Perfect practice makes perfect

Following on from the last blog on “Learnt practice” I would just like to explain a little bit more.

Have you ever noticed that great fighters don’t always make great coaches and great coaches weren’t always great fighters. This is to do with learning styles and learnt behavior.
We all go through a series of phases as we learn a new skill, as seen below.

Lets break down the jargon (with examples):
Unconscious incompetence is when you don’t know that you cant do a particular task (I didnt realise I was swinging my punches wildly)
Conscious incompetence is when you have a go and you realise you aren’t that good at it (I know I have to keep my chin down but I cant help lifting it up when I throw punches)
Conscious competence comes with practice (I can now throw good strong punches but I have to really concentrate on my balance and co-ordination)
Unconscious competence is when you can do something without thinking about it (I can just pull on a pair of gloves, start thaiboxing and make it look easy)

From my personal experience, I’ll tell you a little story….
The first time I thought of teaching thaiboxing back in York, I had just won my English title in 2002, after only 7-years training at the best gym in the UK (Bad Company) and about 10-trips to Thailand. I was at a point of ‘conscious competence’. I knew how to throw all the techniques of muay thai but I would have to really concentrate to be able to break down the finer points of how you throw the technique. I was advised by my instructor, Richard Smith, that I still wasn’t ready to teach and that I had to spend more time showing newcomers the basics of muay thai until it became second nature.

This was before I went to Thailand in 2005, and then all of a sudden, I was back at the bottom of the ladder again, surrounded by all these Thai legends that frequent Jitti Gym and all the other gyms I trained at in Bangkok. It was after spending another 3-years around these ‘Fighters of Thai folk-lore’ that I was able to gleen a wealth of experience and make this conscious competence, unconscious.
This was all well-and-good for my own performance, but now I am passing this on to my students. I have served my time and cut my teeth, I am now moving back in to Conscious Competence as I need to be able to make a list of the steps to deliver the technique and coach people through it. This is why I generally say that when someone comes to me for personal training, I can generally double someones punch/kick power in about an hour….. The real skill comes in being able to repeat that next time!!!!!