The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 97 Tianxin Dojo: Is a challenge acceptable?

"You dare not accept it? You are disgracing the spirit of Japanese Bushido."

After making a sarcastic remark, Tang Bei provoked him and then threatened him, saying, "If you don't dare to accept, I'll shut down all your dojos, or I'll attack them one by one."

"Fuck you!"

"What's there to be afraid of? He has no real combat experience either. I don't believe I can't beat him."

With so many media outlets witnessing the situation, Steven Seagal was also pinned to the wall. The consequences of not accepting the challenge were too severe; his reputation would be ruined, he would become a disgrace to the martial arts world, and all his life's efforts would be in vain.

At this moment, he deeply regretted showing up there and also regretted recommending Elliott Freeman to help O'Neal.

But it was too late for regrets. He could only nod slightly and grit his teeth, saying, "Tang, if you insist, then I accept."

"Crack, click, click..."

The sound of camera shutters clicking all around suddenly intensified.

"On New Year's Day, I will visit your esteemed institution. I hope you can face me head-on like a warrior," Tang Bei said, clasping his hands in greeting.

Steven Siegel bowed, and in an attempt to regain his composure, he asked coldly:

"I wonder if Mr. Tang intends to spar with me in Aikido, or some other martial art? Judo, Karate, Aikido, Kendo, you may choose any of them."

Tang Bei raised his fists and said, "We should each do our best, without any rules. Unarmed, any style of boxing. Weapons, any weapon."

Steven Siegel's eyes narrowed. From those words, he sensed Tang Bei's immense confidence, which made him wary once again.

It wasn't that he lacked confidence; it was simply that the difference in their physiques was too great, and the disparity in strength was hard to ignore.

Moreover, Tang Bei is not a clumsy big guy; on the contrary, he is a very agile and explosive big guy, so he should be very difficult to fight.

"Scared? Want to back out?"

“You can crawl between my legs, and I'll allow you to take back what you just said.”

“But what I just said stands, I will go after all your dojos in the United States.”

Tang Bei immediately saw through Siegel's concerns and began to provoke and threaten him with words.

"OK."

With so many reporters present, and provoked by this, Steven Siegel was truly cornered by Tang Bei and had no choice but to nod in agreement.

However, he wasn't stupid. He firmly stated, "But you must use one of the four martial arts: Judo, Aikido, Karate, or Kendo. Otherwise, I have the right to refuse your challenge."

Tang Bei laughed and said disdainfully, "I'm here to challenge you, not to have a match with you. You can hide when I come here, but do you, a coward, still have the face to keep your dojo running?"

"you?"

Steven Siegel's face was flushed red, almost as if it were about to bleed.

Tang Bei didn't want to push him too far, so he said, "I can agree to your request. You can choose a sword as your weapon. Using any other weapon would be bullying you."

He then said to Eric Fleischer, "Eric, you take care of making the contact and arranging the time for the challenge. I'm going to warm up now."

"OK."

Eric Fleischer said excitedly.

The competition officially began at eight o'clock.

Tang Bei and O'Neal jumped for the ball, and as the ball was tossed up, they jumped almost simultaneously.

Ultimately, Tang Bei, with his superior jumping ability, tipped the ball away first, giving the Heat the offensive opportunity.

"Idiot, let me see what you've learned in a month."

He moved to the left low post, backed down by O'Neal, trash-talking as he started to establish position and demand the ball.

"bring it on!"

O'Neal gets excited whenever he thinks about beating Tang Bei.

He wanted to enjoy the highlight moment alone, so he turned to his teammates and shouted, "Don't come over, I don't need help defense."

Tang Bei stood with his feet parallel, in a low horse stance, and pushed his way inward with his back against the defender.

O'Neal stood in a lunge position with his right foot forward, blocking Tang Bei's right foot and trapping Tang Bei's right leg with his right leg.

At the same time, he used his right elbow to push against Tang Bei's lower back and his right hip to forcefully push against Tang Bei's buttocks, doing his best to defend.

Pushing up the lower limbs and the waist and hips are techniques taught to him by his Tai Chi coach, José Johnson.

The power pivot of the Tai Chi horse stance is the waist and hips, and the source of power is the lower limbs. The coach told him that as long as these two points are disrupted, Tang Bei's power can be restricted.

Furthermore, Jose Johnson suggested adopting a lunge stance to strengthen defensive power, making it absolutely impossible for Tang Bei to knock him down again.

The lunge is not only a basic footwork in martial arts, but also a basic footwork frequently used in low-post defense in basketball.

O'Neal achieved his goal, and Tang Bei immediately felt uncomfortable. He couldn't connect his upper and lower body strength, and he couldn't generate power when backing down his opponent.

But in the next instant, he started his Tai Chi movement, and while dribbling the ball, he suddenly turned around and slid to the bottom.

"Oh no! My moment of glory..."

O'Neal panicked. He was in a lunge position with his right foot forward and his left foot back. His feet were too far apart, and he had no time to react defensively. He could only watch helplessly as Tang Bei drove past him.

"boom!"

Tang Bei dribbled once, turned successfully, and with a burst of speed, smashed O'Neal's basket with a powerful left-handed tomahawk dunk.

"Ha ha……"

Seeing O'Neal standing there dumbfounded, the Heat fans in the arena erupted in huge laughter.

The commentators from both regions were also laughing heartily.

"Idiot! My eighty-year-old grandma with a cane could beat you." Tang Bei spat out a trash talk and ran back to the backcourt.

The lunge stance can indeed be used for blocking, but the front and back feet are too far apart, making it difficult to defend against left and right turns immediately, especially against attackers with fast turning speeds.

O'Neal's use of a lunge stance to defend against him was a complete miscalculation; his Tai Chi spin move could easily overpower O'Neal.

He has practiced martial arts and combat for more than ten years, but now he can only apply two or three kinds of power generation techniques on the basketball court.

In his view, O'Neal had only learned martial arts for a few days and wanted to apply these skills, which had not yet become muscle instincts, to the game. This was nothing more than blindly imitating others. He also believed that the two combat coaches were simply copying what they learned.

If it were him, he could use a lunge to defend O'Neal, because his use of the lunge is far superior to O'Neal's, and he can make the next defensive move faster.

"It's all because you didn't teach me well."

Hearing Tang Bei's trash talk, O'Neal blushed with embarrassment and glared angrily at Jose Johnson on the sidelines.

Jose Johnson was a little confused after being glared at. "I taught you the lunge to prevent collisions. The fact that you weren't knocked over means my plan worked."

As for failing to defend against the opponent's turn, that's definitely not my fault, because defending against turns is another topic that requires extra money.

Elliott Freeman glanced disdainfully at Jose Johnson. "Look at what you've taught! You're clearly good at karate, yet you teach that slow, trashy Chinese martial art, Tai Chi? For true kung fu, you have to look to the Japanese martial arts."

On offense, O'Neal, determined to get revenge, immediately started calling for the ball in the low post on the left wing.

Offense is where he focuses his efforts, because he suffered from the center-of-gravity disruption technique multiple times in the rookie camp and in the previous game against Tang Bei.

He tried to squeeze Tang Bei but couldn't. He tried again but still couldn't get through. Then the ball was passed down, and he received it and started a back-to-the-basket one-on-one attack.

He had repeatedly studied the video of his match with Tang Bei. It was during this kind of power strike that Tang Bei suddenly turned around and used a center-of-gravity disruption technique to break his center of gravity, causing him to fall to the ground or lose his balance several times.

Elliott Freeman taught him a defensive technique: when engaging in close combat, if he noticed his opponent turning around, he should immediately turn in the opposite direction to break away from Tang Bei and then launch an attack.

The Center of Gravity Destruction Technique can only be used when there is physical contact. By breaking away from Tang Bei, Tang Bei's Center of Gravity Destruction Technique can be rendered useless, while Tang Bei's defense can be broken, which is advantageous for offense.

In addition, given Tang Bei's excessively fast turnaround speed, O'Neal's post-up shots cannot be too powerful.

If the force is too great, it will be out of control. Once Tang Bei turns around and uses the center of gravity destruction technique, O'Neal's own strength will be uncontrollable, and he will not be able to turn around and get away from Tang Bei in time, and he will be controlled by the center of gravity destruction technique.

In other words, his best low-post back-to-the-basket moves cannot be used against Tang Bei.

However, with less power, they simply couldn't penetrate the paint. Elliott Freeman didn't offer a solution to this problem, because it's a basketball issue that money can't solve.

"Oh!"

O'Neal faced upwards, posting up in the low post. On his first post-up, while dribbling, he lightly bumped Tang Bei's chest with his left shoulder.

Tang Bei leaned his upper body slightly backward to dissipate the force, and his powerful lower body strength and grip kept his feet firmly planted.

The next instant, O'Neal's second post-up attack didn't follow immediately. Instead, he pivoted on his right foot, moved his left foot, and suddenly turned around.

He and his personal basketball coach had discussed the strategy: since they couldn't use post-up offense, they would first use it to create a misjudgment by Tang Bei, then immediately change their offensive approach, proactively adapting and combining several post-up offensive techniques. Tang Bei reacted quickly defensively, immediately taking a step to the left with his left foot while maintaining intense physical contact with O'Neal.

As someone who didn't get along with O'Neal, he had naturally studied O'Neal's playing style.

O'Neal's first low-post offensive method was to back down his opponent in the low post.

Using their size and strength to create tremendous impact, they continuously crush the defender as they approach the basket, then suddenly turn and finish the attack.

The second type of low-post offense is a turnaround jump shot with the back to the basket, followed by a hook shot or a regular shot to finish the attack.

The third option is to receive the ball under the basket and end the attack directly.

The fourth type is the shark spin, which involves using a fake move to shake off the defender, then turning and breaking through to complete the attack.

The fifth method is to use a half-hook hand to the side after striking.

All five offensive techniques share a common premise: to minimize physical contact and gain space to turn or shoot.

So when moving laterally, Tang Bei was careful and deliberately continued to maintain a strong physical confrontation with O'Neal.

His greatest strength lies in his ability to fight back, minimizing the attacker's space to maneuver. This tactic is highly effective regardless of the opponent's offensive technique.

Sure enough, O'Neal intended to use the Shaq Spin, first using a spin move to shake off Tang Bei, and then quickly spinning down to attack the basket.

However, the premise of this offensive technique is to use your strong physical advantage to push away the defender when you turn, causing the defender to lose their center of gravity or shift, so that you can take the opportunity to gain space and time to turn.

Now that Tang Bei is taking the initiative to confront him, he is encountering a stronger opponent. In the intense confrontation, he not only cannot gain any space to turn around, but his center of gravity is also shifted by Tang Bei.

Unable to get enough space to turn around, but with the ball already on the string, he had no choice but to force a turn while dribbling.

"Snapped!"

Tang Bei moved quickly, blocking O'Neal again, and poked the ball away from O'Neal.

The ball went out of bounds, and although the Magic didn't get possession, they only had 6 seconds left on their shot clock.

"Idiot, what exactly did you learn from those two guys?" Tang Bei asked with a strange expression.

"Mind your own business!" O'Neal said irritably.

He now understands that his biggest problem is that he is not as good at fighting as Tang Bei and cannot get comfortable space to attack or turn around.

"To beat him, I need bigger weight, more strength, better physical strength, and more hamburgers and Cokes!"

Out of desperation, he came up with this idea.

"Bang!"

The Magic resumed their offense, but their outside jump shot missed. Tang Bei grabbed the rebound and the Heat went on offense.

Reaching the low position on the left wing, he asked, "Idiot, aren't you going to use your lunge anymore?"

"Hey, don't call me an idiot!"

In an attempt to deflect from this somewhat embarrassing topic, O'Neal angrily retorted.

Why can't I call you an idiot?

Tang Bei was extremely puzzled. "My low-post turnaround is called a tornado, and you're actually using a lunge to defend me like an idiot, and I'm not even allowed to call you an idiot? Is there any justice in this world? Is there any law in this world?"

Shaquille O'Neal was furious. What else could it be? You called me an idiot, doesn't that make me look stupid?

O'Neal couldn't use low-post post-ups to attack Tang Bei, but Tang Bei had no such idea; he started posting up O'Neal.

"Oh!"

In his first close-up, Tang Bei used five or six tenths of his strength. The powerful explosive force made the close-up full of power, and the heavy impact sound made people's scalps tingle.

O'Neal gritted his teeth and held on, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Tang, you don't know that I've also learned the Center of Gravity Destruction Technique. Now I'm going to use this move to make you look really bad."

He planned to suddenly turn around during Tang Bei's second close-up attack, using the physical contact during the turn to disrupt Tang Bei's balance while removing the chair.

The next instant, Tang Bei's second attack arrived as expected.

O'Neal reacted very quickly, immediately turning to the right.

His turning speed was also very agile. When Tang Bei did not use Tai Chi to turn, the two of them turned at almost the same speed.

Tang Bei was caught off guard, but his stable lower body prevented him from losing his balance. At that moment, O'Neal used the momentum of his turn to sweep his elbow across the room.

"Center of gravity disruption technique?"

A strange feeling flashed through his mind. Why did this fighting style seem so familiar?
Because he was in a low stance, the elbow strike was aimed at his head.

He quickly crouched down, dodging O'Neal's elbow, then swiftly turned and spun around, delivering a powerful two-handed dunk that slammed into the Magic's backboard with a resounding thud.

After O'Neal missed with his elbow, he lost his balance and fell to the floor with a thud, completely stunned.

"What happened? Why am I lying on the floor? Oh, I remember now, I was in a match, I just used the Center of Gravity Break... Damn it, did I fall for Tang's Center of Gravity Break technique again?"

"Haha..." The whole audience burst into laughter.

Tang Bei was speechless. How could someone who had only studied for a month possibly apply their knowledge to a master like him?
Steven Siegel and two others were sitting on the sidelines. They couldn't bear to watch O'Neal leave the court and wanted to cover their faces.

“His lower body hasn’t been trained, and he’s not quick enough. After practicing horse stance for a few years, he definitely won’t fall,” said Jose Johnson, a Tai Chi and Karate master.

“The Chinese horse stance is useless; it’s just that you don’t maintain your balance when turning around, and your legs get tangled together,” Elliott Freeman disagreed.

Steven Siegel remained silent, his mind completely elsewhere, preoccupied with the game; it had absolutely nothing to do with him.

He had just finished discussing with Eric Fleischer the two matches he would have with Tang Bei: one in hand-to-hand combat and the other in swordsmanship.

He lacked practical experience in hand-to-hand combat, but he believed he had experience in swordsmanship.

He was equipped with protective gear for both kendo training and duels, so he was not afraid of getting injured. Therefore, he often sparred with others and had a lot of practical experience.

Moreover, bamboo swords cannot utilize the advantage of strength; the competition comes down to technique, which can limit Tang Bei's power, and this is very important to him.

The reason he accepted the challenge, besides being pinned against the wall by Tang Bei, was that he placed his hopes for victory on swordsmanship, hoping to at least achieve a 1-1 record.

The time was January 1, 93, which was Friday evening six days later at 1 pm, and the location was the Tianxin Dojo in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.

The NBA did not schedule any games on the last day of the year or New Year's Day, so the timing was perfect.

In the next few days, he needs to prepare by gathering information about Tang Bei and inviting professional fighters to give him special training.

The game continues on the field.

O'Neal was somewhat disheartened. Not only were the lessons taught by the two boxing coaches ineffective, but they had also made him look bad again.

He didn't want to use things he wasn't good at anymore. Those fighting techniques were too complicated, while his basketball skills had always been based on simplicity. Playing complicated things wasn't his forte.

Two minutes later, after resting for two rounds, Tang Bei once again called for the ball in the low position on the left wing.

"Damn it, don't even think about getting in!" O'Neal was inside, desperately trying to defend, using every ounce of strength he had.

He hadn't been working this hard on defense before, but since his opponent was Tang Bei, who had repeatedly given him trouble, he had no choice but to put in a lot of effort on defense.

"Oh!"

Tang Bei received the ball and made his first post-up move. The primal collision of forces caused both of their bodies to tremble, and O'Neal's center of gravity shifted slightly.

"Oh!"

Tang Bei felt O'Neal's presence behind him, and a second, even more ferocious post-up followed, slamming heavily into O'Neal's chest.

The second post-up must be quick, completed before the defender removes the chair or re-closes on. At this point, the defender's center of gravity has not even stabilized, making the post-up even more effective.

The comparison involves reaction speed, explosive power, skill in offensive techniques, and dribbling ability, among other things. None of these can be lacking.

"Ouch!"

O'Neal felt as if his entire chest had been flattened. He staggered backward, one step, two steps, three steps, but he still couldn't regain his balance, and then he collapsed.

"boom!"

Without any help defense, Tang Bei turned and leaped over O'Neal's body, delivering a one-handed slam dunk that shattered the Magic's basket.

"WOW!"

The cheers and shouts in Miami Stadium were deafening, one wave after another.

(End of this chapter)