Stages of Learning - and Muscle Memory

Skill as opposed to Knowledge has four stages of progress

1. Unconscious Incompetence

Lets the example of learning how to ride a bicycle. Before we start we see other people riding and we think it should be easy. Or that it should not be so tough. At that point we dont yet know that we dont know. hence we are "unconscious" about our "incompetence"

2. Conscious Incompetence

We sit on the bike, push the pedal, and THUD! We are on the ground.. elbows and knees bruised and scraped, a little bleeding from the arms and the bike on us. Suddenly it sinks in that "Hey, it is not THAT easy". This stage is when we become "conscious" of our "incompetence"

3. Conscious Competence

Many more days of bruised arms, hurting back and irritation, and you can finally just about balance urself on the bike. But you have to concentrate hard, look straight on the road, and clutch the handle bars hard. Can you let go of the handle bars ? or look at the pretty fields on your left or right ? NO! else there will be a big THUD! again. You are "competent" but its very "conscious"

4. Unconscious Competence

A couple of months into it, and now your hold on the handlebars is much lighter. You can look to your left and right, talk to a companion and maybe even ride the bike without holding the hande bars.. Then you decide to go to work or school on your bike. The bike ride now gets reduced to merely a "mode of transportation" while earlier on while learning it used to be an "event of the day" - "7am to 8 am - learn bicycle". You are now at a stage where suddenly you have become "unconscious" about you "competence". You dont need to think before doing something, and you dont even know that u r good at it

This is what a lot of people also term as "Muscle memory" - It could be as simple as getting adjusted to a new mobile phone - where the buttons mean different things, or riding a bike, or even Learning SALSA.
It takes a while for the muscles in your body to get used to the action to be performed, but once it does, there is no delay in performing the action - once the brain sends the signal to perform it

Many ppl say that once your muscle memory is really good, your brain is bypassed - its not really true. Every signal is sent to the brain, but its just that your body has got so adjusted to the action that it doesnt take time for the muscle to respond and perform the action with ease and skill

All "unconscious incompetence" and "musle memory" is related to only factor - PRACTICE. Practice practice practice..thats the only way.... 10 years into dancing i still feel i havent got enough practice

love
anand

i have found that on days i practice my dancing (other than class) just otherwise at home or elsewhere, i feel better, i am in a better mood and my day goes better