# training/life journal



## DangerMouse (Oct 17, 2017)

I started training MMA and kickboxing around 4 months ago to help with my anxiety depression and to get myself into fit shape. normal gyms just bored me since picking up martial arts my mood has increased dramatically. I'm hooked!! love the sport and reading about different cultures etc. 

My question is, do people keep a training and or life journal to keep track of their progress be it in training and or day to day life. I've been toying with the idea and I've bought myself 3 notepads one for training one for logging my food and finally the third being for my spiritual side for my meditation logging. I meditate daily on a morning (when i can) before training i get a quick 10 mins in the back room at the gym and bed on a night time. struggling with a way to get it down on paper in the sense of a structure. 

anyone do this and can help with a structure?


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## oftheherd1 (Oct 18, 2017)

Welcome to MT.  You might want to go to the Meet and Greet subforum and tell us a little about yourself.

As to your question, I never have beyond writing in a word processor those techniques for 2nd and 3rd Dan.  We had a sheet for white belt to 1st Dan, but not for the other two.  But that really isn't a journal.  My comment would be if you see value to it, by all means do it whether anyone else does or not.


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## marques (Oct 18, 2017)

While training in the last club I was recording what I was doing every training and writing down the priorities for improvement (or something to focus next time). I think I also did it before, but never did it for long time.


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## DangerMouse (Oct 18, 2017)

marques said:


> While training in the last club I was recording what I was doing every training and writing down the priorities for improvement (or something to focus next time). I think I also did it before, but never did it for long time.



yeah its mainly to see where I can improve and track my journey. something to look back on and think how far I may have come. I left my class last night feeling disheartened that I was struggling a little with a few of the combos we were learning. i wrote down what we covered, where i struggled and how I may be able to improve. it made me look forward to my next class on thursday. turned a negative feeling into a positive.


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## marques (Oct 18, 2017)

DangerMouse said:


> I left my class last night feeling disheartened that I was struggling a little with a few of the combos we were learning. i wrote down what we covered, where i struggled and how I may be able to improve.


It is only good. It means you can learn at your current gym. Then revising (writing down) the training is like a bit more training but the without risk of injury or overtraining (proven).

Bad is when you don’t see any improvement or feel the training method is no good.

Terribly bad is when you feel you could teach the instructor and feel stupid for giving your time and money for sh*t. 

Hope your health issues get KO quickly.


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## KenpoMaster805 (Oct 18, 2017)

I have a nope pad for my techniques so i can memorized them my gawd i even a note pad to wrote my BP hahahahaa marques is right i have learning disability and i know the feeling someitmes when i teach i make mistakes and you get this feeling but eventually you will improve just observe on what the instructors are doing you do good and you might be able to teach like me i joined Swat program at my karate class when i was purple and i helped teaching then its fun done get mad at your self and dont loose hope have a self confidence you will do good


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## Anarax (Oct 18, 2017)

DangerMouse said:


> I started training MMA and kickboxing around 4 months ago to help with my anxiety depression and to get myself into fit shape. normal gyms just bored me since picking up martial arts my mood has increased dramatically. I'm hooked!! love the sport and reading about different cultures etc.
> 
> My question is, do people keep a training and or life journal to keep track of their progress be it in training and or day to day life. I've been toying with the idea and I've bought myself 3 notepads one for training one for logging my food and finally the third being for my spiritual side for my meditation logging. I meditate daily on a morning (when i can) before training i get a quick 10 mins in the back room at the gym and bed on a night time. struggling with a way to get it down on paper in the sense of a structure.
> 
> anyone do this and can help with a structure?



I'm happy to hear that Martial Arts training is helping you in multiple facets of your life. I would suggest converting to digital record keeping. It's easier, cleaner and more streamlined than using paper. There are even apps that track calories, food, exercise, etc. The apps record, process and store all the information in an organized fashion. I would suggest the "lose it" app for calories, I have a gear 2 smart watch for exercise information, but I'm sure there are apps for that too.


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## hoshin1600 (Oct 19, 2017)

Anarax said:


> I'm happy to hear that Martial Arts training is helping you in multiple facets of your life. I would suggest converting to digital record keeping. It's easier, cleaner and more streamlined than using paper. There are even apps that track calories, food, exercise, etc. The apps record, process and store all the information in an organized fashion. I would suggest the "lose it" app for calories, I have a gear 2 smart watch for exercise information, but I'm sure there are apps for that too.



to answer the OP i would not use a digital format for a diary.  i would always use old fashion paper note book (a fancy one that cost maybe $20 to $50.  that will give you some incentive to write something in it worth fifty dollars.  
but the reason for using paper rather than digital is for two reasons.. one ...if you want to look back on it sometime in the future, digital formats change all the time.  in the near future, however you store the data, it will be considered obsolete in a short amount of time.  second is you can pass on your diary to your kids or someone important to you,, there is nothing like the ability to touch and read something that was hand written and left to you by someone you loved.

now as for the diet log ,, i myself do use a phone app for that.

as for the journal ,  i have been keeping them for 35 years worth of martial arts training. ( i will admit over time i got lazy and havn't written much in the last few years)   my advise is to just use a normal daily date and write what you feel is important to you on that date.   what i found is that your journal will evolve over time and what you think is important to document today will not be so later. your writings will mature and grow.  the evolution in itself is worth documenting and looking back on. so i wouldnt be too stuck on trying to figure out a format on how to write or what is important.  it will solve itself over time.


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## Anarax (Oct 19, 2017)

hoshin1600 said:


> if you want to look back on it sometime in the future, digital formats change all the time. in the near future, however you store the data, it will be considered obsolete in a short amount of time



That's not true. You can still open older documents with newer software, either on desktops or smartphone applications. I've had numerous data storing apps that have been updated numerous times and I can still recall information that I stored in it all the way back to its original installation. You can also search, sort and edit information easier and more efficiently with digital. Storing your information on a backup or a cloud makes it more preservable, unlike paper where any number of things can ruin it.


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## KaiHman (Oct 19, 2017)

Awesome story DangerMouse! A good thought too, it's a long and winding road, you can never remember all of it, it's never a bad thing and can only be good to keep a journal of sorts of your journey and progress. Setbacks, bumps in the road, ups and downs. Thoughts and feelings. To reflect on. To draw perspective and power from.

Do it the old school way with pen and paper. Or do it the digital way up to you. Doing it online or your mobile is the best way. After a while, you could have a nice content bank too. You could turn that into a blog of sorts and that could go on to help a lot of people. And you if you monetize it. I'm just spitballing.


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## hoshin1600 (Oct 19, 2017)

Anarax said:


> That's not true. You can still open older documents with newer software,


Something tells me your on the younger side.  Do you remember betamax, actual 8 inch floppy discs,  the MITS Altair 8800 , cassette tapes, 8 track tape, the 3" mini CD, the Sony DDS, the magnito optical disc, the multi pin compact flash, the phase writer dual (PD DRIVE). The list is endless. My point is that in 50 years the cloud will be replaced and it's a PITA to keep transposing files and when your dead your kids will not want to either.  Paper and pen is personal and worth it for things you want to pass on.


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## Anarax (Oct 20, 2017)

hoshin1600 said:


> Something tells me your on the younger side.  Do you remember betamax, actual 8 inch floppy discs,  the MITS Altair 8800 , cassette tapes, 8 track tape, the 3" mini CD, the Sony DDS, the magnito optical disc, the multi pin compact flash, the phase writer dual (PD DRIVE). The list is endless. My point is that in 50 years the cloud will be replaced and it's a PITA to keep transposing files and when your dead your kids will not want to either.  Paper and pen is personal and worth it for things you want to pass on.



I am both younger and a computer programmer, thus I'm aware of what you're referring to. Storing information digitally has numerous advantages over paper. Transferring and backing up files is extremely simple and is easier than ever to do. I understand if you have a personal preference for paper for sentimental reasons, but digital storage isn't as volatile as you describe. I only addressed the technological part of what you said because it's inaccurate.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Oct 20, 2017)

Anarax said:


> I am both younger and a computer programmer, thus I'm aware of what you're referring to. Storing information digitally has numerous advantages over paper. Transferring and backing up files is extremely simple and is easier than ever to do. I understand if you have a personal preference for paper for sentimental reasons, but digital storage isn't as volatile as you describe. I only addressed the technological part of what you said because it's inaccurate.


Do you know for certain that his statement is inaccurate in the long term? Paper has been around for centuries and is still general safe. While for most of my life there have been ways to transpose files to the current medium, is that necessarily going to be true 100 years down the line? If I have a journal that's forgotten about, will my grandchildren be able to find it in 70 years? If they know of it, will they definitely be able to take it from my computer, or from google docs, or wherever I have it, and be able to view it on whatever the current format is?


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## hoshin1600 (Oct 20, 2017)

kempodisciple said:


> Do you know for certain that his statement is inaccurate in the long term? Paper has been around for centuries and is still general safe. While for most of my life there have been ways to transpose files to the current medium, is that necessarily going to be true 100 years down the line? If I have a journal that's forgotten about, will my grandchildren be able to find it in 70 years? If they know of it, will they definitely be able to take it from my computer, or from google docs, or wherever I have it, and be able to view it on whatever the current format is?



he is a young computer programmer,, we need to forgive him...for he knows not what he does.  lol
millennials are more comfortable using a computer.  that's ok, nothing wrong with it.  but there is a growing phenomena where young people dont seem to have the same nostalgic values on possessions.  having "keepsakes"  does not seem to be important.  one of my regrets in life is not taking pictures with the martial arts friends and mentors i have had along the way.


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## Anarax (Oct 20, 2017)

kempodisciple said:


> Do you know for certain that his statement is inaccurate in the long term? Paper has been around for centuries and is still general safe. While for most of my life there have been ways to transpose files to the current medium, is that necessarily going to be true 100 years down the line? If I have a journal that's forgotten about, will my grandchildren be able to find it in 70 years? If they know of it, will they definitely be able to take it from my computer, or from google docs, or wherever I have it, and be able to view it on whatever the current format is?





hoshin1600 said:


> if you want to look back on it sometime in the future, digital formats change all the time. in the near future, however you store the data, it will be considered obsolete in a short amount of time.



Yes that is inaccurate, it won't be obsolete in a short amount of time. Paper has been around for a long period of time, but how many books have been lost or destroyed? When new formats are created the older formats aren't destroyed. You can still find older versions of just about any program or software online to read older files, the same goes for older disk drives. You can very easily backup and store your journal in 6 different locations/services in under 10 minutes.


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## hoshin1600 (Oct 20, 2017)

Anarax said:


> Yes that is inaccurate, it won't be obsolete in a short amount of time. Paper has been around for a long period of time, but how many books have been lost or destroyed? When new formats are created the older formats aren't destroyed. You can still find older versions of just about any program or software online to read older files, the same goes for older disk drives. You can very easily backup and store your journal in 6 different locations/services in under 10 minutes.


but the point is not formats and back ups,  its the emotional attachment to something that is physical and tangable.


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## Anarax (Oct 20, 2017)

hoshin1600 said:


> he is a young computer programmer,, we need to forgive him...for he knows not what he does.



It's very ignorant to make such generalizations based on my age, have I done the same with you?



hoshin1600 said:


> young people dont seem to have the same nostalgic values on possessions



What is this based on? If someone younger doesn't hold nostalgic values on the same things that you do then we lack the feeling of nostalgia? Perhaps we are nostalgic about other things  



hoshin1600 said:


> millennials are more comfortable using a computer



When did I say I was a millennial?


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## hoshin1600 (Oct 20, 2017)

Anarax said:


> It's very ignorant to make such generalizations based on my age, have I done the same with you?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Don't be offended it was ment to be humorous.


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## Anarax (Oct 20, 2017)

hoshin1600 said:


> but the point is not formats and back ups,  its the emotional attachment to something that is physical and tangable.



Then say that, but don't say inaccurate things about how technology works because of your emotional based preferences.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Oct 20, 2017)

hoshin1600 said:


> he is a young computer programmer,, we need to forgive him...for he knows not what he does.  lol
> millennials are more comfortable using a computer.  that's ok, nothing wrong with it.  but there is a growing phenomena where young people dont seem to have the same nostalgic values on possessions.  having "keepsakes"  does not seem to be important.  one of my regrets in life is not taking pictures with the martial arts friends and mentors i have had along the way.





Anarax said:


> It's very ignorant to make such generalizations based on my age, have I done the same with you?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



What I find funny about this is that I'm probably younger than Anarax.  That said, while I'm not a computer programmer, just looking at how things go obsolete I can't personally believe that we know with certainty anything I write on my computer today will be either a: "findable" (my grandkids would just stumble upon it) or b: retrievable (if they do find it, they can access it 70 years from now).

Even ignoring the technology improving aspect, theres things I've written 8 or 9 years ago I can't access anymore. I know exactly where it is, but I don't know my account/password, and my aol account that I had connected to it has since been deleted so I don't have any way to retrieve it. Or I had it on an old passport that got corrupted, so I can't access anything on it. I love technology, and use it for everything, but if my goal is to have something I can pass on for generations I'm going paper.


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## Anarax (Oct 20, 2017)

kempodisciple said:


> theres things I've written 8 or 9 years ago I can't access anymore.


I understand, but because you can't doesn't mean there aren't other people who can. One of the reasons my profession exists.



kempodisciple said:


> if my goal is to have something I can pass on for generations I'm going paper.



For the longest time oral was the form people used to pass along information, then cave walls, then paper and now digital. The easiest and most reliable method would be to update your journals continuously on a cloud service then give your grandchildren access. That way if something unexpectedly happens to you then they have access already. "Grandchildren" meaning more that one, so that means they have to share a journal? If it was digital they could all read it anywhere anytime they want. Would you also prefer to have an old polaroid camera to take pictures? Or a digital camera where you can save as many pictures as you want and share them with countless loved ones? Is it the film that the picture is printed on important or the memories it preserves?


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Oct 20, 2017)

Anarax said:


> I understand, but because you can't doesn't mean there aren't other people who can. One of the reasons my profession exists.



I get that, but they wouldn't know to find a professional who can retrieve it. They wouldn't know where I have an account to find it


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## Anarax (Oct 20, 2017)

kempodisciple said:


> I get that, but they wouldn't know to find a professional who can retrieve it. They wouldn't know where I have an account to find it



I was referring to you though, you were making the point that because you can't access your own data then that makes it a  flawed storage method, which isn't true. Concerning your grandchildren, if you kept it a secret, told absolutely no one, left no trace of its existence, forgot you password, deleted your account and chose not to contact a computer specialist, then yes you are correct they wouldn't know about it. However; if you set it up with the intention of preserving it and passing it along to them, then they can easily access it.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Oct 20, 2017)

Anarax said:


> I was referring to you though, you were making the point that because you can't access your own data then that makes it a  flawed storage method, which isn't true. Concerning your grandchildren, if you kept it a secret, told absolutely no one, left no trace of its existence, forgot you password, deleted your account and chose not to contact a computer specialist, then yes you are correct they wouldn't know about it. However; if you set it up with the intention of preserving it and passing it along to them, then they can easily access it.


I mis-made my point then. There's a possibility that I will make a journal, and it might be something my grandkids are interested in. My own grandfather had  a journal, and after he died, my mom typed it up, made a book out of it and gave a copy to me and my cousins at Christmas. It wasn't his intention to pass that on, but it's something that means a lot to us. If that had been done on a cloud somehow, none of us would ever have known about it, and we wouldn't have that piece of his life with us.

Regarding your first comment; if I have an account somewhere and forget my password/don't have the recovery email how would going to a computer specialist help? I may be wrong, but I doubt you could recover an account where I know none of the information.


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## Anarax (Oct 21, 2017)

kempodisciple said:


> If that had been done on a cloud somehow, none of us would ever have known about it



You would've found it on his hard drive, flash drive or smartphone, someone who uses modern technology that is. That's the point, you can store it in multiple locations opposed to one location. Excluding all the other advantages, that's a huge one alone.



kempodisciple said:


> if I have an account somewhere and forget my password/don't have the recovery email how would going to a computer specialist help?



Contact the company your account is with and a specialist can retrieve your information for you


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