The Secret Weapon in Martial Arts: Your Notebook
From Student to Sensei: How Note-Taking Transforms Your Martial Arts Journey
Taking notes is an essential practice in martial arts, offering numerous benefits that can enhance your learning and training experience.
Writing things down serves as a permanent storage of information, allowing you to capture important details that you might otherwise forget. While visual aids like videos are increasingly popular, the act of writing can help reinforce your memory and understanding.
Journaling your experiences allows you to study your past, learn from your mistakes, and avoid repeating them. Writing things down just for the sake of it would not be useful. It would be important to regularly review your notes to remind you of the lessons you've learned.
“Without consulting the past mistakes […], we become blind to our deficiencies in the present. We’ll continue to act out our patterns if no alternative keeps us in check.”
Robin Waldun
from, Why It's Hard To Think Clearly In Our World
Taking the time to write things down and think about them can also help you develop a contemplative mindset that complements your active martial arts practice.
Your notes will vary based on your role and journey in martial arts, whether you are a student, teacher, or researcher.
As a Student, here are some ideas on what to write on:
Techniques, Principles and Concepts: Initially, you might write down specific techniques, but over time, transition to focusing on principles and tools to apply those principles. Video is much better to record technique. In your notes, you may focus on the core principles and concepts taught in class. You took a deep dive on this topic here.
Insights: Record any personal insights or realizations you have during training, and even outside of training.
Terminology and Definitions: Each art have their own jargon and keep tabs on these terms can be challenging at first, especially since they are usually in a different language than your own. Writing them down can help you keep track of important terms and their meanings.
Lessons from Teachers: Many teachers take time to share some thoughts in class. Take notes of these golden nuggets. It will help understand your teacher’s mindset and philosophy.
Here’s an example:
Training Journal: Document how you felt before, during, and after class, providing a history of your training sessions. Share your wins and lessons learned, write down tips you get from your fellow students.
Video Notes: Watching video is always useful. Us, as humans, tend to learn from other people. We learn so much better through imitation and for an activity that is so physical such as Martial Arts, videos are great. Taking time to watch some videos online - which could be anything from instructionals to fights to regular commentary, podcast, etc – is highly beneficial. Take notes from those videos, maybe even note the references of your favorite videos so you can revert back to the video at a future date if you need to.
Martial Arts teachers are a different breed of teachers. Many can just show up to class, think of an exercise or technique they want to work on and start the class, especially experienced teachers. However, a bit of planning and organization could also be beneficial. Here are some examples:
Curriculum: This is a good tip for new teachers, having the curriculum on-hand for quick reference is truly beneficial to structure your classes. It can also help you if you need to adjust your classes for some reason, right there, you have what is needed.
Class Plans: For new teachers specifically, planning your class ahead will help you feel more confident and in control of your class. Keeping these plans in a notebook gives you a history of your classes, noting what worked and what didn't. It could also help as a reference for future classes. Keeping the curriculum in the same notebook can also help as a quick reference.
Student Progress: Keep notes on each student's progress and areas for improvement. You may also note on whether a student is ready for their next grade or not.
Exercises and Drills: Document examples of exercises and drills used in class. You may also note drills you’ve seen by studying videos online or when participating in seminars with other teachers and build a more solid and complete list of exercises that you can refer to regularly.
There are many “Martial Arts Nerds” out there, focusing a lot of time to reading about history and philosophy of different Martial Arts legends. As a Researcher, here are some ideas of what you can take note on – although, I do not think I need to do that for you, you might know more than me on this topic:
Books: There are plenty of books out there, technical books, biographies, philosophical books. Try to read them with an inquisitive mind, take notes, think about what you read and what you think about them and develop your own philosophy. In a sense, this is what I am doing with this newsletter.
Videos: Videos are fantastic for technical work, however, there are more and more visual podcasts now. If you are into them, take notes on what you listen to and like with books, process that information and see how it fits into your own development.
Personal Insights: Record your own thoughts and insights as you develop them through your research. “Seek what the master sought” goes the saying. Go deeper than just the physical and superficial.
In conclusion, taking notes can become a vital practice for martial arts practitioners that can significantly enhance your learning and training experience. Whether you are a student, teacher, or self-appointed researcher, the act of writing things down helps you capture important details, reflect on your journey, and develop a deeper understanding of the principles and techniques you are learning. By regularly reviewing your notes, you can avoid repeating past mistakes and continue to grow in your martial arts practice. Remember, the key to effective note-taking is to personalize your notes to suit your needs – there is no right way to do this – ensuring that they serve as a valuable resource for your ongoing development.
PS: I’d like to thank Parker Settecase for inspiring me to write this article.
Great and sound points.