Good martial ability is about successful, effective, healthy living - including dealing with confrontation and potential harm. The literate Martial Arts Theorist has little hope to succeed in major confrontation. You can succeed by full-on letting go (mentally) of the technicalities. A calm mind fosters strategy. Lots of drills (including subtle ones) can wire in good responses (so you find the targets), but ultimately you must 'integrate with reality' (not your imagination), 'turn animal', 'exceed the opponent' (not your fantasies) or just plain dominate (in the most general sense).
This part of your development in martial arts represents a profound change. Instead of dedication to practice technique repetitively, you start to really enjoy each repetition - no two actions are ever quite the same. This is when you sometimes find that you don't know how you did something - it just happened. This isn't mystical or self-deception, it's when you have stopped doing your martial art, and have started to become one with it.
Enjoy.
Sometimes, trying too hard, or wanting it too much, works against this development.
What you really know will come out. Make sure of it. Train hard, train smart!