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A BJJ Class Summary Template (Copy, Paste, and Actually Use It)

June 10, 2026 · 3 min read

If you've decided to start taking notes after jiu-jitsu, the hardest part is knowing what to write. Too little and the notes are useless a month later. Too much and you quit after a week. This is a template that hits the sweet spot — enough structure to be useful, short enough that you'll actually keep doing it.

Copy it into your notes app and use it tonight.

The template

Date / class type:
Techniques covered:
Key detail (the thing that made it work):
Rolling — what worked:
Rolling — what got me:
Training partners:
Mood / energy (1–5):
Tonight's mission for next class:

That's the whole thing. Eight lines, under two minutes. Below is what each field is actually for — because a template you understand is a template you'll keep using.

What each field is for

Date / class type

Obvious but important. "Gi · fundamentals" vs "no-gi · open mat" matters when you look back and notice all your progress came from one type of class.

Techniques covered

Name them in your own words — "knee cut", "kimura from side control". Don't worry about official terminology. The goal is recognition later, not a textbook.

Key detail

The single most valuable line in the whole template. Every technique has one small key — a grip, an angle, a moment of timing — that makes it work. Capture that, not the entire step-by-step. "Don't slide until the far underhook is dead." This is what you'll forget first and need most.

Rolling — what worked

A quick win or two. "Finally kept top position after the sweep." This is your progress log, and on bad weeks it's the thing that keeps you showing up.

Rolling — what got me

The most useful field for actually improving. Be honest and specific: "tapped twice by the same collar choke from mount." Patterns here become your training priorities. If the same leak shows up three weeks running, that's your homework.

Training partners

Optional, but handy. Over time it tells you who pushes you, and it's a nice record of the community side of training.

Mood / energy (1–5)

A single number. It feels trivial, but over months it surfaces patterns — which classes light you up, when you're heading for burnout, how sleep and stress show up on the mat.

Tonight's mission for next class

End every entry pointing forward. One small, specific thing to attempt next time: "hit one sweep from closed guard, even if it fails." This turns your next session from random rolling into deliberate practice.

How to actually review it

A template is only half the value. The notes pay off when you read them back:

• Weekly: skim the last week and find one recurring "what got me." That's your focus.
• Monthly: read back four weeks. Look for leaks (what keeps beating you) and wins (progress you'd forgotten).
• Before a competition: re-read your strong positions and your problem positions so you walk in knowing your own game on paper.

When writing feels like too much

The honest reason most people abandon a notes habit: after a hard session, sitting down to type is the last thing you want to do.

If that's you, talk instead of type. A 30-second voice memo in the car captures every field above with zero friction — "gi fundamentals, knee cut, key was killing the underhook, got caught in a collar choke twice, next time keep my elbow tight." BJJ Partner was built around exactly this: record the memo, and it fills in the template for you — techniques, partners, a bullet summary, and a suggested focus — automatically. The structure happens whether or not you feel like writing.

However you capture it, the principle is the same: a little structure, kept consistently, turns your training from a blur into a record you can actually learn from.