I used to do kendo, which has a big focus on mushin. > BUT, to get to that point, you need to learn all the proper movements and formations and build muscle me

I used to do kendo, which has a big focus on mushin. > BUT, to get to that point, you need to learn all the proper movements and formations and build muscle memory, which requires a ton of intentional thought and analysis. This is exactly it. You need a lot of practice ("perfect practice makes perfect") to lay a foundation where everything you do can be done well and properly even when done unconsciously. My personal theory is that once you have your fundamentals embedded at an unconscious level, it becomes simpler to enter a flow state (mushin) because there are fewer extraneous thoughts bothering you while you consciously focus on a task -- all of the little pieces of the task are "unconscious" and you don't have to worry about doing them properly, so then you can progress to embedding the next level of fundamentals.