmatic way.  

Why take juevenile shot about posting to up numbers and end your post with another jab?   

OOOOOOOkay nevermind

Goodbye


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## Seig (May 12, 2002)

The thoughts and questions in this post have some room to be a really good discussion and allow for the trading of some darn good ideas.  But I have to say that the blatant flaming and disrespect, however sublte it may seem, would have you both doing pushups and saying you were sorry in my dojo.  The cyberage makes the world a whole lot smaller.  10 years ago, beginners would not have had access ot some of the Masters we have available at our finger tips here.  If you choose ot use the information the Seniors put out, you are taking advantage of the situation, and good for you too!  I have already taken some of the things I have learned here and applied them, to fantastic results.  I think notebooks are a wonderful idea.  Before you commit something to paper, I personally feel, you have a responsibilty to yourself and your students to explore it, and take notes of your results.  In a lot of ways, Martial Arts is like the Imperical Formula used by scientist.  Start out with a hypothesis, run the experiment, keep notes, and see if it proves or disproves the hypothesis.  Otherwise,w hat youwill see happening is people saying, something like "Well, if the facts don't support your theory, get rid of the facts.":soapbox:


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## ikenpo (May 12, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Seig _
> 
> *But I have to say that the blatant flaming and disrespect, however sublte it may seem, would have you both doing pushups and saying you were sorry in my dojo. *



Hey Seig,

I've been there before. In the middle of a tournament doing pushup in the square in front of about 500 people. Rainman just took my comments completely wrong (or read them in a way I wasn't trying to convey them because I didn't make my point clear enough) so he took offense. And then implied I was ungrateful, which speaks to my character....I didn't like that too much. 

I'm a big enough man to apologize, but I won't be tounge kissing like Billy and Richardo:rofl:. So Rainman, take my apology if you will and lets get back on the mat:asian: .


Respectfully, Jason Bugg

Beyond that, 

I agree with what your saying.  When I say "committing to paper" or video or whatever medium, I mean even doodling to show angles of attack and ranges of attack and things you've notice about sparring, your favorite tactics. These are the things that get washed away with time and it is a shame that forget (of course, some of those bad habits are better off fogotten).  I love looking back at my class notes I took in 1986 (in high school) when I started and seeing how I conveyed my thoughts on techniques. It was so rudimentary, but it reminds of how I got hooked.


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## Goldendragon7 (May 12, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Rainman _*
> Are you questioning free information?  You sound pretty ungratefull. *



And in this corner...........   hee hee.......

Chad,  I think you totally took Jason completely wrong (which is very common on the net thru forums..... you can't feel the intent of the written word always).  

I know both you guys and you'd have fun together exploring ideas.  

He is a digger just like you are, and doesn't "question free info" but rather was asking if "others" that read this and other forums 
ever write this stuff down and "play with it, explore it, or really think about it past only "reading" the post".    

I think he was really saying that ........"Man there is a lot of good info talked about here ... some very obvious but some with hidden understandings and direction that some may be missing unless they put a little thought to it.

Anyway, he did apologize (thanks Jason, and yes you did bark back little quick LOL), Chad c'mon back and add your love of intellectual surgery back to the topics!

Peacemaker.....

:asian:


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## Seig (May 12, 2002)

That's much better, I can feel the love!


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## Klondike93 (May 12, 2002)

Yes I have copied a lot of stuff posted by some people here, though most of it was written by GD. Some of the info was just too good to pass up and was stuff I hadn't heard before.

I'm allways disscussing the topics with others to see where they might stand on things.

Peacemaker:
I'd shake hands if I were you guys, that dudes too big to mess with  


:asian:


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## Rob_Broad (May 15, 2002)

Interesting thread.  I personally keep many binders full of information, but i am an information pack-rat, and I am always exploring new ways of doing the same thing.  Einstein said it was insanity to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.  I took that and reversed it.  I tried to do many different hings to getthe on desired result and I always learn something new from it.


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## Turner (May 16, 2002)

I try keep every tidbit of information that I can glean... either from others or from myself. I find it amazing sometimes when I go back to the notebooks that I wrote when I was 10-13 years old and re-discovering things that I went in great depth about back then but have forgotten most of. I need to go and transfer some of that stuff to computer because as a kid I left the notebooks outside in the rain/snow/mud and they are yellowed and filthy.

I video tape each of my training sessions so that I can analyze the techniques I come up with and critique my performance. Its a great training aid as well as a tool for retaining knowledge.


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## RCastillo (May 16, 2002)

> _Originally posted by jbkenpo _
> 
> *
> 
> ...


:2pistols: 


Tounge Kissing? You wrong for that, Homey don't play 

that!:2pistols:


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## ikenpo (May 16, 2002)

> _Originally posted by RCastillo _
> 
> *:2pistols:
> 
> ...




Man,

In trouble again.... 

jb


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## Goldendragon7 (May 16, 2002)

Lonely ................... That's all. 

:asian:


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## Klondike93 (May 16, 2002)

So those that keep a notebook, how do you write the stuff up?
Do you write so only you can understand, or like a manual so others could understand, how do you write it up?
Also, what do you write up? Everything or just techniques or just little notes or what?

When I first started I was told to keep a notebook and write in such a way that someone not in kenpo could understand the techniques. I also carried this over to when I sparred or just did a workout.


:asian:


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## ikenpo (May 16, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Klondike93 _
> 
> *So those that keep a notebook, how do you write the stuff up?
> Do you write so only you can understand, or like a manual so others could understand, how do you write it up?
> ...



I definitely make the notes for myself. Diagrams, what I need to work on, drills we did. I doubt if many could make it out because my mind fills in the blanks.

I used to draw pictures to try to link the name to the tech. 

The problem I have is coming up with an idea and expanding on it myself. I've seen so many martial arts videos that it would appear that there is nothing new under the sun.  And there are a lot of people that are so much smarter than myself I get frustrated at the prospect of jotting a note on a concept that I consider to be earth shattering only to find that it is an after thought for a Martial Arts Eienstein.

I don't have the same problem with workouts I enjoy figuring out ways to tourture myself (and my guys) with basics and drills.

jb


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## Goldendragon7 (May 16, 2002)

But I find it to be the most effective...

I have "several" notebooks first off.....

Each has a different purpose......

The Basic collect-all Journal which is a general notebook to be used for everything ..... seminars, notes, training tips, web site notes etc etc etc.

Then I have just "Base" Journal - for  the Self Defense Techniques, Forms & Sets manual...... for quick reference/review during practice or class.

Then the Personal Journal..... that is divided up into sections......

Basics......
Self Defense Techniques
Forms
Sets

each of these "journals" has or is dated and separated and logged per rank and category.

Fro example..... The Self Defense Journal... has all the descriptions on  their own individual page with: " Contains - Teaches - Principles - Diagrams & Notes Sections.

also an accompanying list with:

The Master Key Techniques
All 155 Techniques Categorically
All 155 Techniques Alphabetically
and coded with what belt they occur in

This hold true also for the Forms and Sets Journals.

Then Additional Journals are:
Drills Journal
Methods Journal
others..

That should give you a start or a good idea.....

:asian:


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## Turner (May 17, 2002)

Like the Golden Dragon, I have various notebooks for various things. 

1. I have a 'curriculum' notebook which has forms, self defense techniques and combinations written out so that they are understandable to someone who has practiced the technique. It is kept on my computer and also printed out and kept in a three ring binder. It is never written on.

2. I have a self defense notebook where I took the self defense techniques and printed them out and put them in a notebook so that I could write extensions, alterations, concepts, drawn out in stick figure, counters and etc in the remaining blank space on the page (I'll add more sheets of paper, normally lined or graph paper if I run out of space.)

3. Forms where I do the same thing.

4. Basics (Footwork, stances, defensive manuevers and strikes) that is analyzed and broken down in the same manner.

5. Concepts (things like back-up mass, ASOM and etc.)

6,7,8. Self defense and form notebooks for the other arts that I've studied.

9. "The Book": Its a notebook filled with more text than anything else. Basically articles that I write and stray thoughts.

With the exception of the first notebook, all are pretty much written in my own short-hand. Noone can really understand what is going on but me... and sometimes not even me.


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## Klondike93 (May 17, 2002)

Jeez, I feel under-educated  

Why is it when you see things in writing, you see the totaly obvious? I only kept notes on the self defense techniques I learned and maybe some sparring stuff I worked on, but not much on the other stuff. Now it all makes sense of course, I should have been writing down all the stuff I did over the years. Well, I'll just have to start now, thanks for all the ideas.  


:asian:


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## Goldendragon7 (May 17, 2002)

Well, get to jotten this stuff down, boy!

:asian:


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