Urban Martial Saint

Heavenly Lord Shen stood in the middle of the courtyard and looked at Ye Qing as he said loudly, ”The martial arts of Huaxia have traceable origins. The ancients created martial arts mostly by imitating. Various boxing techniques evolved from common aspects of life, such as the popular Hung Kuen in the South, which includes Imitative-Shape Boxing techniques like Monkey Fist and Tiger Movement. Martial arts with traceable origins inevitably have their countermeasures. However, Wing Chun is an exception!”

”Wing Chun Fist was created by an exceptional woman. Before creating this boxing technique, she hadn’t learned much martial arts, so she wasn’t limited by the established martial arts philosophies. When she created Wing Chun, she incorporated more of her own intentions. Therefore, Wing Chun does not have fixed techniques, yet it is called the invincible art at close range by everyone!”

As Shen Tianjun spoke, he walked to a wooden dummy in the middle of the courtyard and gently tapped it. The wooden dummy immediately started spinning, and Heavenly Lord Shen quickly extended his hands, slapping and elbowing, blocking with his arms, and struck a set of boxing techniques at lightning speed. The dummy was spinning fast, but Shen Tianjun stood in front of it with ease. The sticks of the dummy couldn’t touch him at all—every time they were about to hit him, he blocked them easily, dazzling both Ye Qing and Du Tianyi who were watching.

After finishing the boxing set, Heavenly Lord Shen stepped back and said to Ye Qing, ”You try.”

Ye Qing walked up to the wooden dummy, took a deep breath, and started spinning it as Shen Tianjun had. The several sticks on the wooden dummy were flexible and could move; as the dummy spun, these sticks swirled like human arms and legs. Ye Qing extended his hands, initially able to block a few strikes, but as the dummy spun faster, he began to get overwhelmed.

Watching Shen Tianjun earlier, it seemed effortless, but when it was his turn, it was a different story. Initially, the dummy’s rapid spins felt like two people attacking him, and he barely managed to cope. But later, it was like three, four, five people—the spins were too fast for Ye Qing to block. He was hit several times, and he couldn’t replicate Shen Tianjun’s ease, resorting to the hard blocks of Bajiquan.

Seeing Ye Qing bump into the dummy a couple of times, Shen Tianjun walked over, grabbed Ye Qing’s shoulder, and pulled him back, then stopped the wooden dummy with one hand.

Shen Tianjun looked at Ye Qing and laughed, ”I’ve been practicing with this wooden dummy for over thirty years; don’t break it on me now!”

Ye Qing felt embarrassed—he had been unable to block properly and resorted to his most proficient Bajiquan, nearly crashing into the dummy. With his Vigor Power, if he had hit the dummy, it might really have broken.

”Your Bajiquan is one of the strongest boxing techniques among Northern Fist. But you were just facing a wooden dummy. If you knocked the dummy flying, of course, it wouldn’t threaten you anymore. But have you ever thought about what if you were facing not one person, but two, three, or four!” Shen Tianjun said to Ye Qing, ”If you knock one person down, what about the others? You can knock one person down, but you’ll still have to face the attacks of the others. And if those people had weapons, you would certainly be doomed!”

Ye Qing nodded and said, ”Senior Shen, you moved too fast just now; I really couldn’t see clearly!”

Ha ha ha...,” Shen Tianjun laughed and said, ”That’s right, you didn’t see clearly, and if you had, I wouldn’t teach you anymore!”

”How is that possible?” Ye Qingqi asked, baffled.

”As I said just now, Wing Chun is different from traditional martial arts—it is an exception. Wing Chun doesn’t have techniques!” Shen Tianjun said, patting the wooden dummy. ”Since this boxing technique doesn’t have fixed techniques, if you actually learned fixed ones, that would be a real trouble!”

”No fixed techniques?” Ye Qing was even more astonished. Yesterday, Senior Shen taught him swordsmanship philosophies, and today for Wing Chun, no fixed techniques—what an unusual teacher!

Shen Tianjun said, ”Boxing techniques with patterns are easily deciphered. But once you have no fixed techniques, who can decipher your boxing then?”

Ye Qing nodded, recognizing the truth in Shen Tianjun’s words, but he still couldn’t grasp the concept.

”If there are no techniques, then... then how do you fight someone?” Ye Qing asked.

”Wing Chun Fist also has set routines. And its routines are actually divided into three!” Shen Tianjun said, ”These three routines are Siu Nim Tao, Xun Qiao, and Biao Zhi!”

”Siu Nim Tao is the foundation of Wing Chun, and it is also the most widely disseminated triad of the scorching heat,” Shen Tianjun said, slowly demonstrating this triad’s movements to Ye Qing. These movements are actually seen in some very ordinary Wing Chun martial arts schools outside, but now, when they are performed by a grandmaster of a generation like Shen Tianjun, the effect is entirely different.

Shen Tianjun said, ”Triad of scorching heat is the crucial core of the entire set of boxing technique, so this movement, which seems very simple, is extremely important. Moreover, Siu Nim Tao has a very important characteristic, which is that you must not move a step throughout the entire practice. It focuses on borrowing and deflecting force, retaining and sending it away. That is to say, when someone strikes at you, you borrow their force to pull them toward you. When the opponent wants to leave, you also borrow their force to give them a push, which can very effectively achieve the purpose of borrowing and deflecting force.”

”Xun Qiao is actually about sensing the trajectory of someone else’s attack to block their strikes. The key to the method of Xun Qiao is to feel the trajectory of the opponent’s attack, borrow force to dismantle it, and not clash head-on with the opponent. To achieve this, you must practice a lot on the wooden dummy, training your keen reaction. If you can do it with your eyes closed and just with your ears, you can sense the movements around you, then you have already gone beyond the realm of Xun Qiao and reached the realm of Wing Chun’s ’listening to the bridge’. By that time, even if a dozen people attack you at once, you will be able to block them easily, without any difficulty!”

Ye Qing couldn’t help but feel shaken; the power of Wing Chun Fist was beyond his expectation. You know, ancient people often said that one pair of fists is hard to beat four hands. When he was in the military, he had no problem fighting several people at once. But if they really swarmed him together, he would inevitably get hit a few times, after all, he couldn’t cover both front and back at once. Yet Wing Chun Fist actually had such an effect, which really surprised him.

”As for Biao Zhi, it is the method of offense and defense, emphasizing that when the enemy approaches, I block, when the enemy retreats, I cease, and I must not pursue!” Shen Tianjun said, ”Wing Chun Fist itself is a close-range boxing technique, and the most crucial aspect is to engage in close combat with the opponent. If the distance is widened, allowing the opponents to use their arms and legs freely, the effect of Wing Chun is not as great!”

Ye Qing listened, half understanding and half confused. Shen Tianjun’s words sounded very simple, but actually trying to do them was very difficult.

In fact, the way Shen Tianjun taught his disciples was also very different from those outside. Those martial arts schools outside would start by teaching you the basic techniques and so on, but Shen Tianjun did not teach any techniques at all, only imparting this concept to Ye Qing. As for how much Ye Qing could comprehend from this concept, that depended on Ye Qing’s aptitude — he was absolutely not going to teach the actual techniques step by step. Because he knew very well that doing so would only limit Ye Qing’s development in the future!

”The things I just told you, remember them well. Go back and practice on a wooden dummy multiple times, and you’ll understand what I mean,” Shen Tianjun slowly stepped back and said, ”Now, I am going to teach you the most critical move in Wing Chun Fist, the Wing Chun Inch Power!”

Du Tianyi, who was nearby, was also excited. Wing Chun Inch Power, with its incredible might, was something that Tie Yongwen had told him about. He hadn’t expected that Shen Tianjun would actually teach Ye Qing this move as well; it seemed he was truly not holding anything back.

Ye Qing had also heard of Wing Chun Inch Power before, so upon hearing Shen Tianjun’s words, he too was thrilled.

”Wing Chun Inch Power is a method that integrates both internal and external aspects, capable of mobilizing the body’s full strength in a very short time. Wing Chun Inch Power does not depend on distance, does not need to accumulate power, and can unleash the maximum power in the shortest time. Therefore, it is also the most quintessential move in Wing Chun Fist,” Shen Tianjun said, extending his hand and gently placing it less than an inch away from Ye Qing’s shoulder. Suddenly, with an outstretched hand that landed perfectly on Ye Qing’s shoulder, Ye Qing felt a tremendous force slap over, directly pushing him several meters back until he finally managed to steady himself.

Ye Qing was startled; without seeing how Shen Tianjun had moved, he had been pushed so far away. Was this Wing Chun Inch Power? It was too astonishing!

”The key to Wing Chun Inch Power is to mobilize the strength of the whole body,” Shen Tianjun looked at Ye Qing and said, ”As you punch, you twist your stance, and the explosive force generated by stamping the ground with your foot has already transferred from the waist to the fist. At the same time, the force generated by the body moving forward also accumulates on the fist. Therefore, you can release tremendous power in an extremely short distance and time because this punch concentrates all the body’s strength without wasting any of it!”

As he spoke, Shen Tianjun demonstrated again, gently tapping on the nearby tree. The large tree shook incessantly from Shen Tianjun’s touch, causing Ye Qing and Du Tianyi to once again widen their eyes.

It was evident that Shen Tianjun had restrained himself when he pushed Ye Qing just now. If he had gone all out, Ye Qing would probably have been knocked out of the courtyard by now!