What is Muscle Memory? Is it real?

Second question first, "No." Now the first question. I want to answer it by providing a quote from a post made on the "Animal List" by a Mr. Marc MacYoung.

"Muscles do not have brain cells or any other capability that denotes a type, any type, of memory yet there ARE neural networks that course through the body -- this, as well stuff upstairs in your brain pan."

The usage is prevalent through out any physical endeavor but in martial circles it remains a steadfast answer to why someone has to repeat something over, over, over, and over again. It is inadequate and incomplete for the process of making a movement natural, as possible, and instinctive is complex and warrants more than this more simplistic answer.

The brain has what may be called neural pathways/networks where many things encode many things in the brain for retrieval and use by us in our every day lives. Normal, yes.

Encoding is where appropriate, efficient, and applicable training and practice add, adjust, change or modify those pathways or networks to when the mind achieves that state of "action" it actually retrieves the correct stuff and implements it with out conscious thought. A really tuff thing ergo why we practice, practice, practice.

This is also, like telling you about so called muscle memory, a simplistic answer yet it is supposed to inspire you to seek out the entire and complete answer as to why you have to do things a certain way to achieve instinctive action.

It prompted Mr. MacYoung to say, I quote: "I have such a problem with martial artists who claim to have 'mastered' five or six martial art styles in 15 years or so. ... This is somewhat problematic since, like different beers are brewed to go well with certain foods, a style's hand work is pretty specific to how they move their bodies. With someone who actually knows different styles, you can see the change in their body movement like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. With someone who has tacked on extra stuff, it's just them waving their hands around in different ways while their body remains the same."

I do like the way he puts stuff, informative and entertaining!