I'll go with what G95Camp said. Our Hanshi says the goal is to be able to react without thinking. You get to the point where things come natural too you much like walking. Hanshi uses an analogy about driving your car. Do you think about putting the key in the door to unlock it? Now sit down and place the key in the ignition.... You get the idea. You just do it now, but as a beginner you may have thought out each one of these things. Some students in class who have been training for a while sometimes question weather they would be ready in a real life confrontation. Hanshi tells them that when the time comes they'll be ready and react to the situation at hand. Other things come into play here as well, confidence, attitude and the level at which you train are only a couple.