Dong Haichuan was known to have only accepted Baguazhang students who were already skilled in some other style of martial art. It is said that after laying a Bagua foundation with the circle walk practice, single palm change, double palm change, and smooth changing palm, Dong would teach the student Baguazhang based on what the student already knew. Taking this information to be true, we can assume that Dong would have taught Cheng using Cheng's knowledge of "shuai chiao" as a base.