Peace

Principle:  Intention: Listen: Steal Step

The most closely guarded teaching in the arts, and Chen's in particular, is footwork.

Sifu always said, "If your position is wrong, blame it on your feet"!

If you want to call it that, blame is the student's inability to maintain a connection between their intention, body, and feet once push-hand action becomes mobile or in a fight. Footwork is the solution to this problem, but it is withheld.

The reasons for this are numerous. The students may not be ready or too arrogant. However, Sifu Chen was different. Early in his instruction, he introduced the "steal step" idea to reinforce stabilization with a quick slide forward of the back foot during a push or strike. Teaching us to steal a step was an act of generosity that masked its deeper meaning.

His deception countered the criticism that he was not teaching enough "real stuff " and challenged his advanced students to find the larger context of stealing a step. He hid clues to this larger vision of stealing in plain sight by teaching the Five Elements.