Chapter 626: Chapter 597: Lesson Learned
Xu Chunliang waved to Meng Youde and said, "Come on over!"
It was only at this moment that Meng Youde recognized Xu Chunliang. Earlier, they had encountered each other backstage. When Xu Chunliang saw their group backstage, he heard they were discussing martial arts hometowns, so he proactively approached to exchange a few friendly words, saying that Dongzhou and Han County were also martial arts hometowns.
Meng Youde sneered and bluntly responded that he had never heard of them, which instantly offended Xu Chunliang.
Xu Chunliang has always held the belief that if you show me an inch of respect, I will show you an inch in return. But if you take a mile, I will advance ten.
Meng Youde nodded and said, "Dongzhou Xiang Yu, I’m here to learn!" He strode forward like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, launching an attack at Xu Chunliang.
The Baji Fist strikes hard and advances without hesitation, with the entire body ready to strike. The Iron Mountain Lean relies on shoulder and elbow strength to strike the opposing object, delivering immense power.
The Iron Mountain Lean requires delivering force from the legs, using the hips to drive the shoulder and elbow. The shoulder and elbow act as a pivot point, thrusting towards the enemy, emphasizing the waist and horse’s force, providing enough power to crush and destroy. The impact point needs to be small, with a moderate buffer distance, embodying a fearless and brave spirit, charging forcefully and unstoppably.
Meng Youde’s earlier moves were just for show, but this time he came seriously. Of course, he didn’t use his full strength, as he didn’t intend to harm the opponent. He merely wanted to knock Xu Chunliang to the ground, embarrassing him in front of everyone. By calling out the name Dongzhou Xiang Yu, he intended that defeating Xu Chunliang would symbolically crush Dongzhou’s martial arts reputation on the spot. How could Dongzhou’s martial arts hometown compare to Lion City?
As Meng Youde seemed about to collide with Xu Chunliang, Xu Chunliang moved his foot, and the Spiritual Snake Eight Steps activated. Meng Youde was momentarily dazzled and lost sight of his target. Being a skilled expert, he quickly realized the change in situation and immediately withdrew his force and stopped, thankful he hadn’t exerted his full power earlier; otherwise, retracting his force wouldn’t have been so easy.
The audience let out a gasp of admiration as Xu Chunliang swiftly evaded Meng Youde’s attack and circled behind him, countering with an Iron Mountain Lean of his own.
Although Xu Chunliang’s skills hadn’t fully recovered to their peak, his knowledge in martial arts hadn’t diminished in the slightest. At his grandmaster level, any martial art style he saw was understood with just a glance.
Xu Chunliang used an Iron Mountain Lean almost identical to Meng Youde’s, though he didn’t exert much strength. This was known as going with the flow. Meng Youde had not yet fully retracted his force, and Xu Chunliang’s push caught him off balance, causing him to stagger forward more than ten steps, directly to the edge of the stage, where he was forced to jump down.
Xu Chunliang waved dismissively, indicating Meng Youde was not up to par, and shouted, "Is there anyone else?"
"Yong Chun Liang Zan!" In white clothes and black pants, with the demeanor of a grandmaster, Liang Zan entered the stage.
Wing Chun emphasizes short-range strikes, primarily utilizing both hands and swift attacks. The key to successful close combat is timing; all techniques are subordinate to saving time and assessing practical application.
Wing Chun particularly stresses the principle of short distance, such as taking the centerline to achieve the shortest distance and fastest time for attacks. Its techniques emphasize simplicity, using the most concise movements for direct attacks, aligning with modern combat concepts.
To excel in close combat, the secret lies in unbalancing the opponent. For example, during grappling, when vision is unreliable, one relies on tactile reflexes to quickly sense changes in the opponent’s center of gravity and react swiftly, unbalancing and toppling them. When the central nervous system builds complex reflexes, the hands achieve zero response time and adaptable reactions, handling rapid and dynamic combat effortlessly. Therefore, it’s considered the main basis for Wing Chun’s philosophy of "no form triumphs form".
Liang Zan, not very tall, was suited for close combat. With agile footwork, he quickly closed the distance with Xu Chunliang. Normally, one should take advantage of Wing Chun’s strengths and avoid its weaknesses, but Xu Chunliang didn’t deliberately distance himself.
Liang Zan rejoiced internally, striking with fists and elbows along his centerline, aiming at the opponent’s centerline, typically the most challenging area to defend in close combat.
After Liang Zan’s strike, Xu Chunliang executed a movement like instant transportation, widening the distance between them, causing Liang Zan’s blow to miss.
Liang Zan didn’t give Xu Chunliang a chance to breathe, using a holistic attack involving arms, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fists, even adding the full body’s momentum. He relentlessly pressed forward, striving for maximum attack speed and power with each blow, closing the gap continuously, preventing Xu Chunliang from creating distance.
Wing Chun adheres to the economic principle that once a punch is thrown, even if it misses, it won’t be retracted. Instead, there are external changes; if an attack fails, the direction is changed for another strike, known as inch power.
Xu Chunliang dodged Liang Zan’s charging punches.
Liang Zan immediately connected through bridging hands, applying sticky hands for a quick victory, with his fists striking Xu Chunliang like a windmill.
Xu Chunliang praised, "Good!"
To the average person, Liang Zan’s punches were as fast as lightning, but to Xu Chunliang, they seemed like a slow-motion replay. The martial arts skill gap between them was immense. It wasn’t that Liang Zan’s boxing lacked precision; he just unluckily encountered a reincarnate martial demon from a past life.
Xu Chunliang delivered a crushing punch, showcasing the power of inch energy, clearly having grasped Wing Chun’s essence.
Liang Zan could hardly believe his eyes; this guy also knew Wing Chun, and his punch speed was at least twice his own—possibly even more. Liang’s understanding could only reach this extent.
Liang Zan guarded the centerline tightly, taking full advantage of the shortest punch trajectory. He believed that regardless of whether the opponent struck with one hand or both, he could hit first and dissolve the opponent’s attack invisibly according to the philosophy of "attack hand is dissolve hand." But in the face of absolute speed, everything seemed futile.
Xu Chunliang punched Liang Zan’s chest, and Liang Zan only felt an unprecedentedly powerful force transmitted to his body. He couldn’t stand and flew backward into the air.
Liang Zan thought to himself that this was bad. He was going to fall flat on his face in front of everyone, and losing was a small matter, but bringing shame to Yong Chun was a big deal.
When he was about to land, he tried hard to stand firm, but maintaining balance under such a powerful force was no easy task.
At this moment, someone lightly supported him from behind, and Liang Zan finally managed to stand firmly on the stage without falling flat on the ground. Despite this, he broke out in a cold sweat. Looking closely, it was Xu Chunliang who helped him out at the critical moment, preventing him from looking too bad. Xu Chunliang had shown mercy.
Xu Chunliang cheerfully cupped his hands toward him and said, "Thank you for the lesson!"
Master of Tan Tui from Xingzhou, Ma Baomin, also took the stage at this time. He was confused for a while before understanding the situation—this Xiang Yu was here to stir up trouble.
Ma Baomin was not polite and directly used his ultimate skill, releasing a series of Ten Style Tan Tui kicks.
First Style: Single Whip Stance, Second Style: Cross Bounce, Third Style: Horse Cover Punch, Fourth Style: Slanted Kick and Block...
Xu Chunliang didn’t care about his styles; Ma Baomin used kicks, and so did he.
Ma Baomin prided himself on his kicking skills, capable of breaking stones. Seeing this young man’s direct hard collision with him, he thought, "Exactly what I wanted; if I can’t kick you dead, I’ll figure it out."
But his Ten Style Tan Tui could only proceed to the fourth style before it was halted. Xu Chunliang’s legs were much tougher than stone, and in the leg-to-leg collision, Ma Baomin was at a disadvantage.
Ma Baomin realized the intensity as soon as he used the first style of Tan Tui. If he hadn’t seen his opponent, he would have thought he kicked an iron plate.
Xu Chunliang smiled at him.
Ma Baomin was frustrated. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have come up. Now he felt stuck in a difficult situation, but his mind was quick. His legs were in pain, and he remembered his lines: "Who goes there?"
Xu Chunliang shouted loudly again, "Dongzhou Xiang Yu!"
Ma Baomin was startled by his vigorous voice, but he consoled himself that being defeated by someone claiming to be Xiang Yu wasn’t embarrassing.
The disciples of Shaolin and Wudang on the stage were all confused. This scene wasn’t in the rehearsals—where did this Xiang Yu suddenly jump out from?
At this moment, the audience erupted in thunderous applause. The uninformed audience cheered, and while experts saw the subtleties, laymen enjoyed the entertainment. Anyway, everyone basically saw that this Dongzhou Xiang Yu was really capable!
Seeing the situation was favorable, Xu Chunliang cupped his hands toward the crowd, saying, "If anyone is unconvinced, come find me in Dongzhou!" This fellow turned and stepped down from the stage. Ma Baomin and Liang Zan exchanged glances—should they continue their fight in the performance or not?
Luckily, time was up, and the host took the stage: "Thank you all for the wonderful performance..."
After that day’s gala ended, there was a banquet, with culture and tourism bureaus from all over the country gathering together, exchanging toasts, and forming various cooperation agreements over drinks.
Despite Dongzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau’s program receiving applause today, insiders in the tourism industry knew about Dongzhou’s tourism resources. No one approached them for cooperation; there wasn’t even one prospective partner.
Fu Guomin watched as the Nanjiang Cultural and Tourism Bureau Director and Suzhou Cultural and Tourism Bureau Director busily socialized, and he felt the sting of being neglected.
Xu Chunliang didn’t mind, comforting Fu Guomin by saying, "Today you look down on me; tomorrow you’ll find me beyond reach."
Though he said this, the reality left Fu Guomin feeling embarrassed. Returning like this would be too humiliating. While others didn’t approach them, they could take the initiative. Fan Lidada was familiar with directors from other cities’ culture and tourism bureaus in the province, so this was something he should handle.
Turning around, he found that Fan Lidada wasn’t there. As he searched, Fan Lidada approached wearing sunglasses because one eye was still swollen, and he didn’t want others to notice.
Fan Lidada had just gone to the bathroom. Ever since being secretly photographed, he’d developed a frequent urge to urinate, fearing he might have a prostate issue and planning to get checked at the hospital after return to Dongzhou.
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