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In all fields this is a middle period before true mastery. Eventually the pupil will respond automatically to these threats and the confidence will return. The fight actually seems to slow down as well. And again, this isn't just in martial arts and athletics.

You say this came from an essay on Zen. I haven't read it, but I will defend the western Aristotelian ideal of mastering the practical knowledge, the "knowledge how" of any activity, including the universal activity of living virtuously, over Zen.