Chapter 9: Taiji

Yang Tong couldn’t help but recall Taijiquan. It had been twelve years, and he wondered how much he still remembered.

“Peng, Lu, Ji, An, Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao, Jin, Tui, Gu, Pan, Ding. Empty the mind and keep the crown still, sink the chest and lift the back, drop the shoulders and lower the elbows, relax the waist and settle the hips. Neither tight nor loose, not fully extending yet not contracted, the force breaks but the intent does not cease. Use intent, not brute force. Taiji moves in circles without break.” Yang Tong began to slowly recall these in his mind.

Starting posture, embrace the ball, single push, probing posture, lifting posture, pouncing posture, carrying posture, separating posture, cloud hands, transforming posture, double push, lowering posture, closing posture. Soon, after mentally practicing a full set, he gained some insight. If transformed into techniques, it could be further divided into: grasp the sparrow’s tail, single whip, raise hands and step up, white crane spreads its wings, brush knee and twist step, play the lute, step forward, deflect, parry, and punch, appear to close, cross hands, embrace tiger and return to mountain…

Wasn’t this Taijiquan exactly what he urgently needed—the perfect method to slowly coordinate the gap between his overly fast nervous reactions and his overly slow physical responses?

Taijiquan is easy to learn but hard to master. Its movements are actually very simple; anyone can learn them after watching a few times. But Taijiquan does not focus on the movements; it focuses on its principles. This is its most essential part. Without some understanding of Daoist culture and the Book of Changes, one simply cannot unleash Taijiquan’s true power.

The six people in the group were paired for sparring. One round ended quickly, and the second round began.

“Yang Tong, Ge Lu, get ready,” announced the teacher recording scores.

Feng Xiaobo walked over and whispered to Yang Tong, “Yang Tong, be careful with this guy. I’m not his match. He actually trains in the toughest hard-body skill. Besides immense strength, everything else is about the same as me, but his defense is too strong, and his explosive power is also monstrous. He’s just too slow. Just don’t get hit by him.”

Yang Tong looked at the large figure not far away, who was about 1.8 meters tall, and couldn’t help but nod. A thirteen-year-old boy was nearly as tall as an adult, and the muscles exposed carried a violent beauty. Clearly, this big guy had immense strength. Ge Lu was not from Class Five. Yang Tong’s group was a mix, but among the larger group of forty-eight, over sixty percent were from Class Five.

“Yang Tong and Ge Lu, up. Feng Xiaobo and Ai Dong, get ready,” called the score-recording teacher after about fifteen minutes.

Yang Tong jumped onto the arena, and the big Ge Lu also stepped onto the arena. Rubbing the back of his head, he smiled extremely earnestly. “Please advise me.”

“Standard rules. You may begin,” the referee declared seriously.

Ge Lu assumed a boxing stance. It was clear he had learned a formal boxing method. Primary schools typically don’t teach students set forms like boxing or palm techniques; they focus on building a foundation. Without a solid foundation, everything else is like a castle in the air. For example, Yang Tong’s father had only recently taught him the Wind Wolf Fist. Once the foundation is solid, it’s time for growth in middle school, where they can start teaching boxing methods and the like. But this doesn’t mean students can’t learn techniques before that. It’s just that building a solid foundation is already quite taxing for children. Adding technique training would be even more exhausting and detrimental to their development.

However, for someone like Ge Lu, who was naturally gifted physically, it was possible to build a solid foundation while also learning advanced techniques.

As soon as Ge Lu assumed his stance, he attacked.

“Ox King Fist!”

Like a wild ox, he charged at Yang Tong, his momentum quite intimidating.

The moment Ge Lu attacked, Yang Tong grasped the power of this fist technique. Its movements were quite simple, but the combination of force and momentum gave a chilling feeling.

Yang Tong had just assumed his starting posture when he was met with Ge Lu’s almost unreasonable fist.

As soon as they clashed, Yang Tong felt a powerful force, one that surpassed his own standard strength. It seemed the Ox King Fist was similar in type to the Wind Wolf Fist—both emphasized generating force and amplifying strength.

Yang Tong used several transforming postures, then an embrace the ball posture to deflect the opponent’s force. He followed with a raise hands and step up, and appear to close, then stepped forward with a step forward, deflect, parry, and punch!

This punch used a squeezing force. When he unleashed it, he also amplified his power using the Wind Wolf Fist’s force generation method, while borrowing some of Ge Lu’s own force, actually sending Ge Lu flying backward.

Yang Tong retracted his hand and assumed a white crane spreads its wings posture.

This left the referee and the students below stunned for a moment.

“Kid, listen up. Taijiquan in actual combat emphasizes listening to force and leading the hands. Lead in and make them fall empty, borrow force to strike the opponent. The entire body must be unified as one. When moving, all parts move; when still, all parts are still. The force may break, but the intent does not cease. Only then can you strike the moment contact is made. The lead is in the upper body, transformation in the chest, storage in the legs, control in the waist. Store before releasing. The body must have five bows to store force like drawing a bow and release force like shooting an arrow. Force is stored through curves and bends, and the body’s force lies in its entirety. Releasing force must focus on one direction, aiming for a precise point, like shooting at a target. Force originates from the heels, travels from the feet to the legs to the waist, and manifests in the fingers. It must be continuous without the slightest interruption.”

The old man’s voice suddenly echoed in Yang Tong’s mind, along with memories of his happiest days from his past life.

…

“Listening to force—with my nerve reactions, as long as the punch speed isn’t more than three times faster than I can handle, I can grasp it in advance. Then comes leading the hands,” Yang Tong thought to himself. The sudden increase in nerve reactions, though not yet fully adapted to, was actually perfect for Taijiquan. Taijiquan emphasizes striking second, borrowing force to strike back, using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds. The key lies in striking second and borrowing force. The key to striking second is accurately judging the opponent’s punching trajectory, force, and center of gravity, among other things. This is the most difficult and crucial point. Borrowing force means using Taijiquan’s core theories and the flexible application of techniques to achieve this goal.

Ge Lu stood up immediately. Unlike Tong Zhengbin, he did not concede directly. Instead, he seemed very unwilling. The fight had just started, and he was sent flying without even understanding how.

“Again!” Ge Lu roared, unleashing all his strength.

“Bear King Palm!” Compared to before, his momentum doubled again, becoming truly frightening. The wind from his punch even made a “whoosh” sound.

The instant Ge Lu attacked, Yang Tong accurately judged the punch’s force and speed. He could easily dodge it. If he tried to block it directly, he would surely get hurt.

Without Taijiquan, even if Yang Tong used the Wind Wolf Fist to clash head-on with Ge Lu, he wouldn’t necessarily win. A mutual defeat or even losing was more likely, since Yang Tong had only learned his fist technique a few days ago.

After several repetitions, Yang Tong knocked Ge Lu flying and onto the ground multiple times, until Ge Lu was finally subdued.