Carving a Karate Burger.

Take a block of wood and carve it piece by piece until it resembles the desired form, turn it this way and that, plain the angles to smoothness.
Add the finishing touches and you have a work of art that is built around aspects of geometry and even physics.
Perhaps it resembles the desired shape, perhaps not, after a time it will take on a character all its' own without a care for the visual direction of the sculpter.

Once it is done you do not think about the task, you think more of the finished product, a boat, or a human statue, or something else.
I have carved bokken out of sticks I've found while hiking and there is a transcendental aspect to the work involved. You become so involved, so intwined with the activity that it all seems to meld together. When all is said and done, if performed correctly, the fundamentals are in place to a degree that one no longer thinks about them, their function serves the purpose, all there is at that point is the Bokken, or statue, as a whole.

'Correctness' is not a standard determined by man, it is a function determined by nature, without a proper understanding of this things would fall apart. It is the same with buildings, cars, even bicycles.
In order to understand these things it is necessary to take on a process of inquiry, an act of actually doing, experiencing, to such a degree that it no longer becomes a part of normal 'conscious' activity.
There will always be mistakes, this is a part of nature as well, for the fleeting notion of perfection really has no place in the grand mess.

I have always liked the saying, 'sloppy food is good food,' mainly because I have found it to be true, at least for me.
Don't get me wrong, I like presentation, I understand that is a huge part of the Culinary World, but presentation only goes so far, if my food doesn't taste good, but looks nice, then something 'functional' is missing.
That's art, however, placing the form over the function, it becomes real art when form and function work hand-in-hand, complimentary forces that add to the experience as a whole.
A juicy Hamburger can look good when presented, and taste better when you bite into it, get that rush of flavor, the lettuce, the meat, the tomato, as it seems to melt in your mouth and fall apart in your hands (I know there is a huge trend for vegetarianism for some folks, but I just can't live without my burgers and bacon, sorry, Grandfather was German and that is how I grew up, lots of sausages, brautworst, and steak).

It is the same in training, you have to start somewhere and at some point form and function must compliment each other.
It may look nothing like we see in Tournaments, it will definitely look nothing like we see on TV, in all actuality one should definitely strive for better performance, but based on deeper understanding of the underlying fundamentals.
Angle it around like the wood, let the juicy flavor into each and every technique by way of the principles at work - let function determine form, and form gives richness to function.
When I say richness, I do not necessarily mean face value, or asthetics, there is something to be said about a punch that cracks the Makiwara each time rather than landing with a 'thud.'
Though the heavy-bag may not move around much with each hit, the principle is not to push the heavy bag, unless you are working on pushing principles, no, and to understand the difference is the reason for training, to ingrain the proper fundamentals is the reason for repetition and questioning.

These are things that were often ignored when training for Tournaments back in the day, the understanding of the different principles were rather fundamental, but as long as things 'looked' good then you were sure to earn points.
Sparring seldom touched upon this either, being almost an entirely different sort of art itself, though it does have its' value in certain respects, change it up a little and it can provide great lessons in these areas, again, adding to the richness THROUGH functionality.
Just like the burger, things will get sloppy, and understanding the fundamentals to a point where they are deeply ingrained means that, though it may not look pretty once you bite into it, the fundamentals will still explode all the savory juiciness upon the proper context.

At some point the notion of 'technique' must be looked at very closely, scrutinized, then dropped in favor of something a little simpler, a little more direct. I have the Army's Manual for Hand-to-Hand Combat, along with the SAS Survival Manual, both of which I study regularly.
The context upon which they are built is technical, but at the same time it is not concrete, principles take precedence, otherwise you cannot function if you are thinking about propriety, you don't have time to think about those things in the moment.
Maybe a little more time when you're building a trap with twigs to catch supper, but not much, as daylight is a precious commodity. Combat allows no time at all. Like the good Hamburger, though Complexity might appear sound, it will fall apart when the heat is on.
Simple things fall apart as well, but not to such a great degree. Instead of thinking, I will punch him in X when he does Y, that is thinking like a Martial Artist, that is fine, it is a good mental exercise in the Gym or Dojo, but when you enter the jungle you want to think 'Break his nose,' and don't wait for permission, don't wait for the punch to which you need to respond.
Action is faster than Reaction.