training journals

[monkey mind]

Over the years I've always kept sporadic notes on my training. Usually they were "objective" & of a technical nature – lists of techniques & combinations practiced, etc. Lately I've noticed a shift. Now I write in my training journal more regularly & my notes tend to be more "subjective" – what was my physical & even emotional condition during training, what things seemed to work well & why, what was especially challenging that day & why, things I noticed about my training partners to work on or avoid… I still keep some technical notes, especially if I go to a seminar or something like that, but the shift from "what" to "how" in the way I reflect on my training has been clear. Anyway, I'm just wondering what other folks do with training journals. What kind of notes do you keep? How often do you write them & review them? How has it helped you in your development in wado?

[majin29]

I make notes after class. There is so much detail in Wado I like to write it down to encode some of it in my aging brain. I also like to draw basic diagrams or pictures to better capture the motion or arc of something that I might not be able to distill in writing. I find it very good to do this.

[monkey mind]

I've attempted simple drawings in my notes as well. Lines & angles I'm are no problem, but sadly when I try illustrations of bodies it usually ends up distorting rather than clarifying anything.

[Tim49]

Ah, other scribblers.

I have kept notebooks for years, and I’m glad I did. I think without them we have the potential to lose out on a really valuable resource. I know this because when I look back on my oldest jottings I find things that I’d almost forgotten about.

Personally, over time, I have found it useful to write things down in detail, because if you don’t you’ll run the risk of making them incomprehensible, even to your self. But develop a shorthand; methods of simple abbreviation. Also, write things up almost immediately or you will forget them. In the past, when I have realised that a particular class/course is going to be heavy on information, I have collaborated with other notetakers and we have debriefed each other at the earliest opportunity.

However, a word of warning, just because you have written something down does not mean that it is carved in stone. I say this because after a while the accumulated body of evidence suggests that the ground shifts, evidence perhaps of evolutionary refinements or just the fluid nature of Wado. If you are smart you’ll realise that any perceived inconsistencies may supply pieces of a bigger picture.

The things I have written down in the past have been technical nuts and bolts, sequences or themes which have worked well, corrections which have been pointed out to me. I do use a lot of drawings; my background and training is in Art so I never have any problems in that area, though occasionally get a bit carried away. I also write down anecdotes, things I’ve witnessed or stories told to me. Obviously all of these things are for private consumption, I think this is very important as it removes the shackles of self-censorship and promotes a kind of honesty.

I know some people have collected their notes electronically – Microsoft Onenote is particularly good; but personally I prefer Moleskine notebooks, took me a while to discover them but they are an excellent product.

Tim

[claas]

I have kept a public training diary on another forum, made notes and also written even very technical reports to my club about training camps in the past. Public writing is a good way to learn because you have to formulate in your own way to others and to do that you have to understand. Now I write sometimes in my training diary and make notes of some of my training camps. To make good notes enough repetition is needed on the seminar. It has to be personal. There is the teaching itself, senseis impression/example of it and me trying to feel as much as possible what sensei does and how the principle works. Then the making of notes is a good way to repeat a little more. I very seldom read my notes later, so I have come to understand that the writing is the most important part. Then repeating enough as soon as possible may change the performance for good. It is stupid to learn something valuable and forget it immediately. The value of a lesson is beyond all measure.

When I write, my body in some way analyzes the stuff. I start to sweat a little every time.

I have notes for each kata and pair technique and I have improved them over the years.

[wadoka]

I am rubbish at this.

I have tried software on my computer and even bought some note pads and stuck them into my kitbag.

Unless you do it straightaway, it is gone. One trick though for remembering sequences is to get someone else to do them and record on a camera just after the session.

[oneya]

Hi,
I can’t remember a time when I thought about writing anything down, it just never occurred to me. Now that we are in the computer age I scribble a few conclusions from time to time now but when I first discovered wado ryu I’d recently completed a ten year stint as a seafarer where it was customary to deal with the moment to moment, minute to minute, hour to hour stuff of each day so Wado ryu became part of that same process.

Again though, as one of five brothers who, right from the start, lived and breathed this wado stuff almost daily in some form or another in the early days there wasn’t much need or time for note books. We had a wado family pressure cooker going for the most part so everywhere was the dojo and wado was always happening. If one of us didn’t remember anything the other four were usually around to cuff the stuff into the bones of the offender. Of the three left practicing today it is still a guaranteed opening topic of daily conversation even now.

oneya