Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast

Bruce Lee has many famous quotes, but my favorite is, “I fear not the man who practiced 10,000 kicks, but I fear the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

The implication seems simple enough; take the time to master the basics and you will develop speed, strength and accuracy. We equate speed with martial arts mastery, but there’s a lot more to hitting the mark than quickness.

Hey, let’s talk physics…

Speed: A scalar quantity that refers to how fast an object is moving. Scalar means we can measure the rate of a given object through space.

Velocity: A vector quantity that refers to "the rate at which an object changes its position." Vector has to do with magnitude and direction.

The speed of an object is basically the measure of time it takes for that object to go from one point to another. Hence, a fast moving object has a high rate of speed and will cover a large distance in short amount of time. A slow moving object has low speed. It covers a relatively small distance in the same amount of time.

Velocity has to do with changing direction. So, if a fighter wants to maximize is or her velocity, they have to maximize the amount they are displaced from their original position which in turn, impacts speed.

Does your head hurt yet?

Let’s make it simple. When facing an opponent, you have to consider the distance between him and you (speed) and the direction you take in your attack or counter-attack (velocity).

Wether you practice karate, kendo, BJJ or boxing, you need to understand the “line of attack.” When you face an opponent, you must consider distance (in Japanese, mai ai), terrain, the weapons used and body position. And while all of these aspects are important, the thing that we have the most control over is centeredness. If I am able to remain calm in a tense situation, I will have a much better chance of getting through it, especially if I have taken the time to develop the physical skills to do so.

In my brief study of judo, I frequently heard the phrase, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” Like a lot things, I didn’t really understand it until I got older. Probably because I was trying to move too fast.

Masters become masters of a given art or skill because they have taken the time to put in the reps. They have practiced the same, boring, monotonous drills over and over again, allowing their nerves and muscles to formulate patterns until those patterns become natural, like walking.

Nobody slides out of the womb and walks out of the delivery room. It takes our brains, bones, nerves and muscles a lot of time to develop the skill to ambulate. In the process, we fall down a lot. Learning any martial art is the same process.

It is very difficult to get people to see that things like speed, accuracy and centeredness take a lifetime of practice. I can honestly say that I have sustained a lot more injuries working with beginners than people who have trained for a while. That’s because the novice student has not had the time to develop the physical skills and the calm that eventually dictates behavior.

People often go too fast because they lack calm and centeredness born out of doing the reps. It's that simple. If you want to get faster, slow down.

One more thing to think about…muscular speed is finite. Yet, I’m sure you have had a coach or martial arts teacher well advanced in years who seemed to be able to hit the mark effortlessly every time. How is that possible?

Repetition + discipline + consistency = centeredness and accuracy resulting in speed. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Dave Magliano

Tatsu Dojo

Jissenkan Budo

Dojo Cho