How many of you take notes

[Aaron Little]

When I attend a seminar I always try and take notes in short hand during breaks and during lunch. That night I go back over my notes and fill in the blanks. It also gives me something to do on the plane if it was a seminar I had to fly to.



When I teach a seminar I list a pen and a notebook in the required equipment list and I give students time to take notes through out the day.

 

[Mark Lynn]

I have been through periods where I have taken note and those where I have not. At the moment it is the later of these, but at some point this may change again.

The advantages of note taking or video taping are as follows.

1. They provide a stimilus for remembering the techniques or drills covered in the course and the feeling of carrying them out.

2. You can force yourself through the experiential learning cycle by writing notes after the class. By this I mean that those of us who do not ponder the why and wherefore of the material we have been shown are forced to do so.

3. Video is great because it captures the event as it happened and not how you imagined it to happen.

I am sure there are other advantages, but here are some of the disadvantages.

1. You spend all your time behind the camera and not training.

2. You write down things wrong in your notes because at the time you did not understand them or you remembered them incorrectly when you got time for note taking.

3. Your notes become something that you cannot deviate from.

4. You become a collector of footage or notes and the application of the art becomes less important that obtaining the next piece of information or footage. This is definately something that plagues the Bujinkan martial arts.

I have found that if using notes as part of my training it is as important to write about how I felt during the class and my performance, as it is to document the drills or techniques.

Paul Genge
http://www.russianmartialart.org.uk

Paul

Good post> I too have taken times off from writing notes and such, however the longer I have been in the MA the more I have taken. Plus when I'm at work on break or when things are slow, then I work tend to work on them. How the points that you have brought up.

On your disadvantages.
1) On spending time behind the camera, most of the VTing I did was at seminars after the instruction period, or at my instructor's dojo the next time I could get together with my workout partner to film what we (I) went over at the seminar.

2) After years of practicing the FMA my early notes had some errors in them. Over time I've corrected and modify them to reflect what my current understanding on the technique is.

3) I agree with you here as I have found myself trapped by this same thing. However in going over my notes and seeing how things connect together and such it helps to see the totality of the systems (connectiveness for lack of a better term).

4) I agree with you here as well, as it applies to me. I know nothing about the system you mention here.

However after X amount of time in the MA I can't figure out how someone who has trained or practiced or experienced (by way of seinars or extra outside training) different arts can effectively remember details of those different arts without some sort of notes, VT (record of some kind), enough so that you can actually learn from them. The MAs are to vast.

thanks for you post
Mark

 

[KajuMom]

I take notes after a class or lesson in which I learned new techniques, then re-write them into longer, more detailed notes when I get home. I'm sort of embarrased to admit this, but I actually type mine into the computer, print them out and put them in a binder, inside plastic sleeves. I get teased once in a while by other students but usually they're the first ones to take a glance at the binder when I have it out during practice time.

We have a lot to memorize, and writing down techniques and forms helps me remember them, visualize them, and also enables me to practice when I'm not at the school. I even took my notebook on a 3-week vacation to Hawaii this summer.

When we test for our black belt (at least a year away for me), we have to show a notebook that contains all the techniques, forms, etc. that we learned.

 

[Dronak]

All I've had are group classes, so that's what I'm going on. I usually don't take notes during the class itself, unless I've got a bit of extra time (like the teacher went to teach another group of students) and really want to make sure I get something down on paper right away. Most of the time I'd just keep it all in mind and then write it down as soon as I got home. I'd try to write out all of the moves in the form(s) we learned so that I'd have a record of them. I'd put as many details as I needed to be able to remember the move later. But I would rely a bit on memory to know, for example, that "sweep/block/grab" means a particular type of action we used very regularly. I usually use the notes as reminders of the moves or form when I can't remember something. How to take them though depends on how well you learn. People suggested that I draw pictures and I think I saw some classmates do that, but I write things out in words, describing things like the hand/arm and foot/leg motions, stance changes, what type of strike (e.g., vertical palm) or kick (e.g., heel kick) is used. I think you need to figure out what works best for you and go with that.

 

[pete]

best notes to take: names, phone #'s and email addresses of potential training partners, and the instructor giving the seminar.

 

[Gary Crawford]

When I started teaching seminars I insisted my students take notes,but that took up so too much time and for me to cover all the material I intended to cover,I had to go way longer than I was suppost to and many of the students had planes (or comitments)for things to do afterwards and had to leave,so those students didn't get all the material.I decided in interest of my time and the students that notes won't be taken during the seminar and I video every seminar and offer a copy to the students for only what it costs me to create the video.That has worked extremely well.So far,100% have bought the videos.This has been good in another way.I have taught one seminar at a school that I never expected to teach at.One of the seminar students showed the video to some of his freinds who were a students at a school that expressed no interest when I phoned their instructor over a year before.Next thing I knew,their instructor called me and schedualed.I think the videos keep people interested in the material long after the seminars.

 

[Drag'n]

I often use the 1 hour train trip home from the dojo to take down notes about the nights training.eg:
Step by step explanations of techniques and combinations, sometimes with illustrations.
lesson plan
Any points my instructor made about certain techniques, strategies, my weaknesses, or areas I need to work on etc....
Then I use the train time going to the dojo to go over previous notes so its fresh in my mind.If there was something I wasn't sure of in my note taking I make a point of finding it out and repeating it till I remember.
Often when I go back over old notes I'll find important points that I've forgotten and think "Oh thats right, I have to work on that!"
Also I find when my level improves, I sometimes forget what it was like as a beginner. I think having this kind of a record will be extreamly usefull when I start teaching.
At the same time I have to be carefull not to be too relient on notes or get too caught up in theory.After all notes can be lost or destroyed.(my wife nearly tore them up after a recent disagreement!)
The most important thing is to train hard and internalise everything so it becomes a part of you.Notes can be a great aid in the process.

 

[Kenpodoc]

When I started teaching seminars I insisted my students take notes,but that took up so too much time and for me to cover all the material I intended to cover,I had to go way longer than I was suppost to and many of the students had planes (or comitments)for things to do afterwards and had to leave,so those students didn't get all the material.I decided in interest of my time and the students that notes won't be taken during the seminar and I video every seminar and offer a copy to the students for only what it costs me to create the video.That has worked extremely well.So far,100% have bought the videos.This has been good in another way.I have taught one seminar at a school that I never expected to teach at.One of the seminar students showed the video to some of his freinds who were a students at a school that expressed no interest when I phoned their instructor over a year before.Next thing I knew,their instructor called me and schedualed.I think the videos keep people interested in the material long after the seminars.

Great idea. I find that I learn best from those seminars that I can vieo tape. I doubt that tapes will do anything but build interest in a good instructor. Learning from a tape is arduous and hit and miss. Reviewing with a tape is satisfying and fun. I wish that everyone woulddo this. I wouldn't mind giving the instructor a little profit on the tape also, they earn it.
Jeff

 

[Mark Lynn]

I take notes after a class or lesson in which I learned new techniques, then re-write them into longer, more detailed notes when I get home. I'm sort of embarrased to admit this, but I actually type mine into the computer, print them out and put them in a binder, inside plastic sleeves. I get teased once in a while by other students but usually they're the first ones to take a glance at the binder when I have it out during practice time.

We have a lot to memorize, and writing down techniques and forms helps me remember them, visualize them, and also enables me to practice when I'm not at the school. I even took my notebook on a 3-week vacation to Hawaii this summer.

When we test for our black belt (at least a year away for me), we have to show a notebook that contains all the techniques, forms, etc. that we learned.

KajuMom

I use to take my notes after class during lunch/dinner and rest breaks at work. Many nights when things were slow and I had down time I would camp out in the cabin of the aircraft I was working on and write down what we did at class that night (I was working minights at the time). In time though I bought a computer (then a laptop) to transfer all of my notes into it. No need to be ashamed (about putting the stuff in the computer) though that's been the best thing to happen for me. When I helped teach at a recent seminar I took my computer and my notes that I had typed up for what I was going to teach with me. I was able to give some of the students who requested the info copies of the material after stopping off at Kinkos.

I did much the same thing only I took my laptop to vacation and worked on my material.

I know another martial artist at work who I believe has the same requirement to produce a note book for his BB test as well.

mark

 

[Mark Lynn]

When I started teaching seminars I insisted my students take notes,but that took up so too much time and for me to cover all the material I intended to cover,I had to go way longer than I was suppost to and many of the students had planes (or comitments)for things to do afterwards and had to leave,so those students didn't get all the material.I decided in interest of my time and the students that notes won't be taken during the seminar and I video every seminar and offer a copy to the students for only what it costs me to create the video.That has worked extremely well.So far,100% have bought the videos.This has been good in another way.I have taught one seminar at a school that I never expected to teach at.One of the seminar students showed the video to some of his freinds who were a students at a school that expressed no interest when I phoned their instructor over a year before.Next thing I knew,their instructor called me and schedualed.I think the videos keep people interested in the material long after the seminars.

When I taught an Arnis class at a church (after the karate class) I use to VT it (when I remembered the camera ). Then one of the guys put all of the tapes together and gave them to any of the students who wanted one. I liked this idea.

I know of one school during the 80's that for a time would VT and offer the tape to the students that were at the particular seminar for purchase. These were the days that the big seminar instructors didn't mind the VTing going on. This was before it became a big money issue.

Hock use to give us all handouts with the techniques (that would probably be covered) and an outline of what the seminar would be. This really helped in note taking. I tried this for a time in some of the classes I taught but it didn't work out the same way.

Mark