In Zhan zhuang nothing but your sole movement,
Upward, downward, leftward, rightward, forward and backward movement.
Rapidly, slowly and perduring movement.
Running, jumping, trampling, rubbing, contraction relaxation movement.
Expanding, pronating, sliding, filing and peeling off bone movement,
Hand and foot are combining in stretching tendons movement,
Pulling powerfully as body unified movement,
Amazing springs, hooking pulling: mental kinetics move
Reference:
Zhan zhuang and the Search of Wu
by Yu Yong Nian
p. 210
This ‘poetic’ listing YiQuan’s stepping, mo-ca-bu, is somewhat too clever as an explanation. It could be more terse and direct to say, begin by standing, allow the standing to progress to find its’ own stability, zhan zhuang, …and to be aware of the supporting foots’ adjustment. The stepping is no more than the shifting advance of the standing. Three of my teachers all had a more succinct teaching via the query: ‘what part of your foot are you standing on?, and then stepping on?’ Answer, ‘all of it’. Variously.