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

The door to the side hall was closed.

The sounds of the erhu and the clamor outside were shut out on the other side of the door, like the receding tide. The room fell silent, with only the soft breathing of the four people remaining.

Huang Hansen stood beside his father, while Ip Man leaned against the wall. The two exchanged a glance, a hint of excitement in their eyes.

One was Wong Fei-hung, the master of Hung Kuen, who was in his early sixties and had been a formidable figure in Lingnan for decades. The other was a martial arts prodigy who practiced both Bajiquan and Xingyiquan, and was not yet twenty.

If these two were to fight, the entire martial arts world of Foshan would find no more exciting match.

Huang Hansheng even secretly assessed the situation: Although Master Chen possessed astonishing eyesight and a thorough understanding of boxing principles, in a real fight, his father's skill had accumulated over fifty years. How long could Master Chen last? Twenty moves? Thirty moves?

The two were waiting to see a good show.

Huang Feihong took off his short shirt, folded it neatly, and placed it on the armchair. The man, over sixty years old, was shirtless; his muscles were somewhat loose, but his frame was still intact.

He had broad shoulders and a thick back, and the veins on his arms bulged out like the roots of an old tree wrapped around its branches. He stood in the center of the room, his soles flat on the ground, his ten toes slightly spread apart, the gripping force of his feet penetrating through the blue bricks and reaching the soles of his feet.

Chen Hongwu stood three steps away from him.

A moment later, Chen Hongwu suddenly waved his hand.

"Forget it, there's no need to fight."

Three words, a simple and understated description.

Huang Hansen was stunned, Ip Man was stunned, and even Huang Feihong's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"Not competing anymore?" Huang Hansheng blurted out. "Master Chen, my father specifically requested—"

"Hansen." Wong Fei-hung raised his hand to interrupt him.

Chen Hongwu looked at Huang Feihong and said calmly, "I originally thought that Master Huang was a person who had entered the realm of Huajin. I wanted to learn a few moves from you so that I could feel the path of Huajin in advance and help me to cultivate the hidden strength throughout my body as soon as possible, so as to reach the state of 'not a feather can be added, not a fly can land'."

He spoke frankly, without any concealment, that he came to the banquet to use Huang Feihong's "Transformation of Force" to hone his own skills.

"But now it seems," Chen Hongwu paused, "that Master Huang's skill level is about the same as mine."

The side room was so quiet that you could hear the lamp flames popping open.

Huang Hansen's lips twitched.

Ip Man leaned against the wall, his eyelids twitching.

That's insane! Absolutely insane!

Who was Wong Fei-hung? His father, Wong Kei-ying, was one of the Ten Tigers of Guangdong. He himself ran a martial arts school for decades and was undefeated in Lingnan with his Tiger and Crane styles.

Although he has aged over the years, his skills have deepened and his techniques have become purer. In Foshan's martial arts circles, no one fails to give Huang Feihong a thumbs up when the name is mentioned.

He had never seen anything like this before in his more than 20 years of life: being told to his face by an 18-year-old that he was "on par with me."

But then Ip Man thought about it again and realized that coming from Chen Hongwu, the words didn't sound so harsh; Chen Hongwu certainly had the right to say them.

Huang Feihong was not angry.

He smiled. He was over sixty years old; what hadn't he seen? There were two kinds of arrogant people in the martial arts world: those with ability and those without.

The former represents pride, the latter is a joke, and Chen Hongwu clearly belongs to the former.

Chen Hongwu continued, "Besides, Master Huang will be fighting the Japanese soon. If you get injured in the fight with me and end up losing to the Japanese, I will be the one to blame."

"Master Chen is right."

Huang Feihong stood with his hands behind his back and said slowly, "Master Li Cunyi of the Chinese Martial Arts Association once said something to me in Tianjin. He said that there are four types of strength: obvious strength, hidden strength, obvious softness, and hidden softness."

A loud, obvious force is called obvious strength; a heavy, obvious force is called obvious softness. An easy, hidden force is called hidden strength; a deep, hidden force is called hidden softness.

When all four are mastered, one reaches a state of perfection. The perfection of power is the state of interplay between light and darkness, the balance of strength and gentleness, and the harmonious integration of water and fire.

Chen Hongwu listened quietly.

Huang Feihong continued, "Master Li Cunyi himself was a master of Huajin. When the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, he used Xingyi Quan to kill seven foreign soldiers in an alley. He fought his way out from the city wall, taking three bullets and bleeding all the way back to the martial arts school standing up."

"I, Wong Fei-hung, have practiced boxing my whole life. I have mastered the Ming Jin (internal strength) technique to the point where it combines both hardness and softness. When I throw a punch, it can break through and penetrate, leaving a mark on a brick or causing the brick to crack inside without breaking it."

The hard and soft aspects of internal strength have also separated. The hard aspect of internal strength has long been cultivated throughout the body; a single burst of internal strength can unleash a short-range force capable of shattering stone slabs through tofu. The soft aspect of internal strength is the most difficult of the four types of strength to master. Only in recent years have I been able to extend it to the face and groin area. Further progress, entering the dantian and connecting the Yongquan point (a point on the sole of the foot), until the four types of strength are unified, is considered truly entering the realm of transforming strength. At my current level, I can only say I've barely touched the threshold, a half-step into transforming strength.

He looked at Chen Hongwu: "Master Chen, you're absolutely right about my assessment."

Chen Hongwu nodded and calmly replied, "That's about what I expected."

"Although I haven't mastered the Dark Force Soft Skill all over my body, after the Thunder Sound entered my internal organs, my muscles and bones are now on a completely different level from those of ordinary martial artists."

The boxing manual says "Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound", which refers to the internal organs shaking like thunder, and over time, the body becomes strong both internally and externally.

"Now my muscles and bones are strong and healthy, comparable to those of oxen, horses, tigers, and leopards. When I pounce on a person, I am like a tiger or leopard; with a single pounce, my bones and muscles resonate, and my strength flows through every joint. When I pull back, my power is like that of an ox or horse—immense and effortless."

"Every punch and every kick is incredibly powerful, and it's still growing rapidly."

This growth cannot be stopped in a day or two, but is continuously promoted during the process of Thunder Sound Body Refinement.

Master Huang, although your level is a notch above mine and you've reached the threshold of Transformation Realm, if it really comes down to a fight... he paused, his tone devoid of any boasting, "you might not be my match."

Huang Hansen stood behind his father, his expression changing several times.

Moreover, Chen Hongwu's pointing out of those three flaws was even more accurate than his father's. Such a person doesn't make empty boasts.

Huang Feihong did not feel embarrassed.

He's over sixty years old, isn't it only natural that he can't beat an eighteen-year-old?

In martial arts, youth has an edge. His physical strength, blood circulation, reflexes, and recovery speed—at his age, in which aspect can he compare to a young man?

He's been able to maintain his current form thanks to a lifetime of self-discipline and solid martial arts skills. In another three to five years, without anyone else needing to help him, time will naturally take away everything that's left of him.

This is nothing to be ashamed of.

In the world of martial arts, it's never true that the older you get, the stronger you become.

The value of an old boxing master lies not in how many young people he can defeat, but in how many young people he can teach well. Huang Feihong knew very well that his era had passed, and the future of Foshan belonged to figures like Chen Hongwu.

Chen Hongwu extended his hands, palms facing up.

"Let me lend you a hand."

In the martial arts world, two people can test their skills without actually fighting.

The moment their hands touch, their energies collide, and one can discern the opponent's strength. Among renowned martial arts masters, a mere touch is enough to give them a sense of the opponent's capabilities. Therefore, they do not act rashly, relying entirely on the instant of contact to judge the opponent's strength.

But it is precisely because of this rule that rumors circulate that Chinese martial arts are all talk and no action. Those who merely watch the spectacle don't understand that in a martial arts competition, once you actually start fighting, it's not about who's better or worse, it's about life and death.

Life and death are major events, and everyone should treat them with utmost care.

If you have to fight to determine who is better, then that's inferior martial arts.

Huang Feihong looked at Chen Hongwu's outstretched hand and nodded slightly.

Then his gaze fell on Chen Hongwu's footwork.

The footwork of Bajiquan is quite different from that of Hung Kuen.

Hung Kuen stance: Siping stance, hips lowered, center of gravity back. Bajiquan stance: Liangyi stance, toes slightly turned inward, knees slightly bent, power originates from the ground, spine arched like a bow.

However, Chen Hongwu's stance was neither the standard Bajiquan Liangyi stance nor the Hongquan Siping Dama stance.

His hip position was half an inch higher than that of the Two Elements Stance, and his knees were three-tenths of an inch forward compared to the Four-Level Horse Stance. There was almost no gap between his two legs when transitioning.

Huang Feihong's eyes lit up slightly.

"What an impressive boxing style."

Wong Fei-hung also stepped forward and stretched out his hands.