Chinese martial arts: From being shot and killed by the armed police during a mountain search to bec

In the courtyard, a cat and a snake were facing off, which caught Chen Hongwu's attention.

The cat was a tabby cat kept by the Chen family. Usually, it was lazy and would lie on the wall basking in the sun. But today, it was all puffed up, its back arched, circling around a three-foot-long green snake.

The snake was coiled up, its triangular head held high, and its bones and scales rubbed together slightly, making a hissing sound.

Chen Hongwu stood motionless under the corridor.

Martial arts come from animals, from nature. This is an old saying in internal martial arts. He had heard his predecessors say it countless times, but this was the first time he had actually seen it with his own eyes.

Yim Wing-chun observed a snake and a crane fighting, grasped the essence of the art, and created Wing Chun. Guiguzi observed a white ape's fighting techniques and mastered the back fist technique; the principles are the same.

Today, it's his turn.

Both the cat and the snake were gathering their strength.

The snake coiled motionless in the courtyard, its menacing triangular head twitching slightly, its tongue flicking in and out. Its body was like a tightly wound spring, ready to spring forth at any moment.

The cat's fur stood on end, making it look like a hedgehog. Its back arched, and using the pads of its limbs to propel itself, it leaped up as lightly as a feather, landing silently.

The cat circled the snake, moving in all directions and trying to gain a foothold on its sides. With each step, it changed its position.

Chen Hongwu's eyes lit up.

Isn't this just the footwork of Baguazhang?

Roaming, positioning, and flanking attacks—cats are born with these skills.

It had no teacher; it relied entirely on instinct. Millions of years of evolution have ingrained the optimal hunting methods into its very being.

The cat circled twice, then suddenly jumped up and slapped a claw at the snake's head.

The snake dodged with a flick of its head. At the same time, its body contracted and sprang forward, its head shooting out to bite at the cat's neck.

The cat twisted in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the attack, and then took two steps back after landing.

The snake and the cat fought for more than a dozen rounds.

Each of the cat's pounces is swift and powerful, like the tiger form in Xingyi (a Chinese martial arts style). Its movements are like the steps of Bagua (another Chinese martial arts style).

The movement patterns of Bagua, and the fighting techniques of Xingyi.

This is naturally reflected in cats.

And what about snakes?

Its joints transformed into tendons and bones, and its scales into fur. The force exerted by the snake in every movement perfectly matched the various forms of force exerted by a snake.

As Chen Hongwu watched, he suddenly understood something.

The boxing manual says: "External styles focus on training tendons, bones, and muscles, while internal styles, in addition to tendons and bones, place even greater emphasis on training the skin and hair."

Animals are born with the ability to utilize their fur. A cat puffs up its fur to make itself appear larger; a snake rubs its scales together to send out a warning sound—these are all functions of fur.

Human fur can also be trained.

When the hidden strength is released, the pores close tightly and the qi and blood are drawn inward; this is the initial application of the skin and hair.

Going further up, one must be like an animal, making the most of the senses and power of the fur.

The cat and snake fought for half an hour, but both were exhausted and retreated to rest. The cat jumped onto the wall and licked its paws; the snake slithered into a crevice in the corner of the wall.

Chen Hongwu closed his eyes, the scene from just now replaying in his mind.

Cat pounces, snake sways.

The shapes of animals seemed to be etched into his mind.

He slowly opened his eyes and began to practice his boxing.

Tiger shape.

Chopping Fist.

His body suddenly sank, his waist and hips twisted, and the fascia in his back tightened.

With a single punch, a deep, resonant echo reverberated through the air, like the low growl of a tiger deep in the mountains.

That wasn't a sound coming from the throat; it was a natural vibration that arose from the perfect coordination of movement, posture, breathing, and fur.

The boxing manual says, "Sound follows the hand."

In the past, his tiger-fighting style only had form, not spirit.

His posture was perfect, his strength was correct, but something was always missing. Now he knew—he lacked that wild, beastly quality.

When a tiger roams the mountains and forests, all beasts tremble in fear. Its power is not just the strength of its muscles, but also the power of its aura.

Chen Hongwu's punch incorporated the ferocity, agility, and unstoppable momentum of a cat's pounce.

Next is the serpentine shape.

Drill punch.

His arms coiled inward like a snake, and when his fists clenched, his muscles, lungs, and heartbeat worked together to produce a faint hissing sound, much like the snake's earlier display of power.

A snake's power comes from its coiling, twisting strength. With a single coil and twist, it can strangle prey many times its own size.

Chen Hongwu's arm drew an arc in the air, each punch carrying a spiraling force.

Drill in and grind it up.

He became more and more engrossed in the practice, alternating between the tiger and snake forms. Sometimes his roar was deafening, sometimes hissed like a snake. His figure moved around the courtyard, sometimes like a tiger descending a mountain, sometimes like a venomous snake emerging from its hole.

The form contains meaning, and the form contains spirit.

There is truth among falsehoods, and there is falsehood among truths.

This is the true essence of form and meaning.

Before, he was at best a boxing master. His stance was proper, and his strength was penetrating, but he only grasped the form, not the spirit. Like a painter who can paint a portrait perfectly, but the painting lacks a soul.

It's different now.

When he practiced the tiger form, he felt as if he had truly become a tiger. He pounced, leaped, and swept across the ground, his power surging like thunder.

When he practiced the snake form, he felt as if he had become a snake himself. His muscles and bones propelled his body, his fists swayed and thrust in all directions like a snake's head, and his arms naturally coiled and twisted like a snake's body.

Tiger-shaped chopping fist power, snake-shaped drilling fist power.

The two body techniques work together to generate power, combining both spirit and form.

Grandmaster Guo Yunshen divided the stages of martial arts into three levels: refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit into emptiness. Chen Hongwu previously only understood refining essence into qi, mastering the power, and strengthening his body.

Now he understood. Refining one's Qi and transforming it into spirit not only changes one's temperament and personality, but more importantly, it also changes the essence of one's martial arts style.

The same chopping fist, which used to be fierce and powerful, now carries the might of a tiger.

The same drilling fist, which used to be spiral, is now infused with snake venom.

Only when the essence of the fist changes can it be considered a true transformation of qi into spirit.

True form and meaning must possess both physical form and spirit.

Legend has it that when Wong Fei-hung fought the Tiger and Crane Dual Forms, his entire body surged with power, naturally producing the roar of a tiger and the cry of a crane—that's probably the level he reached.

Chen Hongwu was so engrossed in the fight that he forgot the time.

The sun rises from the east to its zenith, then sets in the west. He practices again and again, the tiger form, the snake form, the chopping fist, the drilling fist, over and over again.

With each punch, the tiger's roar and the snake's sound became clearer and more natural than the last.

He didn't stop punching until the setting sun dyed the courtyard golden red, and he let out a long breath.

The breath lingered, leaving a white line in the air, with a faint hissing sound mixed in.

He turned around and found that the butler was standing at the gate of the courtyard at some point.

The housekeeper looked distressed.

He had come by that morning. At that time, Chen Hongwu was engrossed in watching the cat-snake fight, and he called out to him several times, but Chen Hongwu ignored him. After the cat-snake fight ended, Chen Hongwu started practicing his boxing, his punches were fierce and his roars were deafening. How could someone who didn't know martial arts dare to approach him?

I had no choice but to go back and report to my master.

He came again in the afternoon, and Chen Hongwu was still practicing his boxing. He stood at the gate of the courtyard until the sun went down.

"Young Master." The butler saw Chen Hongwu looking over and quickly stepped forward, "The Master wants to see you."

Chen Hongwu nodded and was about to take a step.

The butler paused, then added, "The eldest daughter of the Xu family has also arrived."

Chen Hongwu paused in his steps.

"I understand," he said.

He didn't rush to the front hall, but went back to his room to change into clean clothes and wipe his face.

Xu Wanqing.

Didn't she break off relations with the Chen family? Why is she visiting again?

Chen Hongwu pushed open the door and walked towards the front hall.

As dusk settled, the lanterns at the Chen family's house were already lit.

The orange light shone on the bluestone slabs, casting long, long shadows.