Spurts...

It's funny how things don't progress evenly.

By logic, they should. If one trains in something for a while, you'd think that every week along the way the improvement would be steady.

It never is.

Take Karate. Students struggle along learning the five Heian Katas and Tekki Shodan for several years. They slowly get better, but are rarely content with their skill. Finally, they pass to their Brown Belts and get beyond the Heian/Tekki grind. Universally, they report a significant improvement in their ability at doing the Heians and Tekki almost immediately.

Soon they not only do those Katas better, but are able to teach them to others.

A similar thing happens at Black Belt.

I think I'm about to experience the same phenomenon in Jiu-Jitsu. I've been plodding along trying to gain tiny improvements in my technique.

As I complete each section of my test, I find I somehow relax about it and am able to perform it better than before. I can also see the mistakes others are making in those same movements.

I can't claim to understand why this happens, but I am quite convinced that it does.

Not that it works that way in Math or French after an exam.....