I'll try to shorten your learning curve a bit here. If you want to simplify technical analysis as much as you can, you could put it this way: There are two types of movements: trading ranges and trends. And two types of indicators: trend following (like moving averages) and contrarian (like the slow stochastics, these are also called momentum oscillators).
If you have relatively equal relative lows and relative highs, then you have a trading range. If you have a series of higher relative lows and relative highs, you have an uptrend. If you have a series of lower highs and lower lows, you have a downtrend. A very flat range after a large move (consolidation phase) can be considered a retracement). If you look at steep trends in both directions, you'll notice reracements are usually much smaller than the size of the moves in the direction of the overal trend.
If you have relatively equal relative lows and relative highs, then you have a trading range. If you have a series of higher relative lows and relative highs, you have an uptrend. If you have a series of lower highs and lower lows, you have a downtrend. A very flat range after a large move (consolidation phase) can be considered a retracement). If you look at steep trends in both directions, you'll notice reracements are usually much smaller than the size of the moves in the direction of the overal trend.