They also use this saying in the Army, although this is the compressed form. The full saying we used was “Slow is steady, steady is smooth, smooth is fast.”
For more context (from the Army perspective), this comes up most heavily in weapon drills and squad movement, particularly where combined: clearing houses; getting out of trucks while under fire; getting out of helicopters while under fire; carrying casualties. The idea is that we need to be able to do several complex tasks at once:
Move with the group in a coordinated fashion, often across difficult terrain
Keep weapons ready, which includes both presenting a threat to the direction you are responsible for and being mindful of safety
Recognize and communicate relevant information (like threats or likely locations for threats)
Any other assigned task (like carrying casualties or equipment)
All of this needs to keep happening under conditions of sensory bombardment and high stress
The Army particularly stresses getting the first and second down to “muscle memory”, which I put in quotes because they use the phrase for anything that needs to be automatic, even non-physical tasks.
They also use this saying in the Army, although this is the compressed form. The full saying we used was “Slow is steady, steady is smooth, smooth is fast.”
For more context (from the Army perspective), this comes up most heavily in weapon drills and squad movement, particularly where combined: clearing houses; getting out of trucks while under fire; getting out of helicopters while under fire; carrying casualties. The idea is that we need to be able to do several complex tasks at once:
Move with the group in a coordinated fashion, often across difficult terrain
Keep weapons ready, which includes both presenting a threat to the direction you are responsible for and being mindful of safety
Recognize and communicate relevant information (like threats or likely locations for threats)
Any other assigned task (like carrying casualties or equipment)
All of this needs to keep happening under conditions of sensory bombardment and high stress
The Army particularly stresses getting the first and second down to “muscle memory”, which I put in quotes because they use the phrase for anything that needs to be automatic, even non-physical tasks.