Chen Chuan went to the center of the hall and stopped in front of Yu Gang.
Lu Ke was training by himself by the side, but now, he slowed down and looked over.
Yu Gang stood stone-faced and did not urge Chen Chuan to hurry up, but Chen Chuan still felt an invisible pressure that seemed to be telling him to attack as soon as possible.
He instinctively used his breathing technique and clenched his fists tightly. Then, he threw a punch at Yu Gang’s chest. The impact created a dull thud, and Chen Chuan felt as if he had hit a thick tire. A force pushed back at him, and he took a few steps back.
Yu Gang criticized him bluntly, “The way you throw a punch is below the level of an amateur. Your attack lacks power, and it’s as slow as a snail. Any martial arts student who has trained for a month could easily defeat you. It’s impossible for you to pass the follow-up exam, even by pulling strings.”
Lu Ke smiled while sitting to watch the show.
Yu Gang took note of Chen Chuan’s calm expression and said, “But you held back. Use your full strength. Otherwise, I won’t be able to come up with your training plan based on your actual abilities.”
Chen Chuan knew that during training, he would inevitably have to rely on his second self, so he decided to not hold anything back this time.
He sucked in a deep breath and returned to his original spot. With a growl, he threw another punch. This time, his second self rushed forward and overlapped with him. A loud bam echoed through the training area. The same force came pushing back at Chen Chuan, and he stumbled a few steps back. Even so, all of them could tell that his punch had landed solid.
Lu Ke sat up straighter.
Yu Gang remained still, but there was surprise in his eyes as he thought, Talent, huh?
“That’s more like it. Correct your form to build up power, and if you coordinate it with your breathing, you’ll be able to increase your striking force even more. Hmm... If that’s the case...”
After a moment, he got his thoughts in order and said, “The current martial arts system can generally be divided into old martial arts and new martial arts. New martial arts are the dominant trend in martial arts universities, and Martial Valor University teaches them too. They focus on barehanded strikes, throws, grappling techniques, and others. The training system for new martial arts is practical and reliable. It can be applied in most situations, so we’ll start with new martial arts.”
This was the first time Chen Chuan had heard about old martial arts and new martial arts. For the sake of getting more information, he asked, “Mr. Yu, is everyone learning new martial arts now? What do old martial arts look like?”
“Old martial arts are broad and diverse, but most of them focus on weapon-based combat. Hand-to-hand combat is secondary. That’s because old martial arts were focused on killing and survival. In the past, this was necessary. If you needed to fight to the death or hunt wild beasts and you had a tool to do so, would you choose to fight barehanded?”
“Of course not,” Chen Chuan answered decisively.
“That’s why the direction for old martial arts is very clear-cut. Most of the old martial arts’ hand-to-hand combat is just there to help martial artists handle weapons better. Due to that, the old martial arts have a lot of unnecessary movements and lose out when compared to new martial arts when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. But some of their modified hand-to-hand techniques are still pretty decent.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean that new martial arts don’t include weapons. Such styles exist, but they’re treated as separate from hand-to-hand combat. Old martial arts are not like that; weapons are combined with hand-to-hand combat.
“Alright. We’ve gone off-topic. Let’s focus on the present. I’ll teach you some basic martial arts techniques. They’re known as Minor Sanshou and Major Sanshou. The only difference between them is their emphasis on offense and defense. There’s a third one called Principal Sanshou, but it can’t be taught to outsiders. Only those who have credentials from martial arts universities or academies can use them. I’m going to teach you Major Sanshou. Watch my movements carefully.”
Yu Gang walked a few steps away and put up a stance. He placed one foot forward and the other behind him, then sank his body a little. His weight rested on his back foot, and one of his hands went forward while the other covered his stomach.
“This guarding stance isn’t set and has to change based on your enemies,” he said. “It reflects your mindset when facing them. For example, if you run into someone skilled at grappling, lower your center of gravity. If you encounter someone swift on their feet, raise your center of gravity so that you can move faster too. You can also switch from punches to palm strikes. It all depends on how you want to fight and how familiar you are with each technique.”
He then straightened his body. “Try it.”
Chen Chuan went to the center and imitated Yu Gang’s stance. Yu Gang then came over and corrected his form. “Don’t be so tense, and don’t raise your head so high. Pull your chin in. Always be mindful of using your hands to defend yourself.”
Under his guidance, Chen Chuan immediately put on a somewhat acceptable stance. Yu Gang then taught him how to switch between punches and open palm strikes, how to use more power with simple punches and kicks, and some of the commonly used steps to advance and retreat.
Since they were just starting off, Yu Gang did not teach him a lot of techniques and movements. After the morning training, Chen Chuan had learned some basics of Major Sanshou, although he still had a long way to go until mastery.
In the afternoon, aside from familiarizing himself with the techniques, he trained his basic skills. Just like usual, nothing happened without Yu Gang’s stern and watchful guidance. From time to time, Chen Chuan stopped to take a rest and refuel. He continued training until around 5 p.m. when Yu Gang allowed him to run home.
During the training and the run back home, Chen Chuan did not forget to use the most important technique—the breathing technique. He also practiced it with his second self at night without stopping until his second self became completely blurry. Then, he went to bed.
Chen Chuan maintained this training routine practically every day. In less than ten days, he could perform some Major Sanshou techniques fairly well.
At the same time, he noticed that once he got familiar with them, whenever he used the breathing technique, he naturally realized how to build up power for them.
If he stumbled or made the wrong movements, his breathing would falter. In reverse, when his breathing was smooth, his strength went up. He could use his breathing to guide his movements. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ NoveI-Fire.ɴet
This was, without a doubt, the way to use the breathing technique. It was no wonder why Yu Gang had said that the breathing technique was the crux of martial arts.
Since Chen Chuan could sense that he was making progress, he poured all of his energy and soul into training. The practice during the day made his physical fitness better, and the amount of time he could use the breathing technique also increased. The breathing technique also boosted the effects of his training. This was an ideal state, and Chen Chuan showed obvious improvement.
Something else was also getting better. The amount of time he could use his second self was gradually increasing. It was possible this was a positive reaction produced by the joy he felt as he grew continuously stronger through training.
In the middle of June, he went to Yu Gang. “Mr. Yu, recently, I’ve been feeling my body grow warm after I practice the breathing technique. Why is that?”
Yu Gang stared at him in surprise. “Grow warm? And it’s after you practice the breathing technique? Are you sure?”
Chen Chuan nodded. “I’m sure of it. I only felt it a bit in the beginning, but it’s become really obvious over the past few days.”
“How long has this been going on?”
Chen Chuan thought about it and said, “About four or five days?”
Yu Gang crossed his arms and mulled over it.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Yu?” Chen Chuan asked.
“It’s not. This is a natural effect from practicing the breathing technique, but it usually only starts after a period of time. I wasn’t expecting it to show up so soon. Looks like you can start the next stage of training ahead of schedule.”
If a person’s body started growing warm when they practiced the breathing technique, it meant that their body was getting used to the breathing rhythm. This was especially so for teenagers who had yet to finish growing. As they aged, they would gain even more in the long term. But this usually started a month or a year after they started practicing the breathing technique. Some people did not experience it at all.
How long had Chen Chuan been practicing it? At most half a month.
Yu Gang thought, Is this because of his talent?
In the afternoon, Yu Gang called Chen Chuan and Lu Ke over. “Chen Chuan, you can begin sparring practice. Lu Ke, be his sparring partner. Your own training will have to be pushed back for now.”
Lu Ke felt a little upset about it, but he smiled and said, “Sure, Master.” He then turned to Chen Chuan. “Mr. Chen, call me if you need any help.”
“You’re too kind, Lu Ke.”
From that day onward, sparring became part of Chen Chuan’s training regimen. He also did reaction training with Lu Ke, though Lu Ke was the one adjusting to his pace. The sparring helped Chen Chuan further familiarize himself with the use of Major Sanshou.
This lasted for seven days before Yu Gang asked them to fight for real. In order to avoid getting hurt, both of them put on protective gear and padded gloves.
If they were in Martial Valor University, aside from equipment-based instructions and regular sparring, they would not be allowed to use protective gear. Hence, as the training progressed, Yu Gang would also slowly remove the protective measures.
“This is your first day of hard sparring. You’re going to fight each other for three rounds. For now, each round will last three minutes, and you’ll be allowed to rest for five minutes between the rounds. I will be the judge and give you marks. Whoever gets fewer marks will be in charge of putting away the equipment and cleaning the hall today.”
After mentioning a few more things to pay attention to, Yu Gang stepped aside and motioned for the two to start fighting.
Chen Chuan and Lu Ke walked to the center. They saluted each other with a fist-and-palm salute, which was martial arts etiquette, and then, before Chen Chuan could even lower his hands, Lu Ke threw a punch straight at his chest!