The Way is in training. Experience and study of lessons from the past - from masters of BuDo/BushiDo - teach us that the only secret in the attainment of technical proficiency in combat is training. This is affirmed by great warriors of old such as Miyamoto Musashi and reaffirmed by other great warriors of the 20th century such as Mas Oyama (Kyukoshinkai karate), Masahiko Kimura (Kodokan Judo). Oyama once said that "all selfish desires should be roasted in the fires of hard training... that the essence of martial arts can only be realized through experience... that a warrior should never fear its demands". Kimura was noted to have trained as hard as Oyama and both warriors excelled in the martial path they each followed. They fought as hard as they trained. This is the actualization of combat and not just the conceptualization of it.
The point is Zen. Nothingness. Through repeatitive hard training the warrior absorbs the essence of techniques. There is no accumulation of concepts - rather, there is the sweeping away of unnecessary thoughts. No mindedness - the mind as "No Mind". The warrior does not stall to think what technique is applicable. It simply happens. A warrior fights the way he trains. As I would fondly recall... This is exactly why Kinjho Sensei use to shout at us during shiai randori... "Don't stop!!! Just go!!! Keep going!!! Don't think!!! Just go!!!" ...And so randori went over and over for hours... At times, we end up bloodied and broken... but not in spirit. And the next time we encounter... it simply happens... the way we trained... the way we fought... the way we saw it happen in our mind during meditation. If the warrior thinks of a concept in a life and death situation, he stalls, and the blade cuts and he drops his head. The beauty of actual combat is in its outcome - surviving the fight - achieving the demise of your opponent. There is no beauty in concepts alone. Pure beauty of the martial arts is in the outcome of the encounter. Compare Martial Arts to a bonsai - constantly take away that which is unnecessary. Until the warrior attains the state of "No Mind" and becomes one with all that is around him he cannot experience the Zen of Combat. Train hard in training... Fight hard in actual combat. There is no time to think. As a samurai puts it - "one moment one movement decides whether you live or die. There is no time to waste..."
Train hard, never say die. Just do it!