What will you remember when the class is over?

Memory is a fragile and deceptive thing. We go to a class, we 'learn' something new and exciting, but when we go to try it a few days or a week later, we find our recall is fuzzy and we can't do it.

After my first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class, I realised that I could barely remember how to do some of the things that had been covered. In the course of an hour we had gone through a takedown, a choke and a sweep with a change of guard, but although some details stood out, most of the details were fuzzy. Admittedly, this was my first class, so a lot of what we were doing was unfamiliar so I didn't have the base knowledge to connect what I was learning to. But I knew that if I wanted to learn this martial art then I would need to take additional steps to lock in what I was learning.

So the first thing I did was search on Amazon for instructional materials suitable to my level. I looked at what books and DVDs were available, what they contained, had a look at previews to see if the level of detail would meet my needs, and looked at the reviews to see how helpful other people had found them. I ended up ordering two books from Amazon to help me.

One was a beginners book (Saulo Ribeiro's Jiu Jitsu University) which took a very structured approach to covering not just the how of the technique but also when it was and wasn't applicable, what counters there were to it and what to do about those counters. In other words, this book embedded the description of the technique into a context of use and I thought that this would make the techniques I was learning easier to remember. Since BJJ is in some ways a physical analogue to chess, in that it involves moves and counter moves, this book was equivalent to a chess discussion of tactics like forks, discovered check etc.

The second was a book more centred on the strategy of the martial art (Renzo Gracie & John Danaher's Mastering Jiu Jitsu ). In the same way as a chess game has an opening, a middle game and an end game, this book focused on the overall strategy of a fight, the objectives of each stage and on the need to plan a few moves ahead.

Strategy and tactics. Two things which provide a context and a structure for individual techniques and which I hope will help me more easily remember what I am learning and to revise it between classes.

The other thing which I realised was that I needed to be totally focused in class in order to learn as much as possible, and to write down the names of the techniques immediately after class so I could revise them later.

However from past experience, at least in the short term, I've found that in any class that teaches three things, if I try to focus on learning all three then the chances are I won't properly remember any of them. Whereas if I focus on learning and remembering one thing and on just getting the gist of the other two, there is a good chance that I will retain at least that one thing. I don't know whether this is a personal limitation or something that applies to most people, but I've found that it is generally true of dance classes I have done and discussing it with other dancers leads me to believe that other people find this to be the case as well.

So if you want to progress in a class that involves any kind of physical techniques, I would suggest the following:

• Pay close attention during the class
• Seek to master one thing and to get the gist of the rest, at least for the time being
• Make a note of everything that was taught in that class immediately after the class
• Find one or more good references so that you can revise between classes
• Try to build a structure and a context into which you can fit what you are learning

If you do these things you will find that you retain more and make more rapid progress in your chosen area of learning.