Journaling and Training

Journaling is rather popular right now in all sorts of circles. Unlike a lot of other en vogue “pop culture” whatnots journaling is actually a very valuable tool. As a psych major I can tell you that journaling is a powerful tool for a person to learn more about themselves, and their lives. Things that may not have been apparent to us before writing down the days events, an argument with a family member, or at work, or just a string of emotions, can suddenly be very clear when writing. It can help to clear our heads, so that we can think more freely. It can also help us to retain things we’ve learned, and to work out ideas and new concepts, helping us with our continuous learning process.

The study of close quarter combatives is full of conceptualizations and new ideas, at least new for the student, and is definitely a continuous learning process. I have for a very long time kept notes and running journals about what I learn, new ideas and new concepts – and very often when writing out a thought or an idea, I will realize a mistake I was making or a new way of approaching what I’d been doing. It is very much like having a point/counter-point discussion with your self. It is a great aid to the concept of “Progression Training” as it helps the flow of ideas and improves the learning curve.
One important part of journaling is that you have to be comfortable doing it – this can mean calling it “my notes” and not “my journals”, or using particular notebooks or pens, or doing it in a particular environment. But for the real basic essence of journaling, all you need is a notebook and a pen. You don’t need a fancy leather bound notebook or fancy pens, just a plain old composition notebook and a Bic-Stic pen. If you want fancier, then get it – whatever makes you happy and comfortable, makes journaling easier. I actually have several “journals”, some for H2H, some for weapons, some for knife designs and notes on knife making, and they are all different.
There is no right way or wrong way to keep notes or journal. You don’t have to be deep, or philosophical, just write it out. What idea you just had, what your teacher imparted to you in the last class, what techniques you think you need to work on, anything. I have pages of my journals filled with bad sketches of the human anatomy as it applies to CQC, and sketches of fighting knives, others or my own designs, so I don’t have to tote around Grays Anatomy and all my knife books. Neat quotes, ideas, thoughts on classes, suggestions to yourself on what you need to improve, or how to possibly improve it. All this stuff can go in your notes. And if you don’t feel like writing after your training session or your class, you don’t have to. The idea is simply to keep a record of what you learn, your thoughts on things, so that as you write it out, or go back to it for reference, you can become clearer on things you are taught, or your own concepts.