Mastering Details

Image courtesy of spike.com

While attending the Muscle Activation Techniques™ mastery level Advanced Foot Function course this past weekend, a huge emphasis was placed on the details.  Or at least that was how it appeared to me.  How exactly are you applying force?  How exactly are you setting somebody up?  How exactly are you passively stressing them to see how well they move?  How exact are you?

When I attended the course this past September, there were still plenty of details discussed, but it seemed to be less detail-oriented.  I do believe the information was presented differently this past weekend, but I would say most of this focus on the details came from my own ability to better comprehend the bigger picture stuff as well as having a greater understanding what little details to look for that I was wanting and needing to pick up on.

In RTS™ it is said that, "Mastery is in the details," and I think this concept held true throughout this past weekend.  To truly have mastered something you need to know all of the ins and outs of what you do and be able to control for as well as strategically manipulate those variables.  There is also an aspect of being able to reproduce what you do in as much as you are able to appropriately account for all of the little variables time after time.

After having spent the past four and a half months re-viewing the Advanced Foot Function manual every day as well as practicing the skill set multiple times per week, I felt confident in my ability to keep up with what was going to be presented when I went back to the course for this second time.  And while the mechanics discussions felt very comfortable for me, the small details that I was able to pick up on during the practice of the hands-on skill set clearly showed me the flaws in what I was doing before as well as gave me a very good idea as to where to direct my effort and focus with my daily studies.

In RTS™ it is brought up that mastery is not a level to be achieved as much as it is a continual life-long process to go through of questioning and re-evaluating and constantly trying to improve what you do and believe you understand.  With this in mind, it is clear that mastering all of the possible details will not happen over the course of one weekend nor with the additional practice of a few months, but rather to commit yourself to mastering something is to wholly commit yourself for the long haul with the understanding that there are always going to be more details to master.

What skill or information are you trying to master?  How neurotic are you in ensuring that all of the little details are correct each and every time you study, practice, or apply the information?

Inter­ested in find­ing out more? Check out the “Mus­cle Acti­va­tion Tech­niques™” page.

Inter­ested in set­ting up an assess­ment time or dis­cussing this sub­ject fur­ther? E-mail Char­lie at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

Your body.  Your training.

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