The Commencement of Practicing Fighting Technique (1)
After the two elders learned some more information about Zheng-Fu’s first sword fighting skill, Tong-Lang said…
“We can teach you to break through the first stages of the “Sword of the Wind” and the “Belt Sword” skills. But for the “Sword of Willow Leaves” skill, we haven’t gone through the first stage yet, so…”
Tong-Lange was sad talking about it because he was not able to break through to the second stage when it came to practicing the “Sword of Willow Leaves” skill. As for the other two sword skills, he managed to break through to the second stage…
“That’s already superb for me Elder Tong-Lang. I would be more than delighted if I could achieve the skills to pass the clan’s martial arts test. I’m honored to have both of you as my Masters to guide me.”
Zheng-Fu cupped his fists and bowed to pay respect to the two elders. It made both of them smile from ear to ear out of joy because they did not really get compliments so often. This was the reason why the whole conversation with Zheng-Fu made them happy. Zheng-Fu himself did not expect a lot from the two elders too. He only needed something good enough to help him pass the clan’s test…
“Look at you. You’re still very young, but you have a way with words. It shows that you really know how to get along well.” Tong-Tieng said and smiled at Zheng-Fu…
“That’s right. I suddenly feel like I want to adore this boy. He’ll sure be somebody in the future.” Tong-Lang agreed with Tong-Tieng. The agreement made both Monitors laugh with joy…
“Well, let’s start then. You have only a little more than a week left before the test, so we will give you extra guidance. But let us be clear that the training will be very tough. If you think you cannot handle it, you should go back home to your mother!”
“I’m certainly all ready, Masters. No matter how heavy it is, I vow to go through it and won’t complain about it. I don’t want to disappoint my parents. They have high hope in me.” Zheng-Fu said and tried to stand up straighter…
“Excellent!”
“I hope you keep the level of your strong determination because what you’re about to face can make you beg for life!”
“Yes, sir!”
Tong-Tieng tried to pressure Zheng-Fu with a fake threat to scare him, but he showed no fear. His eyes were so still and full of willpower. It was like he was not an 8-year-old boy…
‘This boy is very confident. Is he really 8 years old?’ Zheng-Fu’s fearless posture prompted Tong-Lang and Tong-Tieng to ask strange questions in their mind…
“The first sword skill that we’re going to practice is the “Belt Sword” skill. The first movement of this skill is “Soft for Defense”. This movement emphasizes using our flexibility to defend ourselves from offensive fighting techniques. Imagine yourself being a bouncy dough. When something hits you, be like a dough. Just take the hit with a bouncy-dough state of mind without forcing anything.”
Zheng-Fu tried to do what Tong-Tieng and Tong-Lang told him by moving his body and his sword according to the skill movement patterns. But as he moved, some kind of images appeared in his mind…
Whoosh!
Wheeze!
‘What were those images of movements? Why were they different from the ones I saw in the skill manual, both movements and postures?’
After Zheng-Fu spent a while trying to comprehend what he experienced, he started to move exactly like what he saw in his mind immediately…
“Move right leg forward. Arms slightly lifted. Move the sword in circular motion smoothly to stop the opponent’s weapon without having to try or force it.”
Rustle!
“What is he trying to do?” Tong-Tieng saw that Zheng-Fu did not do exactly what he taught him, so he was confused and made a remark…
“Yes. That didn’t look like what we taught him. He moved as if he became one with his sword. The movements were being delivered in a very efficient way too. The outcome was much better than what was supposed to be.” Tong-Lang felt in awe as well…
After a little while, Tong-Lang started to imitate Zheng-Fu’s movement. He tried to move according to the exact patterns that Zheng-Fu was doing, every single step of them…
Bam!
“Brother!”
When the whole course was done, Tong-Lang shouted out to call his brother’s attention with a tint of amazement in his tone. His face showed that he did not want to believe what he had just perceived…
“What happened? What’s up with that face? And why did you try to move like that boy?” As Tong-Tieng stood looking at the boy with confusion, he suddenly turned to his brother as his brother called his name. When he saw his brother, he noticed that his brother had just gone through some kind of strange experience, judging from his facial expression…
“Brother… You’re not going to believe me. I cannot believe that this boy is a genius. Hahaha!”
Tong-Lang answered the questions while laughing out loud, but he did not help Tong-Tieng to understand what was going on. That was why Tong-Tieng crinkled his eyebrows with so many questions in his head…
“What do you mean?”
“I cannot verbally explain it to you. You need to see for yourself by doing exactly what the boy did.” Tong-Lang said and smiled at his brother with joy…
The explanation made Tong-Tieng even more confused. He turned to look at Zheng-Fu who was busy practicing his sword movement pattern. He was not sure whether to believe Tong-Lang, who continued to move after Zheng-Fu. It took the happy smile on Tong-Lang’s face that made him decide to do so. He said, “All right. I’ll give it a try.” After making a decision, Tong-Tieng started to do what Zheng-Fu was doing right away…
Bam!
Bam!
“Wow! That was magnificent!” After Tong-Tieng finished the last move, he got to witness the powerful force that came from him, in a way that he never experienced before. Just doing exactly what Zheng-Fu did he could produce that kind of power. That was why he screamed loudly out of surprise while being delighted…
When Tong-Lang heard his brother’s delighted scream, he knew right away that his brother could sense that strange but good feeling as he did. He said, “I’ve told you, brother. How did it feel? I used to think that this sword fighting skill was merely a cheap defensive technique, but when I started to practice after the boy, I felt like I could produce the force that can take down huge swords that weigh up to a hundred tons.”
“Aha!”
Tong-Tieng did not say anything but nod in a bid to agree with his brother. Both of them continue to follow Zheng-Fu’s lead. The more they kept going, the better the understanding they had of the movement pattern. So, they were in the process of mastering this sword skill, which in the end brought them the more powerful defensive force…
Zheng-Fu stopped doing the moves and turned back to the two elders to ask them whether he moved correctly or not. But when he saw his Masters, he realized that they were imitating his fighting movement pattern, so he asked them out of curiosity with an inspective look, “What are you two doing?”
“Oof!”
Tong-Tieng and Tong-Lang were startled when Zheng-Fu asked them the question. They lost words because they felt embarrassed that they were imitating a fighting movement from the boy…
“We were just stretching up, weren’t we, brother?” Tong-Lang pretended to stretch about while turning to his brother and gave an awkward smile…
“Yep!”
“Don’t ask us, boy! What about you? Do you feel like you understand what we taught you?”
Tong-Lang asked Zheng-Fu back right away to cover up his embarrassment. Zheng-Fu, on the other hand, acted like he did not know that his Masters were copying his moves, even though he knew that since the beginning. He did not want to say anything about it because he was grateful for both of them who helped him achieve the sword skill…
“Master Tong-Lang, sir! I now understand the skill and can use it efficiently.”
“Understand it and can use it efficiently!?”
Tong-Tieng gasped out of astonishment when he heard Zheng-Fu’s answer because they only taught him the move today, but the boy told him that he knew how to use the skill now…
“Kid! This is a serious matter! You cannot be joking around about it!”
“I’m not joking, sir. I mean it. You can check if you want to!” Zheng-Fu was ready to test the skill with his Masters, so he asked the Masters to test him while giving them an innocent smile…
“Fine! I’ll test you. I’ll throw this rock towards you and you must use the “Soft for Defense” skill to deal with it. You’d better make sure you can do it. I have to warn you that even though this is just a rock, it can hurt you severely if you lie to us.”
“Please. Let’s do it, Master!” Zheng-Fu did not wait for Tong-Lang to stop the sentence and urged his Master to start the test. He actually was not sure if he could deal with the rock with the skill he just achieved, but his gut feeling told him that he could manage it…
“Good! Then, take this!”
Zoom!