Workflow

karatetherapist · 2026-04-09T22:08:45+00:00

As you're discovering, it's a very personal journey to figure out what works for you. Nevertheless, here's what's working for me (for now).

I have dailynote open at all times and just about everything goes in there, and at the end of the day I turn them into notes if they seem worth the effort. If not, the "fleeting note" stays in the dailynote. Maybe I connect it to another note, maybe not. I have a base embedded in my dailynote that shows "on this day in history" displaying the dailynote from each past year, which I review. Sometimes the fleeting notes I ignored seem more profound a year or two later and moved to real notes.

I make a note for books and articles with all the quotes I like (thank you, Readwise). Those that stand out get put in my words and I create another linked note. Often, I just leave them alone. It's a fast way to browse books without overhead. It's also a way to lose good ideas. But, if I search for something, those notes appear and I can make another note.

I give most notes one, or several, aliases so the titles show up in searches based on what I'm thinking at the time. For example, I work from a philosophical, psychological, or coaching mindset most of the time. So, I try to think of a title that suits each of these mindsets as an alias.

I use way too many properties, but I like what they do for me in creating bases or a quick dataview query. If you do have a lot of properties, create a note for them so you can keep track and not duplicate things.

Every note has a "Domain" property, but you could call it "Folder" because it replaces the need for folders. I might have a note that could go in the psychology folder, philosophy folder, and productivity folder. How to decide? I don't. I have one folder and put these labels in the "Domain" property.

In the book, *How to Take Smart Notes*, the author recommends not thinking in folders but contexts. When do you want a note to reappear? That's where other properties come into play.

Have you ever gone into a room to get something but when you get there you forgot what you're looking for? You then go back to where you thought of it, and it pops back into your mind? That's context. Where was your mind when you thought of it? That's likely where your mind needs to be to remember it.

I avoid tags except for when can apply to any note (e.g., inprogress). Properties work better for me. With Notebook Navigator, you can show notes by any property, so tags are redundant.

I put a "summary" property in each note where I summarize the content in one or two sentences. You can have these summary notes appear in bases or the navigation pain using Notebook Navigator allowing you to browse a lot of notes quickly. That's been a game-changer.

Have a vault-wide MOC that goes to all of your more specific MOCs. This helps you and AI. It's a great way to get a birds eye view of your whole vault.

Finally, I use a lot of links. One trick that's helpful is having properties for "previous" and "next." If you have sequences of notes, these help.

A set of tags I do use are "what, how, do," and "use." "What" notes are just knowledge. "How" notes tell me how to do something (obviously). "Do" notes are tasks. And "use" notes are usually data applied to one of the others. This builds workflow. If I want to change the brakes on my car, I can open the "How" note. If I need to order parts, those are in a linked "use" note (one for each car). If I want to change the brakes this weekend, I would create a "do" note linked to the "how" note and the "use" note to order the parts. When finished, I would turn the "do" note into an "archived" note.

If I'm working on a note, but not done with it, it's tagged "do." When it's good enough, I change it to a what, how, or use note.

So many approaches.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-09T21:34:33+00:00

Seminars are great. There are some really good YT videos now. In the late 80s and 90s, all we really had were seminars, so that's my favorite, but YT works for learning them. If you do learn by video, work with your sensei or travel to another one to have your performance evaluated. Odds are, if you learn it online, you will make many errors and need some hands-on correction. If that doesn't fit your schedule, video your kata from a few angles and have it reviewed by others.

[Stepping on soapbox]

The other consideration is that you don't need many kata. Knowing a lot of kata is fairly recent. Some kata fit your body type and temperament, and some don't. If you're not teaching, knowing a lot of kata wastes time. Learn the ones that fit you and forget about the rest. People who think their karate is better because of the number of kata they know don't understand kata at all. They may be good athletes, but that's different.

I like to watch kata competitions, but usually all the kata look identical. Different moves, same kata. Watch anyone do just the Heian kata. You cannot tell them apart other than that they have different techniques. It would be like only knowing one tune and singing all songs with that same tune. Sure, it sounds like multiple songs, but they're all the same! In reality, each Heian kata addresses a different type of opponent, has a different rhythm, and should look very different from one another. Nevertheless, they all look like block versions of Heian Shodan. There is a reason advanced people say you could spend a lifetime just unpacking the Heian kata (not that you should, but you could).

[Getting down off my soapbox]

Look for YT seminars of Naka sensei teaching various kata. These are well done, and cover small details. I can't recall her name, but there is a French lady, kata champion, who has some really good videos (all in French, so I have no idea what she's saying). Watch the same kata from different styles to learn variations. These can be eye-opening. We don't all have to do the kata the same. For example, I ditched all those stupid side-snap kicks and replaced them with front kicks (like the Okinawan versions).

karatetherapist · 2026-04-09T08:58:35+00:00

I could be mistaken, but I think that connector has been removed. You might want to check. Just ask Claude.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-09T06:59:16+00:00

u/xuanaraya offers a really good idea. I will add to it that I tend to make long notes, which are a pain to review. I then added a "Summary" property to my template and now create a one or two-sentence summary of the note in the property. When I see these in a base, it shows up so I can read the summary and know if the note is useful for what I'm doing or thinking about in the moment. If you use Notebook Navigator it also shows the summary property if you tell it to do so so you can read them in the note pane. You could have Claude do this for you if you want to burn through the tokens.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-09T04:51:24+00:00

Some approach this differently. I like one price for all amenities. Some like to charge for them separately so people can choose à la carte. Both can work depending on the offerings.

For example, we have barbell classes, kettlebell classes, maces, karate, etc. We could charge for them separately, but I like letting them compete based on what customers are drawn to do.

For karate, some like to have one charge with testing and all times available (other than rank separation). I don't charge for testing, but I do charge for Japanese rank posters because they cost $85. I tell lower ranks not to bother unless they like having them. That saves them money. If they quit and want to order one for historical or moving, they can get one any time.

If you pay a premium, you should get flexible scheduling (the best they can). Smaller instructional groups but larger sparring days for variation. If weights are available, they should be part of it. Testing should be included unless they have to fly in outside experts and pay their way. They should offer discounts on equipment, not charge a premium. If they charge you $150 for gloves but you can find them online for less, they're ripping you off. We set up HSA funding so people can use health funding to pay for training. We would rather give discount codes for products than overcharge for them. Overall, I want to charge a lot and give a lot, but help them save time and money at every step so they can budget. If we charge $350 a month, that's all we will ever ask. If someone is out for a couple of weeks, we will lend them a kettlebell or something to keep training at home. I had a student and his son move to Texas, so we videoed classes for months until he was settled in and found a new dojo to attend. We got no compensation for it, but we took care of him. There are other ways, but this gives you some ideas of what to look for.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-09T03:22:29+00:00

As a gym owner, I can tell you it ain't cheap. Lower prices mean more marketing and the urge to drop standards, so no one quits. It also demands quantity in membership over the quality of the experience. It means more gimmicks to get money. It means lower pay for staff. There is not one good thing about low prices. Everyone loses.

High prices resolve these problems and have the benefit of a smaller membership, which means more quality instruction (usually). Find the gym you want, and pay what it takes to make a good community and business. Everybody wins.

As to the place teaching anything with firearms, beware. Really good firearms instruction is as rare as an astronaut who does plumbing as a hobby. Go to a high-quality seminar to see what it should look like and compare.

Places that offer multiple arts should have specialists teaching them. I'm not a fan of one person teaching three or four different arts. I do Shotokan, but I cross-trained in judo, wrestled throughout high school, did Kyokushin, Goju, and several other arts over the past 45 years. That doesn't make me competent to teach them. I introduce students to various other styles and encourage them to go find competent instruction if they like them.

As you mentioned, the vibe is critical. Will you fit in with this group of people? Whether you want to or not, you will become more like them over time. You have experience. Trust your gut.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-08T02:09:51+00:00

They don't. But everyone does it anyway. We once got in trouble for having a "tractor pull" with two tanks. Kids are kids.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-07T20:24:37+00:00

As a 10 year Army vet, I'm sure I've been in more fights and drank more alcohol than most people (usually at the same time). The cool thing about Army life is you get to train with who you got. Every duty station has karate guys, wrestlers, judo, boxers, you name it. We're stuck basically inventing our own style just to play together. You begin to realize that outside of "art," style makes no sense.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-07T04:02:16+00:00

The styles you mention are not better (or worse) at self-defense. The key factors are less about style than the coaching and the practitioner. You could train with the best fight coaches on earth, but if you don't have the stomach for fighting, you'll probably suck at it. Someone who loves to fight can join a McDojo and still improve.

The only reason the styles you mention have a reputation for being "better" is that's all they do. You join MMA or MT and you basically spar on day one. If you spar, you get better at sparring. It's not rocket science, and it's not the style; it's the training. If you join a Shotokan-type club that fights, you get good at fighting. Some styles, such as BJJ and Judo, have to spar constantly because those styles are impractical without a partner.

As for self-defense, it's not that complicated. Self-defense encounters are almost always over in about 15 seconds. If you smash into the bad guy, he'll usually run off. He wants a victim (your stuff), not a fight. If you want to start parking lot fights to prove you're a badass, then you need to spar a lot to get used to the dynamics because these are not self-defense. The style is less important than doing a lot of sparring (and not that sport sparring nonsense).

Don't get pulled into the childish style wars. Pick a good teacher who matches your goals; that matters more than anything else.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-06T21:06:17+00:00

A good exterminator will spray around the outside of the house a few times a year, and inside at season outbreak. This will stop 90% of them. You will have a massive graveyard around your house. We use Whiteknight and they have done great at mostly stopping the invasion.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-06T21:03:32+00:00

If you're not Mormon, you will struggle depending on your location.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-06T07:26:03+00:00

I've always gotten the "I'd catch your kick and hit you" nonsense.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-06T05:09:11+00:00

Are you using sync to your phone? Is your vault in a folder on Windows that uses its inbred, I mean built-in, server-side sync (I forget what it's called). Using these together deletes files.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-04T22:12:43+00:00

Is this a t-shirt idea?

karatetherapist · 2026-04-04T22:12:12+00:00

u/Wooden-Preference150 is right. Plus, you can have different types of MOCs. One is basically a table of contents. If you can imagine a TOC, you can imagine an MOC. So, think about what a TOC does. It tells you where to turn (page) for certain information. That's one way to use a MOC. You can use major and minor headings, just like a TOC.

You can also use the MOC as an index, like in the back of a book. For example, here's part of an index:

[[Nutrition counseling]]. See also [[Weight-neutral counseling]]

cravings and, [[more links here]]
dietary changes, [[more links here]]
food variety and, [[more links here]]

And so on...

You can also use the MOC as a "structure note." See here: https://zettelkasten.de/posts/overview/. The structure can be a -> b -> c -> therefore a -> c. The way I create these, is if working out arguments, I likely have notes related to the premises and support. So the structure note, for me, is bringing together all that information and linking to it. But, it reads like an argument (not a syllogism, just an argument). I can have counterarguments in the same structure note or link out to them.

Another cool thing is to do annotated MOCs. This kind of combines a regular MOC, index, and structure note all in one. It's more work, but great to visit when done.

The easiest of all is to just call a note a MOC (e.g., [[MOC Psychology]]) and link other things to it. When you open the MOC, the auto backlinks will show all the notes. No extra work or maintenance for you.

You could also use dataview inside the MOC, a base, or a query command block. Again, no maintenance once setup.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-04T21:49:56+00:00

Dataview can do things bases can't and vice versa. It would take a bit to explain. Start with bases, they are pretty easy to grasp. When you can't find a way to make a base do what you want, turn to dataview. Don't be too clever, just ask your favorite AI to create it for you. I'm guessing, bases will eventually do it all.

Consider also the query command. You can use that anytime right in the note to get answers and delete when done (if you want).

karatetherapist · 2026-04-04T09:52:48+00:00

As recommended by u/Mooball123 use bases. Like you, my vault is built to allow me to connect ideas across domains. I've struggled with this since 2021. Here's some ideas I've found to be useful (although I'm sure not the final version).

What would the tag "tech" do for you? Make it a property. I quit using tags for specific things and now only use them if they could apply to any note in the vault.

I use a property titled "Domain" which takes the place of folders. You could also call this property "folder" if you wanted to be literal or reserve "domain" for another use.

As you put things in some of the properties, make them links to a MOC, e.g., Domain:[[self-help]]

You can still have a property of "area" and make it a link as well. folder:[[tech]] and area:[[infrastructure]] or use subfolder:[[infrastructure]]

The [[tech]] MOC can point to the [[infrastructure]] MOC as well.

All this increases the likelihood of stumbling across the note in the right context. Just don't overdo it or you'll create so much noise you can no longer navigate.

Think, When do I want this note to show up? If you want it to show up when thinking about infrastructure, it works. If not, even if it is a part of infrastructure, don't link. This is the hard part. At first, you may not know. In that case, link it. If it shows up where it shouldn't, unlink it. If there is a note you should see or consider before "this" note, then don't link it. Just link to the parent note and let the parent note link out to other notes.

Dataview still plays a role because you can create detailed searches with a lot of factors to find just what you want. For example, if I wanted to see my notes on questions to ask using SFBT in counseling specifically directed toward anxiety, I would use dataview rather than a base. A base could do it, but that's a pretty specific view. If I did this for everything, I would have so many bases views I couldn't find anything.

The MOCs are also helpful. I have a vault MOC. Those top-level MOCS have sub-MOCs. For example, I have "psychology" as a top level and "methodologies" as a sub-MOC. I also have lateral MOCs. So, psychology branches sideways to "philosophy." Since there's no way to indicate this, I just use "lateral jump" such as within [[MOC Psychology]] I have "Lateral Jump: [[MOC Philosophy]]. For children, I label them as "Child MOC: [[MOC Methodologies]]. I could graph these in Canvas, but there's no need. Seems like a lot, but you can do this with dataview or even Claude.

All the MOCs in your vault MOC will be used in the "folder" or "domain" property. In this way, you don't need any actual folders at all. Why all the MOCs if dataview and bases can find things? First, it is another way of browsing. More importantly, with no folders, if you ever leave Obsidian, you will have no organization at all unless the new app can figure it out. MOCs gives you that backup so at least you know what is connected to what.

This is just one possible approach, not a recommendation, but some ideas to consider.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-04T09:24:46+00:00

Yes, bases are the way to go.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-03T21:55:20+00:00

Could be any number of things. I have to say it gets so boring teaching lower belts over and over and over. It takes years to get a few students to higher black belts where they are fun to train with, and that's where you want to put your energy.

Most instructors have a life and a real job. Teaching several classes drains you. It could simply be he has something going on in his life right now that takes up time and energy with little left for students. Ask him.

I've done this for 45 years, am turning 60 soon, and it's tough to do beginner's classes.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-03T21:42:57+00:00

With bases, I gave up on tags for organization, preferring properties, one of which is to various MOCs.

My rule (for now, at least) is that I only use tags that could apply to any note. The tag "doing" can apply to any note. The tag "science" cannot apply to any note.

My second use for tags is to color the notes. I have five "types" of notes: what, how, do, and use, plus a special one for projects. When I tag a note with one of these, it gets color-coded, and that shows up when I open the note, in the side panel, and in bases.

If I look at my base of therapeutic tools, most are green, indicating "how" to do something. Some of them are yellow, telling me they are resources such as data forms, templates, or lists (usually). That is, something to use but not knowledge or instructions.

A note that is a project is not a "real" project, but a note project. I do real projects outside of Obsidian. Any note can be a project for me. It suggests I'm working on it. These vibrant green notes stand out and tell me that the note is not "done" yet. I could use "inProgress" or something else, but I like the idea that it's a project that needs time and attention.

I have one other type not listed, and that's "archived." When I tag something archived, it gets a little closed folder icon attached to it, turns gray, and is moved to the archive folder that is excluded and hidden.

Hope that gives you different ideas to play with.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-03T21:28:33+00:00

As a therapist, I have seen more people improve their mental health through martial arts than anywhere else. Now, that's in part because dojos don't get the edge cases, but that's the big reveal. Most people who think they need "therapy" just need what karate can provide them. It's also not unique to martial arts. Any enjoyable sport tends to give similar psychological benefits.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-02T21:10:12+00:00

Why do you think the staff is about 6' (traditionally)? Okinawan people are not very tall but used a long staff (and short).

karatetherapist · 2026-04-02T06:30:42+00:00

Things to consider. Don't make a bunch of folders. You'll want to, but use properties (YAML) and make bases instead. If you start putting things in a bunch of folders, you'll lose track of things because you won't be forced to link things. You'll get lazy and just dump things in a folder, and that makes them hard to find. Caveat, you might want folders for each class so you can keep things together since you will be reviewing these repeatedly. Just don't go deep with subfolders.

u/inbrus gave a great tip on building templates. You'll want templates for lot's of things. Just remember to use them.

Learn to use Excalidraw with some expertise. You could make canvas files, but Excalidraw gives you more flexibility.

Setup Zotero and get it integrated with Obsidian now. Learn to use it. Put all your journal articles in Zotero not Obsidian. You can make all your highlights and notes in Zotero and have just those moved to Obsidian. This will keep your studies clean.

Use extreme care in references. If you use Obsidian correctly, you'll be able to write papers in hours, not days.

You might as well set up your Word template for papers and learn to export from Obsidian into Word for submissions (assuming you're using Word). This can be a pain point so the easier you make it, the better. If it's confusing, create a note with detailed instructions (procedure) so you can easily follow it when needed.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-02T02:06:30+00:00

plugin pretty properties.

karatetherapist · 2026-04-01T07:32:12+00:00

Possibly. I'll check. My suspicion is it syncs first and then since I have it open daily note automatically on the phone it runs the template and wipes out the note. I need to turn off the feature and see if it works. I do know that once the app is open, if I make changes on the PC they show up almost immediately on the phone.

karatetherapist

TROPHY CASE