More Effective Practice

Charles James, over at Okinawan Fighting Art: Isshin Ryu, had a very good post on what constitutes effective practice.

An excerpt is below. The full post may be read here.

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As with all things of this universe that includes practice there are fundamental principles that give that discipline, in this case the discipline of practice, it substance resulting in mastery. This is what every practitioner and devotee of such disciplines strive for even if on a subconscious level. What follows is a simplistic description of the principles needed to practice, practice, and practice to receive the benefits toward mastery. 

The notes references can be viewed here, “How to Practice Effectively …” https://youtu.be/f2O6mQkFiiw

• It is not just repetitive practice, it is more.
• It is about programming and creating changes in the brain along with the creation of a mind-state and mind-set of practice.
• Repetitive motions alone are not enough.
• Practice is not about large amounts of hours spent doing the repetitions alone. 
• Practice must be about repetitions of a quality and effective consistent focused intent. 
• Practice is about a type of challenge to our current abilities. 
• Practice must be an effective form of practice or its just dancing around with only fitness and health as benefit. 
• You practice by diligently focusing on the task at hand; minimize any distractions; start slow and gradually increase “Correct” practices.
• Practice is also about building coordination of correct repetitive movement.
• Avoid long singular daily sessions of great intensity, use frequent practice sessions with allotted breaks spanning the entire day. Like proper eating habits, it is more productive and effective if fed to you over time, several times a day, etc., i.e., eating small meals throughout the day is healthier. 
• Practice includes spending time on things related to the discipline you wish to master. 
• Supplement practice outside of normal practice through visual-imagery once you have established the motion or movement correctly and effectively. Visual-imagery, a form of visualization, is also a form of self-hypnosis where the brain can achieve improvements, etc., of established motions and movements at the same rates as actual hands-on practices. 

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