His responses become automatic

“His responses become automatic”

Lee, Bruce. Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Black Belt Communications, 2011, loc. 25.

There is a place where the automatic response, determined beforehand, can indeed be the very thing which saves your life. Perhaps Lee would call this simply being in the moment, and dispensing with style. However, by his own aversion to thinking about response, he would be unable to (and quite possibly uninterested in) recognize the reaction as an automatic response. The automatic response, however is not some formulaic recitation of meaningless movements, but rather the best response given the situation presented. All of this serving to shortcut the OODA, and gain initiative.