Practice Makes Perfect…or does it?

If I asked you to complete this sentence: “Practice makes….”

What would you say?

Perfect. Right?

WRONG.

The only way you can perfect something by practicing, is if you are practicing that something perfectly.

Let’s make a slight adjustment to that age old saying and call it “Practice makes permanent”.

Now that’s on point.

When you practice something over and over again, you create a habit — a permanent one. Because of the intense repetition it took to develop that habit, it’s now ingrained in your muscle memory regardless of whether or not it was a good habit or a bad one.

For better or for worse, we create new habits everyday. When you practice Salsa, it’s up to you to make the right ones.

So what’s the most common ugly, bad, atrocious permanent habit we see?

We’re glad you asked.

Patrick and Scarlet see newcomers dance Salsa with wild wiggly crazy hips all the time—see 1:19 in the video above ;). Unfortunately, these folks think they’re all stylish and getting that sexy vibe down right. What they’re really doing is creating an awful habit that looks goofy and is going to be a pain in the ass to overcome!

Remember: The only thing harder than learning is unlearning.

So what’s the moral of this story? Before you practice any move, combo or concept repeatedly, make sure you’re practicing the right stuff: The right movement, on the right timing with the right rhythm.

After all, that’s why we created Dance Dojo. To give anyone in the world a chance to learn proper Salsa concepts and techniques so they can create their own good habits.

So next time you practice, send your body the right signals and you’ll be rewarded by looking good and dancing even better.

Now go get your groove on!