The things Grandmaster mentions about being in the now reminds me of what I learned from my Wing Chun Sifu Greg LeBlanc.  The awareness needs to be trained so that you are not reacting to something that is already in the past (whatever your conscious mind can detect with your eyes about what the other person is doing) or that is only in your mind (your expectations based on your experience).  You need to train to be fully present.  Everything your mind is telling you is old news.