ever kept a notebook while training?

[cerebus]

Yeah, I have PLENTY of notes. All words though, no drawings. I find it very helpful to have them because of how much stuff I've learned over the years. Sometimes I don't practice a certain form for a long time, then when I want to go through it again it helps to have the memory prompts.

[taai gihk yahn]

I have a whole shelf of notebooks from the last 14 years w/my sifu, including notes from group & private classes, transcriptions of his Dharma talks, notes from seminars - all kinds of crazy stuff, written in a combination of medical abbreviations, Chinese (characters and Yale transliteration of Cantonese), and my own short hand from taking notes in college - completely undecipherable, sometimes even by me, LOL!

as for drawings, I have my own "patented" stick-man, which I use to draw out things for patients and the like (I'll see about scanning some as a goof);

my "exercise" used to be to take mental notes during a 1 1/2 hour group class, and then put them down on paper on the train ride home in chronological order - it was an interesting exercise to hold the info in my short-term memory, and then to put it down in an organized manner;

my sifu beats me hands down though - he has kept a daily journal for like the last 30 years, filling up several shelves in his loft!

[bawang]

i never keep a journal. i think theyre not really needed. you just work hard.
i think its not necesary to be like a rocket science and keep track: keep zero point seven decivmal five degrees of torso. clench the anus and sneeze etc etc. i think smal differences rally dont matter.

if i read notes i read the fist manuals for my style. they really should be translated to english. they tell you every single detail about your style and are very helpful.

.

[Gowgee]

Originally Posted by brianlkennedy

As a historian of Chinese martial arts I very much regret that more personal notebooks did not survive...I have often wished that nowadays there was some library, some "Official Library of Chinese Martial Arts" that would collect and save notebooks currently being produced

Brian, such material could be donated to local museums etc. Many similar materials are given to local museums or libraries here in Japan, but I've heard less about this happening with Chinese arts. You should encourage people to do this if their family isn't interested in it after the martial artist passes away.

[bawang]

why would museums want to take scribbles on a looseleaf??

[uki]

Originally Posted by bawang

why would museums want to take scribbles on a looseleaf??

i guess some people think they are worth something more... having scribbles on paper makes one a credible martial arts authority...

[Oso]

yea, a box of them at this point, maybe between 15 and 20

i have used the willingness and diligence of starting and maintaining a notebook as a telltale for the students intent

i've been asked if I wanted/needed to review students notes and I've always said, 'no, it's not for me, it's for you'

[karateguy]

Great post guys, you are making me feel bad.. I have never been bright enough to keep a full log..

My hat goes off to you.

[No_Know]

Notes from No_Know

[No_Know]

No_Know notes+ a representation of Ernie Moore Jr.'s Kung-Fu, Squirrel.

[Lucas]

ive never kept a notebook, for a few reasons.

I did try at one point, but didnt find it really helped me at all. I found when I reviewed my notes, its nothing I couldnt remember.

everyone has a different approach to ma as well.

realizations and insights are something that stick with me personally. so my personal developments in martial arts are just something i will never forget.

i also realized in todays world someone else has done a way more thorough job of the histories and technicalities of the physical aspect of martial arts than i would care to match, as many other aspects. i have a rather large collection of other peoples notes. ie: books

besides when ever i start writing about martial arts, i stop, get up and practice physically then the time is gone....

my dedication lies in practice.

[No_Know]

It was important to stand without assistance from my arms.

No_Know

[No_Know]

Squirrel pereptual exercise (turnies) and defining postures.

No_Know

[Yum Cha]

I've kept notes on distance, time, heart rate, numbers of reps, etc, but not specifically of Kung Fu.

I do have a 'scrap book' of sorts, articles, notes, stories, pictures, etc.

But, when it comes to the drawings, and 'Tao of XXX' like notes, I keep looking for the real essence.

Its easier to vid a form than draw it.

No notes can give you the knowledge of the training, and if you do the training, you don't need the notes, just the 'refresher' info that may be significant, but rather meaningless to most people - like Andy Miles said.

But still, there is something I want to note down, but more as a complete observation than notes on developing that observation, which is more like article than note writing.

So, yea, no. Notes don't really work for me along those lines.

Grandmaster Cheung Lai Cheun was famous for keeping a book, be it manual or notebook, that his students were given to hand copy. There are a few out there.

[uki]

i suppose the best part about keeping a notebook and journal is that in the event of a global cataclysm or global war, chances are high that this notebook might turn up in a dusty cave somewhere for the future generations of survivors to find and pass along... i marvel at the lack of foresight in this digital age where everyone uses computers to type and store vital information - once the power goes out, all is lost.