What's the difference between 5k and 2k?

[shapenaji]

It's a bit hard to remember the exact thinking that caused the jump, since that realization has since been replaced by others. But I believe it came from responding to invasions, I realized that an invasion could be leveraged against the surrounding positions, something to the effect: "I don't actually need to help my opponent self-destruct, and my assistance might be counterproductive"

[Bill Spight]

Kinda just wondering whether there is something that goes click.

I recall three discontinuities. All involved my making better use of skills I already had.

The first came with a realization that all experienced players have, that my focus was too narrow. So before making a move, I started taking a second or two to look at the whole board, just look. That second or two was worth four stones, from 11 kyu to 7 kyu.

The second came when I was in a ko fight and made a ko threat to kill a group, only to discover that it actually killed the group! How many groups had I neglected to kill? (I can't say how much that insight was worth, but it was part of my advancement from 7 kyu to 4 kyu.)

The third came when I had been a 3 dan for over a year and a half. I was concerned about my slow progress. Then I remembered something that a 5 dan, a former insei who briefly took me under his wing, had told me. I was a shodan and he told me to play as a 2 dan. He said that the difference was really quite small. I had not followed his advice at the time, but I decided to play as a 4 dan, at least in my head, and win more games. In six weeks I had moved up a stone.

There is a Japanese saying, "Call upon your strength and it will come."

[MagicMagor]

IMHO, somewhere in there, the game becomes less about territories and more about strength and weakness.

I second this. I never was a 5kyu, i made a jump from 7k to 4k in around half a year. I can't say that something clicked or so. I was only playing at tournaments at that time for around a year, starting as 7k. Then i came back to a go club and after a game they said "You are not 7k, probably 3k." - Well i settled for 4k and could establish that at tournaments some month afterwards.

What made me jump? I don't know, but in retrospect i can say, that the above statement was also true for me. As a 7k the game was about territories, expanding my own, defending and trying to reduce the opponents territory. As a 4k and to a bigger extent when i became 3k and now 2k its all about strength and weaknesses of my group.
Of course making territory is still important, but making a weak group strong or attacking an opponents weak group became more important.

The third came when I had been a 3 dan for over a year and a half. I was concerned about my slow progress. Then I remembered something that a 5 dan, a former insei who briefly took me under his wing, had told me. I was a shodan and he told me to play as a 2 dan. He said that the difference was really quite small. I had not followed his advice at the time, but I decided to play as a 4 dan, at least in my head, and win more games. In six weeks I had moved up a stone.

I observed something similar with myself. When i was a 4k, the 2k seemed so strong. Their play wasn't that much different than mine (i could see that), but way more efficient. But i learned, in my slow climb from 4k to 2k, that the first step in becoming xK or yD is, loosing the fear of that rank. If you are a 2k and think "1ds are so strong" you will have a hard time defeating them. If however you think "They make mistake like i do, they are just a bit more efficient with each move and probably make less blunder than i do", then you have a better chance of actually seeing their mistakes in the games.

I know that a lot of people, especially weaker (in the DDK-range or even sometimes in the weaker SDK-rang) search for that "special knowledge" the stronger player have. That one go book, or the one theory, that will make "click" and push them up several ranks. That may be possible in the DDK-range, rapid improvement from understanding some key concepts. But in the lower SDK-range and probably also in the dan-range i don't think its possible anymore. Improvement in that space probably comes from being a bit more efficient, reading a little deeper, and making a bit less mistakes.
That doesn't mean, that there isn't any theory left to study. But i think theory alone isn't sufficient in that area anymore. This may also be one reason why improvement becomes so slow, once you reached the lower part of SDK.