ocean-life Chapter 2 Is Chinese Martial Arts Dead?
Chapter 2 Is Chinese Martial Arts Dead?
boom!
An unprecedentedly loud bang echoed through the empty training ground.
The seemingly indestructible wooden dummy broke in the middle with a snap.
The upper half of the pile shot into the sky, flew more than ten meters away, and crashed heavily to the ground, shattering into countless pieces of wood.
Ma Cong maintained his punching stance, his right fist hovering in mid-air, wisps of white steam rising from the tip of his fist.
He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently.
It became.
An unprecedented sense of clarity rose from my dantian and instantly flowed throughout my limbs and bones.
The bones in his body crackled and popped, as if undergoing a complete transformation.
The blood surged through the veins, making a sound like the roar of a river.
He could clearly feel that every bit of power within his body could be precisely mobilized, twisted into a single rope, and burst forth from his fists, elbows, shoulders, and any part of his body.
[Congratulations, host, you have successfully broken through to the Ming Jin realm.]
[Ming Jin: Possessing profound and unobstructed internal energy, capable of injuring others with every gesture; throughout history, such individuals can be considered masters of Chinese martial arts.]
Master of Chinese Martial Arts!
Ma Cong clenched his fist, feeling the surging power, a surge of heat rushing to the top of his head.
He couldn't help but look up to the sky and roar, his voice filled with long-suppressed excitement and ecstasy.
A month, a whole month of hellish asceticism.
he made it!
"Exit the martial arts space."
Ma Cong had a sudden thought.
The scene before my eyes distorted, and the ancient training ground vanished.
The familiar bedroom, the messy desk, and the yellowed Kobe poster on the wall—he was back in his world.
He looked down at his hands, hands covered in calluses, yet brimming with explosive power.
This is no longer the hand of the "King of Boxing" who could only subdue a few small-time thugs.
This is the hand of a master of Ming Jin (a type of martial arts).
Ma Cong walked to the window and opened it.
A hot wind, a mixture of car exhaust and food aromas, wafts through the air, typical of summer in Jincheng.
He thought of Old Man Chen.
That slovenly old man who always reeked of alcohol, taught boxing half-heartedly, but always quietly handed over ointment after he himself was injured.
The old man spent his whole life pursuing the threshold of Ming Jin (a martial arts technique), but he never managed to reach it before he died.
"Old man, I've mastered it."
Ma Cong said softly, his voice a little hoarse.
[The host has been cultivating at a high intensity for a long time, and both their body and mind have reached their limits. It is recommended that they take a break. A balance between work and rest is the way to long-term health.]
The system's voice sounded at the right time.
Ma Cong nodded, then sank into the living room sofa, completely relaxing.
He pulled his phone out from under the coffee table, unlocked it skillfully, and opened a short video app.
He had only swiped twice when the big data system accurately pushed a piece of content to him.
The video's cover image shows a middle-aged man in traditional martial arts attire being knocked out by a burly man wearing boxing gloves, falling straight down.
The headline is jarring: [Traditional martial arts master Sun Moumou suffers another knockout; is Chinese martial arts just exercise or a scam?]
Ma Cong frowned and clicked on it.
The video is short; it shows Master Sun striking a few fancy starting stances before being knocked down by a simple straight punch from his opponent.
The entire process takes no more than ten seconds.
But the comments section below was much more interesting than the video itself.
"Hilarious! Is this master made of paper? He'd crumble at the slightest touch."
"I told you long ago, traditional martial arts are all just for show. They're useless in a real fight. You might as well learn Sanda for two years."
"Upstairs, that's insulting Sanda. Two years of learning radio calisthenics would be better than this."
"Is this what they call using minimal force to achieve maximum effect? I saw it! Four ounces of cotton were flattened by a thousand-pound sledgehammer, awesome!"
"Stop making baseless accusations; my dog is a better fighter than him."
"Please, these so-called masters, stop embarrassing yourselves. You're making our ancestors lose all face."
The comments were filled with sarcasm and disdain.
Ma Cong's breathing began to become heavy.
He clicked on another related video, still featuring the same Master Sun, but from a different angle.
The comments section was filled with similar content, and some were even more offensive.
"Liars! They're all liars! We suggest a thorough investigation; they're using the guise of traditional Chinese martial arts to scam money!"
"My grandfather believed this back then and was scammed out of tens of thousands of yuan. They said it could open up the Ren and Du meridians."
"Traditional martial arts are dead; if you need anything, burn paper money."
Ma Cong's knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone.
He felt a fire burning in his chest.
fraud?
A mere facade?
Is traditional Chinese martial arts dead?
He remembered what Old Man Chen had said when he taught him to practice standing meditation.
"Kid, what we're practicing is called Chinese martial arts, a killing technique passed down from our ancestors, not some monkey show on stage. Remember, a martial artist must have backbone; it's better to die standing than to live on your knees."
But now, these so-called "masters" are groveling to swindle money.
Meanwhile, online onlookers have been throwing mud at the entire Chinese martial arts community.
They don't know what true Bajiquan is, what true Xingyiquan is, or what true Chinese martial arts are.
They only saw the clown's clumsy performance on stage and then concluded that all the characters in the show were the clown.
Why should I?!
Ma Cong suddenly stood up from the sofa, his phone squeaking as he gripped it.
He wanted to restore the reputation of traditional Chinese martial arts.
With these fists that have already reached the Ming Jin level, let's knock back all the dirty water that has been splashed on Chinese martial arts!
Just then, the system's voice rang in my mind.
【Ding! 】
[A strong desire for legitimization has been detected in the host; main quest triggered.]
[Task Name: Rectifying the Reputation of Chinese Martial Arts]
[Mission Requirements: Demonstrate the true power of Chinese martial arts in front of at least 100,000 witnesses, and shatter the "Chinese martial arts are useless" theory.]
[Task Reward: System Upgrade Points.]
Ma Cong stared at the "System Upgrade Points" on the task panel, feeling a little itchy.
"System, what are these upgrade points used for?"
System upgrade points can be used to unlock higher-level martial arts inheritance modules or to enhance existing functions.
"Higher-level sections? For example?"
[Ancient martial arts.]
[Immortal Martial Arts]
【Divine Martial Arts】
Ma Cong's breathing paused for a moment.
Ancient martial arts?
Isn't that the legendary skill of flying over rooftops and walking on snow without leaving a trace?
How many upgrade points are needed to unlock the Ancient Martial Arts section?
10:00 AM.
ten o'clock.
Ma Cong clenched his fists.
You only get a little bit for completing a task; it'll take forever to finish.
But this only fueled his fighting spirit.
He's determined to have ancient martial arts.
The most urgent task is to complete the mission of "rectifying the name of Chinese martial arts".
The collective witness of 100,000 people.
That's no small number. Where do you find so many people to watch him box?
You can't exactly go to the city center square and perform a set of Vajra Eight Forms, can you?
That's not called rectifying names, that's called performance art, and you'll get a lecture from the city management officers later.
Ma Cong picked up his phone again and searched for keywords such as "Chinese martial arts" and "real combat" in the app.
The internet is flooded with videos of Master Sun being knocked out, along with various sarcastic and mocking derivative works.
He patiently swiped it down.
A new video popped up.
The person who posted the video has the ID "Boxing King Zhao Biao".
Number of followers: 530,000.
In the video, a muscular man wearing a tight vest is seen punching a sandbag.
His punches were incredibly fast, each one producing a dull thud, causing the sandbag to shake violently as if it were about to burst open at any moment.
This guy's got something.
Ma Cong commented that this person's punches were very heavy, indicating he was a trained fighter.