Chapter 53: Teaching

He asked again to confirm, “Nishizuka, you’re not joking, right? You’ve learned all ten styles of boxing… I’m not talking about just memorizing them roughly, but truly understanding them completely.”

“I only fully mastered these ten boxing styles a few days ago, and I’ve been deepening and consolidating them over the past couple of days…”

Fang Jing paused, “So I also hope the teacher can guide me more deeply.”

(The truth was, as long as he had the intention, he could learn all the boxing styles in the shortest time possible.)

Hearing his words, Sakaki Tetsuhei tried hard to keep his facial expression calm. He stood up.

“Come with me…”

He led Nishizuka out of the Boxing Dojo and went up the stairs to the rooftop on the sixth floor.

The sixth floor was completely empty, with no tenants, and no one would disturb them on the rooftop.

“Nishizuka, since you say you’ve mastered those ten boxing styles, here and now, show me the Dragon King Boxing!”

Hearing Sakaki Tetsuhei say this, Fang Jing naturally obeyed. He settled into his stance and demonstrated the Dragon King Boxing.

“Good, now switch to Hakuri Boxing.”

Sakaki Tetsuhei spoke again, asking him to switch to another boxing style.

Fang Jing nodded and smoothly performed a full set of Hakuri Boxing.

“Alright, now switch to Nio Boxing.”

Sakaki Tetsuhei remained expressionless, only urging Fang Jing to continue performing the boxing forms.

Only a martial artist as skilled as him could truly realize how exaggerated Nishizuka Tsukasa’s current aptitude was.

“…I’ve seen talented geniuses in martial arts before, but mastering a boxing style in less than a month as if it took nearly a year or more is simply unbelievable.”

Martial arts training cannot be achieved overnight; normal people need to spend time practicing boxing.

According to the assessment methods of most ancient martial arts schools, the entry level of learning martial arts is called “Risseki,” followed by five stages: “Shoden,” “Chuden,” “Okuden,” and “Kaiden,” step by step cultivating martial skills to a master level.

Speaking of this ranking system, it was originally used in ancient times for games like Go and Shogi, and was later adopted by swordsmanship to delineate ranks.

In ancient martial arts, a beginner who hasn’t practiced for a certain period is naturally at the “Risseki” stage. “Shoden,” “Chuden,” “Kaiden,” and “Okuden” all require time and gradual achievement through practice.

“Risseki” is the entry level, like a baby crawling on the ground after birth.

“Shoden” is equivalent to learning to walk—adopting the posture of walking on two legs. But in martial arts, this foundation takes at least one to three to five years to build.

“Chuden” means being able to walk steadily. After building the foundation, one strives to climb upward. This stage varies from person to person—some progress quickly, others slowly.

“Okuden” is like ascending a building steadily. Reaching this stage in martial arts requires perseverance, spirit, and willpower. Many people stall here and struggle to reach the top.

“Kaiden” is like climbing a mountain—every step is fraught with hardships, but once you reach the summit, it’s like soaring to the heavens.

However, this strict grading system was only popular in ancient times. In modern times, the ranking system leans more toward commercial atmosphere, unlike ancient martial artists who emphasized practical skill development.

What Sakaki Tetsuhei found astonishing was that Fang Jing had trained all ten skills of the Shaolin Kempo’s hard and soft methods to the “Shoden” level. This was equivalent to achieving what others took years to accomplish.

Admittedly, the ten boxing styles can be learned concurrently rather than one by one; they can be practiced simultaneously and complement each other, speeding up understanding.

Even so, he himself was called a “child prodigy” in his youth and still took two years to fully integrate and train all ten boxing styles to the “Shoden” level.

Yet this Nishizuka Tsukasa spent only one month, surpassing the effort he put in over two years, and perfectly mastered these ten boxing styles. Naturally, Sakaki Tetsuhei’s inner excitement was understandable.

Sakaki Tetsuhei was silent for a long time without speaking. After a while, he said softly to Fang Jing, “Nishizuka, starting tomorrow, I will personally begin instructing you. After you finish basic training with the others… come to the rooftop, and I will teach you the next steps in boxing. Do you understand?”

“I understand, Tetsuhei teacher.”

Fang Jing was slightly startled inwardly; he knew Sakaki Tetsuhei was finally starting to formally guide him.

With this practical ancient martial arts expert personally coaching him, his combat skills would surely improve rapidly.

Seeing Fang Jing’s serious attitude, Sakaki Tetsuhei was very satisfied.

He knew this was a rough diamond that needed careful polishing.

(However, it’s best not to let him realize his talent surpasses ordinary people. The more gifted the genius, the more prone they are to arrogance and complacency due to their abilities. Nishizuka is an outstanding young man; it’s best to prevent him from making such mistakes…)

Driven by innate responsibility, Sakaki Tetsuhei resolved to teach this disciple well.

————————

“Boss Tsutsuga, long time no see.”

A slightly hoarse voice came from the booth. Tsutsuga was pressing ice against his face with his hand. He looked up and saw a very familiar figure.

“Is that you, Fujiwara?”

He couldn’t help but scrutinize the young man curiously. He seemed much thinner and was dressed very oddly, wearing a thick coat with his face half-hidden by the hood.

“Hey! Why aren’t you speaking? Has your mouth rotted?”

Suddenly, Tsutsuga stood up from the booth, furious. He was big and burly, and he reached out to grab Fujiwara’s collar.

“Damn it, it’s because of you, you bastard, that I got beaten up. Hey, don’t think you can get away with it just because your dad’s a councilman.”

“Ahem! Calm down a bit, Boss Tsutsuga.”

Hidden under the hood, Fujiwara’s lips curled into a faint smile. He placed his hand on Tsutsuga’s wrist and just applied a little force. Tsutsuga felt his wrist clamped by a strange strength and let out a cry of pain, feeling as if his wrist might break under Fujiwara’s grip.

“Boss, what’s wrong?”

Tsutsuga’s gang friends heard his cry and gathered around.

“Hey! Kid, why are you hiding your face? Not shy, are you?”

One of them grabbed the edge of Fujiwara’s hood, intending to pull it off. But when he lifted that side, he suddenly cried out, “Mom!”

“Hehe! Seems you don’t like this half of my face much.”

Fujiwara pulled down his hood. The other half of his face looked as if it had been splashed with acid. Seeing his appearance, Tsutsuga even forgot the pain in his wrist.

“Fujiwara, what happened to you…?”

“Hahaha… Don’t get so worked up, Boss Tsutsuga. I came today specifically to give you money to spend. However, I’d like you to help me with a small matter.”

He pulled out a thick stack of “Yukichi” from his pocket, making Tsutsuga and the other street thugs stare wide-eyed.

“It’s quite simple—teach someone a lesson for me. This is the deposit; I’ll give more after it’s done…”

Seeing the money, Tsutsuga’s attitude changed instantly. He held his sore wrist and said in a low voice, “I heard you’ve been on the police’s radar lately. Is that true?”

“My dad is, after all, a councilman from a local group. If there’s real trouble, he’ll help me out.”

“You make it sound good… The police are one thing, but recently there’s been a madman asking about the drug.”

“Drug—?”

Fujiwara froze, his eyes momentarily blank.