Thursday, December 31, 2009

Practicing Perfectly

When I think of practicing perfectly in a general sense, it's much like a martial arts Kata. Katas were developed so that
you could practice the same move, over and over again, focusing completely on the execution of each move as a unit. It's extremely important to practice each piece perfectly, because they allow you to focus on the random, external enemy when the actual battle begins. In the following video of a Kata against a imaginary enemies, (which is animated), each "cut" has several components (foot work, hand position, eye focus, grip when cutting, etc, etc):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcsBNkZJ1-c

The Kata was developed so that each component could be practiced a million times, so that when the actual battle
begins, the practictioner can be completely focused on the enemy, not the technique, so that ANY of the practiced moves can be used, as the opportunity arrives. Practicing slowly at first, focusing on technique... then, increasing speed Once you are up to "performance speed",
you can do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huEWViCKTKo&feature=related

So, first, concentrate on slowly and deliberately on execution of technique, then increase speed, while maintaining proper form.. If you are in a High Performance State when the battle begins, all your skills will be there, when an opportunity presents itself. They'll be no need to "think about it", you'll react instantly with the speed of proper form.

You might design your own "kata" in the Practice Software once you have mastered the individual rules. Set up a series of days, then take all Long trades, start over on the same data and take all short trades, start over again and take all ACTION trades. When you begin, focus on using the proper technique for entry, stop and target. When you go through the exercise again and again, pick up speed, until you have "performance speed." Be sure to practice in a High Performance State. After doing the "kata" several times in perfect form with speed, switch to a new series of data with your new found skills.