What a BJJ training journal is for
A BJJ training journal is a short written record of each session: what the class covered, how your rounds went and what you want to ask next time.
Class details fade quickly. A week later, you may remember the name of the technique and little of how it worked. Written entries keep those details, and after a few months they give you a record to judge your progress by, instead of how your last few rounds felt.
What to write after class and after sparring
After the technique part of class, write the position, the steps in order and the detail your instructor stressed most. Use your own words, and include the grips and the side you drilled on. Add the step you kept getting wrong while drilling, because that is the one to drill again or ask about.
After sparring, write one thing that worked and one thing that failed. For each, name the position where it began and the grip or control that decided it. A line that records only the result, such as getting passed, tells you little a month later.
Note who each round was with and how hard it went. When you read the entries back, a failure against a much heavier or more experienced partner means something different from the same failure against someone your size and level.
Fill in your first entry
The fields below cover those points and add one question for your next class. Fill them in after your next session and copy the result into your notes app or onto paper. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
After your session
A position or technique from today's class
Each partner, and whether that round was hard or light
A technique or position that went your way
A position where you got stuck, passed, swept or submitted
Something from today you want your instructor to explain
Your entry
Your answers appear here as you type.
Keep entries short enough to stick with
Write entries you can finish in a couple of minutes, so you keep writing them after late classes and hard rounds. The best time is before you leave the gym or as soon as you get home, while the rounds are still clear.
Use the same headings in every entry, in the same order, so entries can be compared line by line. Name positions the same way each time as well, such as always “half guard bottom” rather than “half” one week and “bottom half” the next. In a phone notes app, consistent names let you search months of entries for one position or one partner. A paper notebook kept in your gym bag also works, and the fixed headings make it quick to scan.
If you miss an entry, write one line the next day and move on. A full entry rebuilt from a hazy memory tends to include details that did not happen.
Review a month of entries at once
Once a month, read all your entries in one sitting and look for three things. Find the position that appears most often in what failed. Check whether the techniques you drilled ever appear in what worked, and how many weeks that took. List the questions you wrote down and never got answered.
End the review with a short note naming the position to work on next, and carry the unanswered questions to the top of your next entry. If the same failure has filled your entries for months, our guide to the BJJ plateau explains how to build a block of training around one position.
How video fits with your journal
Use your journal to decide which rounds to film. When a review points to one position, film the rounds most likely to bring you there, such as rounds with the partner who keeps putting you in it.
Add the file name or video link to that day’s entry. Months later, the line in your journal takes you straight to the footage, which shows what your few lines left out, such as where each of you had your grips.
When a question in your journal is about one exchange, find it on the video before class so you can show your instructor the moment instead of describing it. You can also send the round for a roll review and add the homework drills that come back to your next entries.