The Importance of Slow Practice

I know I haven't written anything for a while; having ideas about what to write isn't always a regular thing, so apologies for the wait.

Two weeks ago now, we did something in training which I found extremely useful: practicing slowly. It sounds like an ovbious straightforward thing but there's a difference between doing Karate slowly and doing it 'not fast'. I think that a lot of the time in training and my own practice when I was meant to or intending  to do something slowly, I actually just did it 'not fast' . Slow practice requires looking at one's technique in detail, a higher level of control and therefore a higher level of concerntration and I don't think I'd appreciated those things.

Without those things, I doubt if one can get much out of slow practice, and it can't be defined as practice if no progress is made. Also without those things, it's impossible to understand the 'essence' of slow practice, so it just becomes doing it the opposite of fast: 'not fast'. So is slow practice as staightforward as it sounds?

The fact that slow practice requires a higher level of concerntration and mental discipline was particularly useful for me. I've been training for a while now, techniques have become second nature therefore  my mental discipline and concerntration have detiriorated slightly- and what's the use of being a karateka with good technique and the wrong mindset? Because the mind controls the body, not the other way round. Slow practice is getting me used to controlling my body with my mind again and I think, because of the greater level of concerntration required, my mental discipline and concerntration will end up better than before.

Concerntration seems to be the center of slow practice, inconsistent speed is as a result of a lapse in concerntration. As is inconsistent muscle control(also needed more for slower practice) and inconsistent attention to detail. If one loses concerntraion, it shows in the technique. Because of slow practice's demanding nature, it's also useful for developing a strong spirit: not often associated with slow practice. Full-speed practice is, of course, important because the karateka is physically challenged,so develops good fitness and character among other things, but do we need to,alongside that, develop ourselves as karateka in a different manner?