by Chris McKinley on Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:12 am
It's good to practice very quickly on occasion to test the motor unit synchrony. However, moving at full speed will (not can) erode this synchrony, and can do so even within the course of a single training session. If your technique isn't already at 100% of where you want it to ultimately be, slow-to-medium speed training should be the mainstay of your practice, even if you are years into it. In fact, the slower you can practice, the faster your technique's precision will improve. Precision is mostly about the orchestrated firing of motor units. Slower training allows for more neuromotor activations per unit of time, resulting in both increased myelination of the motor nerves and stronger patterning of the engrams which represent that movement in the motor cortex of the brain. It also allows for greater synaptic associations of that engram with other stimuli, including proprioceptive feedback, with a much greater volume of that feedback per unit of time and per movement. This results in a far cleaner signal overall with a higher degree of unconscious correction of technique in real time from proprioceptive feedback.
It's much like comparing the early days of CD's to CD's produced now. In the early days, 16-bit sampling left a lot of music sounding 'digital' and lifeless to the ears of audiophiles. Gradually, as the sampling rates went up dramatically, the sound quality improved equally dramatically. You could also compare the phenomenon to the difference between a low-res and a high-res photograph in quality. Even if they are both photos of the same thing, the high-res picture will offer a clarity and precision that the low-res one can't, no matter how much you tweak it in Photoshop. For quality, it's always better to have at least a little more resolution than you actually need.
The same is true of combat skill coordination. In a real assault, the adrenal response will take an automatic cut off the top of your neuromuscular coordination unavoidably. If you have a significant surplus of it by ingraining the pattern through slower training, you will have a higher level of reserve after the adrenal dump. It really is that simple ultimately.
Fast training is fun, and the coupling of neuromuscular coordination with fast-twitch firing and also with endurance is something that must be done occasionally. However, maintaining that coupling is like keeping a fine edge on an already sharpened blade. Run it across the whet stone a couple of times a month and it will stay shaving sharp forever.