windwalker wrote:actually it was the old way which is why they kept things secret
in a time when what one knew was thought to matter more then what
some might call natural abilities.One night, he was awakened by the sounds of "Hen" (哼) and "Ha" (哈) in the distance. He got up and traced the sound to an old building. Peeking through the broken wall, he saw his master Chen, Chang-xing teaching the techniques of grasp, control, and emitting jin in coordination with the sounds "Hen" and "Ha."
He was amazed by the techniques and from that time on, unknown to master Chen, he continued to watch this secret practice session every night.
He would then return to his room to ponder and study. Because of this, his martial ability advanced rapidly. One day, Chen ordered him to spar with the other disciples. To his surprise, none of the other students could defeat him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Luchan
I always look at yang's story and think - the techniques can't have been too complex if he could learn by observing and then go off and b train them solo.
Which might explain the need for secrecy - they were not complex and could easily be "stolen" so keep them secret.