Clarifying the Law of Compounding Errors from a Martial Arts Perspective

I’ve worked for years to articulate a pattern I’ve seen over and over again—not just in martial arts, but in life: small, uncorrected errors don’t stay small. They ripple, they warp, and eventually, they bring the whole system down.

I’ve often referred to this pattern as The Law of Compounding Errors, and while I’m not claiming to have invented the phrase, I’ve worked to clarify its definition and framework so my students can understand why foundational integrity matters so deeply.

In Wing Chun, we have a saying that echoes this idea:

“If you do not work hard when you are young, you will have nothing when you are old.”

At first glance, it’s a warning against laziness. But beneath that is a deeper truth: early neglect becomes late failure. In martial arts, laziness always results in poor technique. And poor technique doesn’t stay contained—it spreads like a crack through the system.

If your stance is wrong, your punch will be wrong.
If your punch is wrong, your timing, distance, and energy will be wrong.
Eventually, nothing works the way it should.

An elderly Wing Chun master teaches a young boy in front of a wooden dummy at sunset, illustrating the proverb: "If you do not work hard when you are young, you will have nothing when you are old."

Discipline built young becomes strength in age—Wing Chun wisdom in practice.

That’s the Law of Compounding Errors in action.

I’ve found that giving this pattern a name; and showing how it applies beyond martial arts, helps my students grasp why the fundamentals matter so much. We don’t correct the stance to “make it look better.” We correct it because every unaddressed flaw becomes the seed of future dysfunction.

The Core Principle

The Law of Compounding Errors
Every uncorrected error or falsehood—whether by misjudgment, omission, or deception—requires additional distortions to preserve itself. These layered distortions weaken clarity, trust, and structure, until the entire system collapses under the weight of its accumulated error.

Most systems; whether interpersonal, mechanical, organizational, or societal, do not collapse all at once. Collapse is almost always the result of layer upon layer of unresolved problems: miscalculations, overlooked flaws, convenient lies, or quiet omissions. These accumulate until the system, or relationship, can no longer carry the weight.

What makes this even more dangerous is that the original errors often occur at the foundational level, the layer every decision afterward is built upon. Each “correction” attempts to stabilize something that’s already off, and so every fix adds a little more distortion to the truth.

Eventually, the system fails. Not because of one dramatic mistake, but because of all the quiet compromises made to avoid fixing the first one.

Example 1: The Pebble in the Shoe

A traveler feels a pebble in his shoe. Rather than stop and remove it, he accepts it as part of the journey.

Over time, the pebble causes discomfort, then pain, then damage. He begins favoring the other leg. That leg now bears extra weight. The spine adjusts. The gait shifts. The muscles compensate. His balance erodes.

Eventually, the traveler collapses, not because of the pebble, but because of everything his body did to cope with it.

This is the Law of Compounding Errors: a small issue, ignored, grows into a total system failure.

Example 2: A Friendship’s Slow Collapse

Friend A is present when someone spreads a false and damaging story about Friend B. A knows it’s wrong, but says nothing. This is the first deviation: omission for the sake of convenience.

Later, B hears of the falsehood and suspects A’s involvement. But B trusts A. B assumes A would never stay silent. This is the second mistake: projection over clarity.

When B confronts A, the interaction follows a familiar pattern:

Denial.
Minimization.
Partial admission.
Blame-shifting.
Inversion of guilt.

A never takes full responsibility. B, carrying the weight of betrayal, walks away quietly. A, unable to face the consequences, starts believing they are the one who’s been wronged.

This isn’t a misunderstanding, it’s the structural collapse of relational integrity, all built on a silence that was never corrected.

Example 3: The Cabinet That Failed

A cabinet stile that is supposed to be exactly 2 inches wide. But it’s cut slightly wrong—2 1/16″ at the top and 1 15/16″ at the bottom. Just a 1/16″ deviation each way.

Instead of scrapping the piece, the woodworker adjusts the angle of the rails to match. The joint is now slightly off-square. The installer notices but covers it with shims and filler. The homeowner, an artist, sees the flaw—but calls it “character.”

A year later, the joint fails.

Now:

The artist blames the design.
The installer blames the builder.
The builder shrugs: “It lasted a year, didn’t it?”

In the end, no one owns the original deviation.

A 1/16” mistake became an 1/8” flaw.
The flaw became structural.
The structure failed.
And the failure became a waste.

Why This Matters

This isn’t just about martial arts, furniture, or friendships. It’s about how systems fall apart.

Every ignored detail becomes an instability.
Every lie demands new lies to survive.
Every shortcut becomes someone else’s burden.

This isn’t about perfectionism. It’s about alignment. We don’t need truth because it’s noble—we need it because it’s structural.
Because without it, everything breaks.

Final Takeaway

If this resonates, don’t just nod and move on—test it.

In your relationships
In your practice
In your leadership
In your habits

Find the pebble.
Fix the stance.
Tell the truth before the joint fails.

Because one small deviation never stays small for long.

About the Author

Dale Steigerwald is a nationally and internationally recognized educator, martial artist, and performance coach with over 23 years of professional teaching experience. He holds a Pennsylvania Level II Instructional Certification and has dedicated his career to combining deep expertise with real-world application to empower others.

Dale is the founder and head instructor of the Academy of Ving Tsun Kung Fu in New Brighton, PA, where he has taught since 2005. A practitioner of Ving Tsun Kung Fu since 1996, Dale has earned the distinction of Internationally Recognized Master of Ving Tsun by the International Moy Yat Ving Tsun Federation (IMYVTF)—a rare honor reflecting decades of dedication, skill, and contribution to the art. He is also known for hand-crafting traditional wooden dummies, including one featured in the 201st episode of NCIS.

A certified personal trainer since 2002, Dale also holds a Brian Cain Mental Performance Mastery (MPM) certification, is a TACT2 certified trainer, and is currently completing the EXOS XPS and XPS+ certifications. He is actively preparing to sit for the elite Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) exam.

Before his career as an instructor, Dale was a two-sport collegiate scholarship athlete in football and track and field, competing nationally in the long jump at the 2001 NAIA National Championships. His experience as a high-level athlete shapes his science-backed, results-driven approach to martial arts, performance, and personal growth.

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