A. The Chapman Stick as just another part of the musicians body.
B. Learning it as a new instrument vs. adapting what you already know
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As I'm writing this, nearly one year has passed since I first got my hands
on a Chapman Stick. Coming from a double bass background, apart from
all the possibilities that make this instrument so appealing, there were two
things I was very sure from the beginning: 
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A) I was so tired of standing up playing for so many years that I would
definitely play it sitting; 
B) I’m already a bass player so I wanted to make music using everything
else that I haven’t had much chance to over the years: Harmony, melody,
counterpoint, rhythm, and improvisation.
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One thing that became very obvious in the first minutes with it was how
alien it felt while, at the same time, hinting that it was possible to, over time,
grow accustomed and feel comfortable with it. 
With this realization, memories and advices from my early years as a double
bass student started coming back:
The first one was from my Jazz teacher: “Remember Jimmy Blanton and why
he managed to make himself heard over the entire Duke Ellington Big Band,
in a time when bass amp’s were in the distant future” – Instead of using his hand
muscles, at age 17 he was already using his arm weight (gravity is there to help
you) to pluck the strings of the bass, thus achieving a much higher volume and
better tone – In our case, Greg Howard’s advise is pure gold - use hand movement
(“3 fingers, 4 fingers… Just use your hand Rodrigo!”) 
The second was from my classical teacher: “To control the bow, it has to become 
a part of your body, it’s you, the same as your hands – they’re just there, you will 
them and they do stuff”.

Up until this point I never really realized how important this two advises have
been on my music for twenty years but, it only took me a few minutes to decide
that this had to be my starting point – the stick must, first and foremost, become
a part of my body. For this to happen two things have to occur: the body must
be perfectly relaxed the entire time, and the hands must be so comfortable with
the fingerboard that their preferred resting position should be touching the strings,
as if playing a chord.
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Of course, none of this comes fast, it takes time, many hours holding your
instrument and messing around with it, (for me it still takes the best part of
10 hours off of every day) much like a baby taking years to fully gain control
over his hands, arms and legs.
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You tense up every time you learn a new hand/finger movement, or change the chair
you’re accustomed to (I so understand Glenn Gould now!), changes in the acoustic
of the room affect you, etc. But as soon as you get over those small things, you go
back to your natural self: someone who’s body has an aluminum (in my case)
extension to make music.
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From this point on, everything becomes a personal choice: the kind of music you
want to play, if you do or don’t know your music theory, the sound, the effects,
interdependence vs. hand independence, whatever. 
Remember those two goals I had in the beginning? Well, the second one “I’m already
a bass player, I want to do other things” was key to start things from ground zero,
which is always a good way to learn a new motor skill. 
The fact that I was so willing to do other musical roles, kept me from going round
and round trying to translate into this instrument what I could already do on the old
one, thus reducing my learning time into half of what I thought was possible, before
hitting the stage.  “Ok, so the bass side is in inverted 5th’s? Where does it start?
Which way is up or down?  Practice,  practice, practice… Cool, got it!” The result
was impressive enough that I never once got confused. 50% of my time I still gig
with the bass. The other 50% I do my own stick solo concerts.
Two different instruments even if up means  moving in opposite directions. 
In the end, it’s just like if I played some gigs as a drummer, and some other as a
pianist. Best advice ever: embrace the stick as a completely different instrument,
not an extension of a previous one. It’s fastest and a lot more rewarding.
The line that connects all the dots is musical theory, taste and your own creativity,
not previous motor skills.
Cheers