Slow is smooth, smooth is fast

A great friend of mine recently gave me the book ‘The Last Punisher’ to read (get it and read it when you get a chance, is an excellent book). It is based on some work that the author did in Ramadi with The Legend prior to working on the film about The Legend. If you have no idea whom I am referring to you might also want to read American Sniper, or in most of all y’all’s case watch the movie. Anyways, in the book he keeps referring to the mantra ‘Slow is smooth, smooth is fast’ and I guess that is what this weeks collection of words in disparate order is about.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast is of particular import to operators as it is drilled into them for a reason, you don’t rush into a possible engagement without checking all around you and being cognizant of all the variables of the environment you are in. My mother used to believe that using the slow lane when driving into Auckland from our old house in Manukau was the quickest way to get into town as the slow lane was constantly moving, slowly and smoothly (presuming that the other drivers understood what ‘Merge into Traffic’ means) whereas in the fast line people were jerking forward, slamming on brakes, then jerking off again J

It’s all about technique.

As some of all y’all know I finished a triathlon in September. Part of doing a triathlon is swimming; it is actually the first part before the bike and run bit. Swimming is all about technique, having arms spinning like a windmill in the water won’t make you go any faster. You need to catch the water cleanly then pull through with a smooth fluid stroke. Swimming is all about smooth being fast, or in my case swimming is all about not drowning and hoping to beat that piece of driftwood to the finish line. Working on your technique is incredibly important for you to get the job done to everyone’s satisfaction, just pounding away like a crazy person is not going to get you (or her, or them) to the finish line quickly. It is however, likely to mess up your back.

Slow is smooth.

Everyone knows the story of the young bull and old bull standing on the hilltop looking down at the cows in the paddock below. The young bull says, “Let’s run down the hill and fuck a cow”. The old bull replies, based on his years of wisdom in life and years of working on his technique “No, let’s walk down the hill and fuck them all”. This story is a lot like the parable of the Tortoise and the Hare but much more relatable as the Hare is a dick. Slow is smooth is not just in relation to physical activity but also in the decision making process.

Smooth is fast.

This isn’t about how sexy my shaved legs were when I did the triathlon – I mean how could it be. They might have been smooth but they definitely weren’t fast. No, this is about how being smooth means you can be fast (possibly referring to other shaved parts of the body). Smooth also connotes measured (speaking of other shaved parts of the body ) and consistency, so basically smooth is exactly what I am not when I am talking to an attractive female and fast is the speed at which they depart my general proximity.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Despite all the stupidity in the preceding jumble of letters it is time to get to what I used to think of as the Cosby part of the story but now need to refer to at the morale of the story. The people that most use the phrase are operators (not the telephony ones), people that exist on a different level to most humans, however this seemingly simplistic statement is hiding the complexity of what it means. Smoothness comes from years of training, whether it be swimming, listening to a customer, driving in traffic, hitting a golf ball or handling a weapon. Once you have that training you can use that smoothness to be fast or good as the case may be. Once actions are second nature to you then you can be fast with them without reducing the efficacy of those actions. Once you know your product, know your training, know your stroke then you can use it more effectively and in some cases that can be the difference between life and death or getting invited on a second date J

As usual this weeks posting was only researched accidentally because I read a book (well had my kids read it to me) and any perceived knowledge of anything at all about anything at all is inherently false. Use of any big and fancy words was purely by mistake and I probably need to delete my Thesaurus app. For those who read these posts on a regular basis (Hi Mum) yes my leg still hurts and for those of you who have not experienced a torn hamstring before I would highly recommend warming up properly before any strenuous exercise and not getting old and thinking you are still young – I will absolutely positively ignore that previous advice personally but then again I am not right J

Work hard, play hard and earn your inspiration

Happy Poets Day