Notebooks

[Bigshadow]

I don't think this is a right or wrong issue, either.

Me either. Just was trying to get my thoughts out as to why I don't. There are times I wish I had taken notes. Especially for remember names of katas and such with a rough description of what to do.

 

[kidswarrior]

But -- by going back and looking at some of that "old kiddy basics"... I've solved problems in my current training! Sometimes, a piece of something just drifts out of my memory, or even was so well absorbed that it disappeared... but then, when I needed it back "visible", it wouldn't come out! And, I've still got things in notebooks that were taught that I haven't had time to really concentrate on properly yet! I've got enough there to keep me training for at least a couple of years!

I don't think this is a right or wrong issue, either.

Yeah, I agree with everything in this post. The one category that will definitely be lost if I don't write it down at the end of the session is those brilliant one liners the instructor willl spin off every now and then. You know, the insight that seems to make the whole art, or a whole aspect of it, work? The thing that comes from 45 years of practice? It's like the cute things your kids say when they're little. You promise yourself you'll always remember them, they're just too good to forget, but if you don't record 'em, they're gone.

 

[kidswarrior]

I don't take notes.

Except for some notes I have taken in years past regarding verbal lectures and information, I don't take notes. Anything physical, I practice it and mentally go over it until I understand it. I have never written down descriptions of techniques because I don't learn that way. I learn by practice and physically doing it. I will write down notes on history, philosophy, names etc. Past experience also dictates that this information tends to be already available from various sources, so writing it down in not necessary.
I have never written down forms. Since I used to teach, I did the forms every day. Writing them down was unnecessary. If I have any questions, I can call people and get answers.

I wanted to remark on something TraditionalTKD said, and I think Bigshadow may have implied through his posts. Have been too busy to do it justice until now.

Here I am a professional educator, and one who prides himself on always watching for the legitimate differences among how people learn, and yet I read right past this very important point. Namely, some people learn the most by seeing something, some by hearing and/or speaking it, and some by doing it. In educationese, it's virtually cliche to separate these into the categories of visual learning, auditory or aural learning, and kinesthetic (or tactile-kinesthetic) learning. Schools traditionally rely on the first two; doing martial arts is obviously kinetic--body movement--and so it stands to reason we would attract more kinesthetic learners to MA than other pastimes might. (NOTE: I know this is a gross generalization, as are most categories used of people, but those who may be well versed in learning theory, please cut me some slack in order to allow me at least a chance to make a worthy point. :asian: Thank you).

And that point is? A notebook is mostly superfluous to kinesthetic people. Just as talking at visual people is mostly dead air. Example from a guy who's been married decades: My wife used to tell me what to pick up at the store. She remembers what she's told, so what's the problem? The problem is, I remember nothing I'm told (could just be a hard head, too), but almost everything I see, and definitely the things I see which I also value. So, for a couple of decades, she'd send me to the store for maybe 7-8 items, and I'd always come home with the wrong stuff. I felt lower than low. How could this happen to me? I finally convinced her I needed her to write it down (Why, stupid?), and then I started getting it right--perfect, I might add. :mst:

Now, I wouldn't presume to choose for someone else how they might best learn. But I do need to withdraw the earlier arrogance underlying my posts that having shelves packed with notebooks makes me special. It just makes me, me. Just like for others, not taking notes makes them, them. My apologies to anyone who may have felt slighted by my tone, and a hearty 'well done' to everyone who has posted here. Takes courage to reveal these very personal things about ourselves.

 

[bluemtn]

I use a notebook almost everytime something new is started- form, self defense, etc., especially when it's more complex than normal. That's just the way I learn, and it helps things sink in more for me to visualize/ redo. I've been quite successful at remembering more of what I learned than some students, when I do that for the next class. Then again, I'm more of a visual learner...

 

[Drac]

My problem is being able to decipher my chicken-scratch.. By the end of the day when muscles and joints are sore printing is a real task..

I am with you there for sure.

I actually thought about hiring someone to take notes for me...

 

[CuongNhuka]

I've done something like that. I do it with concepts and philosophys that aren't taught in Cuong Nhu, as well as techniques. We issue training manuels, so there is no real reason to keep a list of techniques/katas taught.

 

[Juggernaut]

I am rather obsessive, I have notes on everything.....lol. I too am guilty of printing off very interesting posts not just from this forum but from others for the last 7 years....lol...I have almost as many notebooks as I do books...

When I teach my students I hand out manuals with each phase which includes a cognitive curriculum and a tactical curriculum with a place to take notes throughout.

 

[Langenschwert]

I have one particular training partner in my Historical European Swordsmanship studies with whom I train 2-3 times per week. I have other training partners that are less frequent, and class as well. Anywho, we started keeping a journal of our practices to keep everything straight. We train three different arts: German Longsword, Italian Rapier, and German Sword & Buckler. We try to throw a bit of dagger work in once in a while, too. We track what techniques we practiced/learned and whether we used blunt steel, wooden wasters, or padded sparring weapons. We track whether we sparred, and what type of sparring we did, either "technical" or freeplay, using steel, padded or wooden weapons. We also write down what we plan to do in the next practice.

Frankly, if we didn't keep a journal, we would have a hard time directing our training in a cohesive manner. It's been a big help, really. If you do a fairly large amount of training, then I'd highly recommend using a journal.

Best regards,

-Mark

 

[Phoenix44]

I keep notes, but I learned an even better technique from some fellow students at a Special Training of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation:

After a seminar, go back to your room, and video yourself doing the techniques. That will help jog your memory long after your notes cease to make any sense.

 

[tellner]

That's great if what you're trying to remember is the movement or if an insight is keyed to them. Notebooks have their place if there's something you've articulated and need to remember that way.

However you do it, whatever your learning style, the whole point is to develop skill and understanding and to turn the movements into a repository for what you know.

 

[jks9199]

I keep notes, but I learned an even better technique from some fellow students at a Special Training of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation:

After a seminar, go back to your room, and video yourself doing the techniques. That will help jog your memory long after your notes cease to make any sense.

I'm not personally a fan of videos.

I've seen too many cases where people relied on video tapes, and missed crucial details that either weren't visible because of the angle, or simply weren't apparent from the tape.

That's what I like about notebooks; I can write something like "gotta keep weight back for..." which might not be visible on a tape. I also personally prefer to run things through multiple "mental channels"; when I watch and listen to the explanation of something in class, that's one channel, then it's another as we do the drill, it's another, and writing the notes is a third.

As I said -- there's no right or wrong here. This has worked for me & it's produced solid results in both my students and my instructor's students. (In fact, we haven't required it in our youngest -- but I'm thinking that I will soon, simply because I've noticed they forget a lot of stuff!)

 

[kidswarrior]

(In fact, we haven't required it in our youngest -- but I'm thinking that I will soon, simply because I've noticed they forget a lot of stuff!)

Good point. I haven't either, but might do so now.

 

[tradrockrat]

I have notes on every single drill and form I've ever been taught - in Bando, TKD, JKD, Escrima, Jiu jitsu, Seminars, etc. To me it's insane to NOT write it all down.

However, I only write the skeleton of the form ansd intent of the move (for example, my white belt form called the point form starts with this: move 1: double X block, back L stance right, low block left [clearing front kick - evasion/redirection not blocking]). That's all I write. As for proper weighting and little asides I've found that after 24 years in those are the things I remember without notes!

 

[TraditionalTKD]

Maybe it's just me, but I've found that after 24 years in Tae Kwon Do, except for very occasional times, I've never needed notes or a notebook. My memory tends to be pretty good, and what I don't remember probably isn't that important.
In fact, I can count all the TKD and martial arts-related books I own on one hand.

 

[MarkBarlow]

I've got notebooks and handouts going back to the mid 70's and I find myself referring to them often. So many times, something that I jotted down from my sensei didn't seem important at the time but a few years down the road, I'd look at my notebook and it would directly relate to something I was working on right then.

Assuming that if you don't remember it, it must not be important may work for some folks, but I know just how capable I am of forgetting important stuff.

 

[kidswarrior]

ISo many times, something that I jotted down from my sensei didn't seem important at the time but a few years down the road, I'd look at my notebook and it would directly relate to something I was working on right then.

Yeah, this is my experience, too. The stuff I often wrote off as unrealistic or irrelevant has turned out years later to be exactly the next step I was searching for in my growth!

 

[ArmorOfGod]

Ooh, I get to brag on this one.
I have a notebook that I started on my first day of training back in Jan of 1991. I have maintained it ever since then and it has gotten huge. I did mine using looseleaf pages in a binder. It has notes on katas, tons of self defense, and even diagrams and pictures of how the moves should look. Also, I put dates and names of who I learned the moves from.
A year ago, I transfered all of it to disc and even uploaded it into my online Yahoo briefcase ( http://briefcase.yahoo.com ).
I tell my students every couple of weeks that they should be keeping one as well and I have one student who I know is keeping one.

AoG

 

[TraditionalTKD]

As far as requiring people to bring notebooks or physically record what I say or do, I've never done that. Nor would I ever. If someone wants to record something I teach, I wouldn't have a problem with it. And if they think they can remember down the road what they learned without a notebook, they are perfectly welcome to try. I really don't think what I have to say is so important that I would make people write it down.
Anyway, if someone has a question about a point I made, all they have to do as ask.

 

[MarkBarlow]

I really don't think what I have to say is so important that I would make people write it down.

I don't mean to sound harsh but if you feel that way, why are you teaching?

 

[TraditionalTKD]

I teach people because I love to do so. How they choose to remember it is up to them. Our GM is the same way. In all the years he has taught, he has never required people to write down what he said or did. Some choose to during special seminars. He teaches what he teaches, and people learn or they do not. If they forget along the line, then they lose what he taught. Anyway, writing it down doesn't guarantee that it will be recorded accurately. Even written down, people will perceive what is written differently, or write based on what they think he did or said.