your legs or under arms grow long enough to braid it if you did not shave it? the life cycle of my hair is about 3 years. at the end of the 3 years, the hair goes through the "resting" stages that are known in the industry. i did not want to include this type of technical information in my book because you can get this stuff anywhere. my book is not a technical book but an easy to read method that can be followed to success! as far as your hair growing down your back in 1 year - the average growth rate is 6" per year. some people 