Back to School…
Taking notes in class.
How many of us do it? Does it serve a purpose?
I wasnt that great in school, but I understand the idea of taking notes. If you attend class at your jiu-jitsu gym…you should think about taking notes, if you dont already.
How do you take notes?
I find the best way for me is to come up with a quick short hand…and then maybe a few stick figure type drawings if it helps. The main purpose for the short hand is to take notes in a manner that wont steal time from your partner during class. Make sure to try and confine it within the teachers instruction….and then during breaks or immediately after class. That way it stays fresh in your brain… and you dont miss out on details.
If something is being repeated and you have already taken notes on a particular movement…then open back up to that page and look for any details you might have missed. Or maybe this movement has a different final position than the earlier version. Now your notes on a certain movement can include options or different finishes.
I like to keep my notes on my computer. That way when i get home i can take my notes from notebook (thats usually messy with sweat dripped pages) can be put into a esily legible format. This also helps the move become more muscle memory. Rather than thinking about what to do…your body responds to your brain faster!


Paul Pedrazzi Says:
Hey Mike. Good post. I always take notes and find it very helpful. I use a tool called Evernote (it’s free).
I wrote about it here:
http://www.bjjnorcal.com/blog/2008/11/27/bjj-notebook-wevernote.html
Posted on December 18th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Micah Says:
Awesome advice!
Thanks Mike!
Posted on December 20th, 2008 at 2:10 pm