Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast

People often ask why we insist they start with slow practice when everybody knows that *real* violence is fast. One way to answer this is to think about firearms training, especially your first day on the range. If yours was anything like mine, you started with the firearm in a hip holster and a paper target some distance away. The instructor yelled, “FIRE!!!” and you whipped the gun out as fast as you could, looked away from the target and emptied the clip as fast as possible, spraying lead everywhere.

And then you checked and saw that you only put one bullet through the paper–out near the edge.

“Hmmn,” you thought, “Looks like I need more practice.”

So you did it again: whipped it out, looked away, and blew off as many rounds as fast as you could.

Of course, the problem here is that no matter how much of this kind of ‘practice’ you get, you’ll never be able to put a bullet through the bullseye, repeatedly and reliably, every time you want to. Or need to.

With firearms, being precise and correct gets you the desired result–put the bullet through something important and you put the man down. Miss and you get nothing.

Because the principles of violence apply no matter what the tool, we’re stuck with the same truth when it comes to using a knife, or a stick, or bare hands: precise and correct gets you the desired result. Put your boot through something important and you put the man down. Miss and you get nothing.

Slow practice is target practice–it gives you the time to get it done right, as well as the time to be aware of your mistakes so you can correct them, learn from them.

In the end, the person who gets it done right gets to go home. Taking your time with slow practice makes sure that’s you.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Ranck-Buhr is an author and hand-to-hand combat instructor with more than 20 years of experience. He has written training manuals for video products as well as the "TFT Sourcebook" & "How to Survive the Most Critical Five Seconds of Your Life". He is currently writing on topics in hand-to-hand combat and self-defense as well as teaching ongoing classes three times a week, with monthly seminars. For more information, visit http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-ranck-buhr/5b/829/314.

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People often ask why we insist they start with slow practice when everybody knows that *real* violence is fast. One way to answer this is to think about firearms training, especially your first day on the range. If yours was anything like mine, you started with the firearm in a hip holster and a paper target some distance away. The instructor yelled, “FIRE!!!” and you whipped the gun out as fast as you could, looked away from the target and emptied the clip as fast as possible, spraying lead everywhere. And then you checked and saw that you only put one bullet through the paper–out near the edge. “Hmmn,” you thought, “Looks like I need more practice.” So you did it again: whipped it out, looked away, and blew off as many rounds as fast as you could. Of course, the problem here is that no matter how much of this kind of ‘practice’ you get, you’ll never be able to put a bullet through the bullseye, repeatedly and reliably, every time you want to. Or need to. With firearms, being precise and correct gets you the desired result–put the bullet through something important and you put the man down. Miss and you get nothing. Because the principles of violence apply no matter what the tool, we’re stuck with the same truth when it comes to using a knife, or a stick, or bare hands: precise and correct gets you the desired result. Put your boot through something important and you put the man down. Miss and you get nothing. Slow practice is target practice–it gives you the time to get it done right, as well as the time to be aware of your mistakes so you can correct them, learn from them. In the end, the person who gets it done right gets to go home. Taking your time with slow practice makes sure that’s you. _________________________________________ ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chris Ranck-Buhr is an author and hand-to-hand combat instructor with more than 20 years of experience. He has written training manuals for video products as well as the "TFT Sourcebook" & "How to Survive the Most Critical Five Seconds of Your Life". He is currently writing on topics in hand-to-hand combat and self-defense as well as teaching ongoing classes three times a week, with monthly seminars. For more information, visit http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-ranck-buhr/5b/829/314.