# A word of advice



## tshadowchaser (Apr 21, 2009)

It has been said here many times before but one of the most valuable training aids a beginner has is his note book. If you have not started one do so.
Things you can put in the note book are up to you but Ill make a few suggestions and I am sure others will add to the list.
1 Write down all the blocks, strikes, kicks that you are taught in your own words. Later when you know the correct words ( if in a different language) write the form down again and be sure to cross reference the pages. 
2 Write down all your forms as you learn them in your own words, then once again write them down when you know the correct words for the moves. If your school teaches a breakdown of the form write that down and any subsequent uses for the moves that you may learn
3 Those little things that your instructor may say in class about whom he trained with or where a certain technique came form, or just a name in passing that he mentions and the persons relationship to him or your style. Sometimes these little things are good to know in years to come ( who knows they may even be part of a test some day).
4 Do NOT be afraid to draw stick figures of the various body positions with the name and arrows pointing to the body part with a note such as: knees out shoulder with apart, knees over the outside of the foot, thighs parallel to the floor, etc.
Years form now you may try to recall a certain technique that you have not done for a long time or a form that you never seem to get around to practicing and these notes will be of help.
Take it from one who has forgot way to much of what was told him over the years


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## jks9199 (Apr 21, 2009)

tshadowchaser said:


> It has been said here many times before but one of the most valuable training aids a beginner has is his note book. If you have not started one do so.
> Things you can put in the note book are up to you but Ill make a few suggestions and I am sure others will add to the list.
> 1 Write down all the blocks, strikes, kicks that you are taught in your own words. Later when you know the correct words ( if in a different language) write the form down again and be sure to cross reference the pages.
> 2 Write down all your forms as you learn them in your own words, then once again write them down when you know the correct words for the moves. If your school teaches a breakdown of the form write that down and any subsequent uses for the moves that you may learn
> ...


Fantastic advice!  I require students to have a notebook... and give them time to write stuff down.


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## Bruno@MT (Apr 21, 2009)

Yup. Doing it already at the advice of my sensei. And I also blog about my general observations in MA class.


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## KELLYG (Apr 22, 2009)

tshadowcaster.

I thought that I was the only one that did this.   My notebook is broken down into sections.  Blocks, kicks, poomse, and self defense.  I also go in the Internet and copy pictures of various techniques and the descriptions of each, and have pictorial diagrams of poomse as well.  

In my notebook I'll  make notes about corrections or things  that I have learned in class.  I review this periodically and go; OK I had forgotten about this, or let's add this in.  

This has been extremely beneficial to my training.


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## tshadowchaser (Apr 25, 2009)

My first note book was stolen. It had been given to me by my instructor and had all that he required to test up to black belt. It also had all my personal notes on what happened or was said in class for the first few years I studied with him, along with things he pointed out to me at tournaments about those their and their background.
I can not tell you how much information I lost the day the book was stolen. 
Haveing studied many systems over the years i tend now to have more than a few notebooks. It is often interesting to look at one then go to another and see if the discription of varrious things are the same or different and why


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## Thesemindz (Apr 25, 2009)

Great post! I have four or five notebooks, and they are some of my most prized possessions.

I would also recommend writing this somewhere on the inside of the notebook -


> If found, please return for a reward
> Joe Karatestudent
> 1111 Main Street
> Anywhere, USA 12345
> or call (999)8675309


 
The last thing you'd want to do is leave a notebook in a park somewhere and never see it again.


-Rob


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## just2kicku (Apr 25, 2009)

Yep, although my notebook is somewhere, I have taken everything and typed it up, printed it and keep it in my gym bag.


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## Bruno@MT (Apr 25, 2009)

Mine is on my computer. I just add things / change things as I get better understanding. And yes, I regularly back up my computer (which has hardware RAID1 anyway)


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## Chris Parker (Apr 26, 2009)

You know, I sometimes worry that I'm a little too into writing things down...

After years of collecting as much information on as many of the Ryu from as many different sources as I could, I started writing my personal expressions of each of the scrolls, cross-referencing as much as possible. In the end, I have hand-written books of each and every kata, as well as the histories, of Takagi Yoshin Ryu Jutaijutsu, Koto Ryu Koppojutsu, Gyokko Ryu Kosshijutsu, Togakure Ryu Ninpotaijutsu and Bikenjutsu, Shinden Fudo Ryu Dakentaijutsu and Jutaijutsu, Kukishinden Ryu Dakentaijutsu, Bojutsu, Jojutsu, Hanbojutsu, Bikenjutsu, Juttejutsu, Kodachijutsu, Sojutsu, Binaginatajutsu, Bisentojutsu, Kukishin Ryu Bojutsu and Hanbojutsu, TenChi Jin Ryaku no Maki, Yokohama-ha Asayama Ichiden Ryu Taijutsu, Bokuden Ryu Koshi no Mawari, and as many others as I could... Add to this many teaching programs I have written, and notes on teaching programs given to me by my instructor, and my library is a little extensive, I guess.

But one thing I have found after writing all of this down is that it changes constantly. I was using my hand-written versions of the various schools to teach at one point, and found that my interpretation of a particular kata or another would have changed in the meantime, even if I had only written the book the day, or week before. So writing things down can certainly help keep it organised (I started because I was having a hard time keeping the various books, magazines, articles, training programs, videos, dvds, and loose scraps of paper in any kind of order, and wanted an easier reference for myself...), and aid you in getting to an understanding, remember that your take on what you write will change. Be prepared for that, and enjoy it. It is a big part of what keeps the arts alive!


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## terryl965 (Apr 26, 2009)

Absolutely Tshadow I tell my student to keep one but of course you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.


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## shihansmurf (Apr 26, 2009)

Interestingly, I was cleaning out a closet this morning  in my "Man Cave" and I found a binder that I used when I had a school in the mid through late nineties. My students referred to it as "Sensei's Book of Kung Fu Knowledge". I had sort of forgotten it had even existed, let alone that I still owned it.

Reading through the contents, I am struck by how different my thinking was back then, and by how much we change and develop between sandan and godan. I see things much differently now, not just in my depth of knowledge but in how I think on thinkgs like how to teach and the role of assistant instructors.

This one of the great things about keeping notebooks. It is a journal of how you've walked this path. It allows you to look back and see where you were with clarity, and to keep where you're at now in perspective. Some of the material is cringe worthy. Some is pretty good. There is an unfortunate picture of me with shaggy hair and a cheesy mustache, My friend and I had a bet on a football game that I lost, and subsequently had to grow out and keep a porn star mustache for three months. One of many times the Raiders have let my down over the years, but I endure.

Back on topic, keeping a notebok is one of the best investments that you can make in you training if you plan on ding this for the long term. If nothing elas it can provide you with a pleasant(and not so pleasant, damn mustache) trip down memory lane.

Mark


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## IcemanSK (Apr 26, 2009)

Having a notebook of what you have done & want to learn is such a great tool. It can also serve as a source of encouragement during times when your down or at a plateau in training. I still have some of mine going back 25+ years. I still find value in the oldest ones.


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## nitflegal (Apr 28, 2009)

One other thing I'd add to the chorus is how valuable it is to go back through them years later.  There;s stuff that made no sense a decade ago that I dutifully recorded in my 3-ring binder that now actually come together.  So, even without revisiting it in class it sparks a deeper understanding of something, often that made no bleeping sense way back when!

Matt


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