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Watching a guy break down a whole hog at the Iowa State Fair finally made the primal cuts click for me.
He used a 6-inch boning knife and a saw, and his hands moved so fast I had to ask him to slow it down after the third rib section.
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patricia_singh812mo ago
That speed comes from muscle memory, not just skill. His brain isn't thinking about each cut anymore, his hands just know. It's like watching a machine that's been programmed by doing it a thousand times. The real trick is keeping that pace without wasting meat or nicking bone. Most people focus on the knife work, but the real art is in the economy of movement. He probably doesn't even look at the blade half the time.
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adam_young312mo ago
Read that's how surgeons train too.
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emma_burns9610d ago
That bit about "his hands just know" really hits home. It's crazy how much of what we do every day is just running on autopilot like that. I see it at the gym with guys who've been lifting for years, they can spot a form issue from across the room without even thinking. It's the same with cooking, driving a familiar route, even typing on a phone keyboard. Your brain builds these shortcuts for things you've done a hundred times, and suddenly you're moving faster than you can consciously track.
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