We all know the feeling. Doing chi-sau or sparring with someone we know, someone we are confident that we can handle. Relaxed, fluid, elastic... in the WC "zone" and looking great. Then someone superior steps in and starts to pour it on and we immediately tense-up, our skill level plummets and we look like crap.

On another thread, another poster commented on this happening to Kevin in a clip showing him working with his instructor Philipp Bayer. The poster pointed out the Kevin was visibly tense in the clip. Kevin responded:

Of course I was !! Lmao , it's what speed and power suddenly shot at you does. He deliberately does this for demonstration and teaching. Humans ( me included ) overreact to sudden lines of attack.

Good response. As he said, "Humans ...overreact to sudden lines of attack." My question is, can we ever train to the point when we can stay loose, relaxed and fluid enough to apply good WC when we face those "sudden, violent lines of attack", coming from a larger, physically intimidating stranger ...i.e. an assault or mugging on the street. Or must we hope to get by using whatever is left of our skill when we are tense and soaked with adrenalin?