Practice a few things many times or many things a few times

Regardless of what it is, if you're trying to teach/learn something new, would you rather practice one thing over and over until you've nearly nailed it, before practicing the next thing, or practice a sequence of things fewer times but with more variety?

 

What if each step in the sequence is itself a sequence? Although like in your driving analogy, that sub-sequence will eventually meld into a single action.

Like in driving, with clutch down and first gear engaged, and all obs and signals covered, increasing throttle, releasing clutch, balance it up, release smoothly, clutch down, drop throttle, second gear...

It's a sequence of pulling away but in time it becomes like one fluid technique. Yet it's quite distinctly a seperate technique to, say, the emergency stop, which it's self is a sequence that is performed as a single fluid action.

What I'm wondering, sticking with the driving analogy, is is it best to nail the pull away before nailing the emergency stop, or would it be better to practice both from the outset?

I'm not teaching wife to drive by the way. That would be marital suicide. I'm trying to get her ready for her next test at martial arts. She has a set of 15 techniques to demonstrate. In one of them for example, where I actually as a thug that's trying to drag her by the wrist, the single technique can be broken down to flick restrained wrist 180, grab attacker's thumb with free hand, rotate til grip is loosened, free restrained hand, push attackers now bent hand to the floor forcing attacker to choose between wrist dislocation or fall to relieve pressure, escape.

There are 15 different ways that she must break me when I attack. Then she has to demonstrate them. On the day, I won't be acting the role of assailant. Somebody else will. We have no choice over who it will be. She has to make it work whether she gets someone that yields at the first hint of action, or one of our resident human tanks who won't even feel anything happening unless the technique is done right.