Journals

[Ping898]

I know a lot of the folks here have MA journals. Does anyone have just regular journals that you've put thoughts about your training in. I just pulled out some old journals that are written that I am typing up. It happens that the pages I am typing now were written at the time I started MA. It is kind of interesting to reread what I wrote over 10 years ago. I was proud cause my instructor taught my the Salutation in my second class, something he had never done so soon. I wanted to be as good as the Power Rangers. Kind of funny seeing my journey from the beginning though different eyes over a decade later...

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I have a journal that I started in 1991, on the first day of class. I was 15 years old then. I have kept that journal updated ever since then. I have no idea why I started one, but I know it helped.

Now, it is nice because I can look back at techniques that I buried because I did not like them and try them out now. Also, I wrote in the sidebar who taught me what with the date. That makes it kind of like a trip down memory lane.

AoG

 

[bydand]

I have hit and miss. Never thought of adding who taught the class as well, that is an excellent idea. I am going to get more serious with keeping track, because we will start a "new" technique and it clicks that I covered this 7 or 8 years ago. It has become apparent that in the early days I was trying to figure everything out and those few minuted writing down the tech. seemed like it was cutting into training (I know it sounds crazy now.) In fact those few minutes could have really helped.

 

[SFC JeffJ]

I've gotten out of the habit of keeping a personal training journal, but after seeing this thread, I dug out my old ones. Jeesh, I was an idiot back then!

Jeff

 

[Bigshadow]

I have never kept a journal. In my opinion, that kills my training. It goes from living to dead. 10 years from now, I will not see things the same and likely won't understand what I wrote. So I believe my journal is my mind and the pages get rewritten as I gain new understanding.

Now I could see it for entertainment purposes, but not training purposes.

 

[Ping898]

Now I could see it for entertainment purposes, but not training purposes.

Well I wasn't really referring to a training journal, more just a life journal or a diary I guess. My training journal was seperate from my regular journal where I would put the ups and downs in life in and those ups and downs included karate related stuff....It isn't meant to be training or entertainment, at least for me, I write stuff down to help me gain perspective and that perhaps if I have kids one day, help them understand why I am who I am....and karate makes up a big part of who I am....

 

[MA-Caver]

I just recently found an old journal/diary (??) that I had back in the early 90's. Several entries alluded to training that I received way back then.
I think I'd have to disagree with BigShadow on it's ineffectiveness. If you kept up with a journal during your white/yellow and so forth and are now either a brown/black + , then you can see and measure your progress. You can see how everything about you has grown. Mentally and emotionally. Those are valuable because you can refer to them when you are teaching a frustrated white-belt and maybe find something that you can relate to with them.
Nobody said you had to share them with anyone.

 

[Bigshadow]

Well I wasn't really referring to a training journal, more just a life journal or a diary I guess. My training journal was seperate from my regular journal where I would put the ups and downs in life in and those ups and downs included karate related stuff....It isn't meant to be training or entertainment, at least for me, I write stuff down to help me gain perspective and that perhaps if I have kids one day, help them understand why I am who I am....and karate makes up a big part of who I am....

Oh OK. I thought you meant a training journal, being that it was posted in General Martial Arts Talk forum.

I had always wanted to keep a journal in that sense, but I never could make it part of my life. About kids, if you ever have kids, the best understanding they can have is talk to them, tell them in person. You will be amazed at how kids can sometimes be so entertained hearing the stories and things that you did as a kid, their age. So as they age, there is always some sort of interest in what their parents did at that age or the things that were important to the parents at that time.

That is better than any journal they could read.

 

[Bigshadow]

I think I'd have to disagree with BigShadow on it's ineffectiveness. If you kept up with a journal during your white/yellow and so forth and are now either a brown/black + , then you can see and measure your progress. You can see how everything about you has grown. Mentally and emotionally. Those are valuable because you can refer to them when you are teaching a frustrated white-belt and maybe find something that you can relate to with them.

Now that I agree with. However, many keep a journal to refer back to about how to do a technique or whatever. That is what I disagree with, because as one learns it, the initial words that were written may not hold much meaning in how to actually do the techniques and could really be confusing. So I do not think one should keep a training journal for that reason. But to keep one to measure your progress, that is OK. Just not for me. I see progress when the things that I find difficult become second nature and are followed by new things that become difficult.

Just my opinions of course.

 

[Ping898]

Oh OK. I thought you meant a training journal, being that it was posted in General Martial Arts Talk forum.

I had always wanted to keep a journal in that sense, but I never could make it part of my life. About kids, if you ever have kids, the best understanding they can have is talk to them, tell them in person. You will be amazed at how kids can sometimes be so entertained hearing the stories and things that you did as a kid, their age. So as they age, there is always some sort of interest in what their parents did at that age or the things that were important to the parents at that time.

That is better than any journal they could read.

I put this in the general MA forum just cause I felt it had to do with MA and seeing your training of your past through new eyes, but not necessarily how you trained. To my knowledge few training journals discuss thoughts and feelings, many seem to just discuss what was taught and how, you don't necessarily see the growth from a first time white belt excited to be learning and wanting to get that yellow belt to a green or red or brown or black belt, not caring when the next belt is coming, just wanting to learn and do your best for the sake and love of the art....

While this is true about sharing stories verbally is better than reading one, life happens and if you die before your kids get to an age that you can have those talks...well...it is always a back up....plus I don't know about you, but I doubt I will ever remember everything that has/will happened to me to be able to share....

 

[bushidomartialarts]

in my school, we encourage black belt candidates to journal the year prior to their test. i'm up for fourth and i've been journaling regularly. it has made a suprising difference in my training. i think more about things, for one. plus there's having to sit down and write 'zero' in my entry for pushups that makes me get out of bed and start pushing....