Abdominal breathing, the basic fighting stance and the 8 basic blocks (7 sidesteps, 1 hard block of northern Shaolin) with 5th degree black sash Christopher Scafone. These sidesteps (and derivatives/combinations of them) are timeless, transcendent of style, can be used to get out of the way of/redirect virtually any attack.
 
You can get through the course pretty quickly (1-2 hours 1st time through). Review as many times as needed until you can do it without the videos. As you internalize the techniques, they become your own. The more you practice them, the deeper you will know them.