Training Journal for BJJ:

This training journal was created for my BJJ addiction.  The hallmark of the book is that it is designed to speed training through technique focus and neuro-scientifically proven methods of learning and retention.  The goal is to organize lesson goals for the week, what you practiced & learned so you can refer to them later, and see what else was going on in your training cycle.

Fundamentally we are using the Army’s ‘see, hear, do’ training method, and then adding WRITE to the lessons to solidify learning.  The goal is to close mental thought loops, de-clutter my mind, and incorporate more learning into training time.

I made this for me, but it is super useful and helps rapidly improve the quality of my training.  So I decided to share 🙂

I originally assembled this book in 2020, under my own name Douglas A. Franklin, and I believe it was first published in early 2021.

Summary:

This is a low-content book so there really is not much of a summary.

The main spread is about 75% open line-form space to write the class, the technique, and then plenty of space to describe the key learning points.

Before the main body, I included a section for what I’m doing for cross-training because that has a huge impact on how I’m performing later in the day.  For example, when I do heavy weights, my muscles start to go rubbery and squishy earlier in the live training, while my damaged shoulders, neck, and back have more flexibility for whatever reason.  You really need to talk to Doctor A.J. Vazquez about that.  The section for the cross-training schedule is only about 20% or so of the whole page.

Then the smallest part is the headline for the week, the personal goal.  That personal goal is for ‘What I Am Targeting’ for the week.  In my case, I recently attended a seminar hosted by Romelo Barral.  My goal for the following week is: ‘incorporate seminar spider guard points into open guard & transition game’.

Where To Get Yours:

eBooks	Printed Books	Audio
Direct Download*	Amazon	Direct Download**
Amazon*	Independently Published	Audible**
Smashwords*

* Amazon & other publishers will ban accounts for producing low-content eBooks.  It is considered a ‘bait-n-switch’ tactic.

** These would be pretty boring audiobooks.  And I don’t think anyone wants to listen to me read my notes.  So we’ll skip audiobooks too! 😉

 

The Cover That Did Not Make It:

If you bother checking out my Twitter, or ‘X’, or whatever the hell it is now, profile, I believe my bio at the time of writing this ends with something like “If I wasn’t a wiseass, I’d just be an ass”.

Here’s me being a wiseass.

I wanted to make a cover that was entertaining and relevant to training.  This cover art did not make the cut for a few reasons:

1. The aspect ratio scale was reversed.  You need a long picture or when you use the cover design features you get some really funky results.
2. The color scheme was literally beige, and sort of the definition of boring.
3. The most interesting part of the image was the top-right, which made the title look a little crowded down at the bottom, with the subjects literally standing on the book title.