Chapter 417: This world's missing Taiji Fist!
Chapter 417: This world's missing Taiji Fist!
Late at night.
Unknown time.
Zhang Ye woke up once more. This time he woke up from his sweating. Sweat was dripping down from his forehead to his nose and it made him feel itchy. He slowly opened his eyes as he wiped off the beads of sweat. After sweating so much, Zhang Ye was feeling much better now. He did not feel as dizzy anymore and the cold in his body was gone. From his experience, the fever had almost subsided. At least it would no longer be a 39 degree fever anymore.
"Awake again?" Rao Aimin, who was leaning on the bed frame, said.
Zhang Ye was still lying on her lap. As he was sweating so much as he slept, the landlady auntie's training pants were drenched, especially at the crotch and thigh areas. It was a little strange to see that. He said, "Yea. I'm awake and feel better already."
"Raise your arms." Rao Aimin said.
Zhang Ye asked, "What for?"
"I asked you to raise them, so just do it." Rao Aimin was holding a thermometer in her hands as she waited for Zhang Ye to raise his arms. Then she stuck it into his armpits when he did, "Look at you. You look so weak and frail. Don't fight with others in the future. Do you really think you have learnt martial arts?"
Zhang Ye snorted, "I really did learn some."
Rao Aimin contemptibly said, "With just those few taekwondo moves, you might be able to beat those useless bodyguards of Lee Anson, but if you really meet a proper martial artist, then you would be beaten hands down!"
Zhang Ye boastfully said, "Who says that I only know Taekwondo? You're not the only person who has learned martial arts before. If I only had those few moves of Taekwondo, I wouldn't be able to beat Lee Anson's bodyguards. It's just some martial arts, this bro has learned it before too!"
Rao Aimin was tickled, "And what did you learn?"
Zhang Ye answered as though he was telling the truth, "Taiji Fist!"
Rao Aimin was stunned for a little, "Yo? You know about Taiji Fist?"
"What's there not to know?" Zhang Ye was intrigued by the way Rao Aimin replied to him.
Rao Aimin looked at him and said, "Everyone knows that Taiji is an ancient school of thought. The are many ancient books that have records about it. In the system of Change, there is the Great Ultimate. It generates the Two Modes (Yin and Yang). The Two Modes generate the Four Forms (major and minor Yin and Yang). The Four Forms generate the Eight Trigrams. It's relationship runs deep with our Eight Trigrams learnings, but Taiji Fist is something that I have only heard of. This school of martial arts has very little relation to Taiji. The people who know about it could be said to be rarer than rare."
Zhang Ye said with a blank stare, "Landlady Auntie. I am not well learned, but don't try to fool a layman like me. Taiji Fist, what's there not to know about?"
Rao Aimin said, "Did your fever cause you to become befuddled?"
"What am I befuddled about?" Zhang Ye said as a matter of factly, "In this age and time, who doesn't know a few moves of Taiji Fist?"
Zhang Ye's mindset was still stuck in his previous world. In that world, what was Taiji Fist? Men and women, old and young, from a few years old to a hundred years old, it was known by all. Not only was it known, they could even practice a few moves of it. Look at all those gardens in the communities, which one of them did not have someone practicing Taiji? Even if you were to pick out anyone in the streets, whether they really knew it or not, they could still make a few movements of Taiji Fist. A common martial arts like this, yet Rao Aimin was telling him that not many people knew about it?
Rao Aimin was also feeling rather speechless, "You know some moves?"
"Of course I do." Zhang Ye blurted.
Rao Aimin laughed, "Alright, you don't need to show it to me, but tell me what Taiji Fist is?"
Zhang Ye began saying, "Taiji Fist is a traditional school of thought in Taoism of the People's Republic of China with its core being Taiji. The theory of Yin and Yang can be used for health, longevity, mental freshness, and used to counter various skills as a whole. It combines the transformations of the five elements from Taiji philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine's meridian studies, and ancient circulatory and breathing techniques into one that is both gentle, slow, light both internally and externally. It's a traditional fist style that incorporates the concept of hard and soft."
After hearing that, Rao Aimin did not show any expressions and said, "Will you die if you don't bullshit? You make it sound as if it were real!"
Zhang Ye could not take that lying down and answered back, "What am I bullshitting about?"
Rao Aimin told him, "Taiji Fist has already been a lost art for a few hundred years ago. Where could you possibly have learned it from?"
With that, it was now Zhang Ye's turn to be stunned, "Ah? Lost? It can't be!"
Rao Aimin glanced at him, "I have been training with my elders since I was 6 years old. At 10, I officially began my training in the Eight Trigram Palms. When I was training, you weren't even born yet, so what do you know? Trying to fool me with your nonsense. If you want to listen, I will tell you instead. A few hundred years ago, there was a legend that Taiji Fist had created a stir in the martial arts world. This school of martial arts had appeared with no one knowing where it had originated from. A master in martial arts had used Taiji Fist to defeat the Eight Trigrams, XingYi and 18 other schools of martial arts, but after the wars, it disappeared without a trace. Taiji Fist was lost in such manner from the world. After those times, no disciple or master of Taiji Fist has appeared in our world since."
Zhang Ye finally understood the history of Taiji Fist in this world. It was totally different from what had happened in his world. The originator of this martial arts school might even be different.
Rao Aimin continued, "As for the reasons behind it, there are lots of diverse opinions. One says that the master behind it had followed the ancient teachings of Taiji to create the moves. After his death, he had no successor, and therefore Taiji Fist was lost. Another said that Taiji Fist was just a legend as there have been no records of it found in any writings. It only existed through word of mouth, therefore it was not proven to exist and could have been fabricated because of some historical reasons. Of course on the second opinion, I still have my reservations. I've only heard about it from my teacher and my teacher had heard it from his teacher, but they claimed that Taiji Fist did exist before and was a very legendary form of martial arts. The only problem is that those who have seen it with their own eyes have already been dead for hundreds of years. As for how strong Taiji Fist was and what kind of moves it consisted of, no one has an answer. What's left behind is only fragments of a legend. That is all that I know, but there might be others who know more about it."
Zhang Ye had some thoughts.
Taiji Fist was a lost martial arts? Then how did the old people of this world keep their bodies healthy!?
Thinking about it more, Zhang Ye realized that he was the only person who knew Taiji Fist in this world! No wonder. No wonder the previous few times that Zhang Ye had used it had always left others wondering what kind of martial arts it was. At the monastery, Zhang Ye used Taiji Fist to fight with those monks. Logically speaking, those monks were also martial arts practitioners. Whether they used their own martial arts or another schools martial arts, they should have a lot of knowledge about most kinds. Yet they were shocked by Zhang Ye's kungfu. None of them could identify the martial arts Zhang Ye used by name. Also during the hijacking incident, Zhang Ye had used Taiji Fist against the terrorist who was a Muay Thai expert. Neither the terrorist nor the other passengers had identified the kungfu that he used then either. At that time, Zhang Ye did not notice this. Thinking back, he realized the reason for all of that!
It wasn't because they were ignorant!
It was because no one had ever seen Taiji Fist in action before!
Even Rao Aimin, who was the eldest disciple of the Eight Trigram Palms, had only heard of the legend of Taiji Fist!
Rao Aimin told him, "So that's why if you want to bullshit in the future, you should just say that you know Wing Chun and I might believe you, but telling me you know Taiji Fist? Hur, why don't you claim that you know the Eighteen Devils Subduing Palms!"
That mouth of her was so vile!
Zhang Ye, "..."
Five minutes had passed.
His temperature had dropped to 38.3 degrees.
It was still in the range of a fever, but it was getting much better.
Rao Aimin was very caring and thoughtful. Although she always had a look of reluctance, occasionally criticizing Zhang Ye, her actions made him feel very well taken care of. She took a glass of warm water for him to drink.
After he finished drinking,
Rao Aimin would pour another glass for him.
Zhang Ye shook his head, "I'm not having anymore."
".....Drink it!" Rao Aimin ordered him.
Zhang Ye could only reluctantly drink it all up before giving a burp. His mind had already wandered off, thinking about the issue of Taiji Fist.
Me, bullshit?
But I'm really not bullshitting!
I've really f**king seen Taiji Fist and I even know how to use it!
Zhang Ye could even speak incessantly about the various styles like Chen, Yang, Wǔ, Wú, Sun, He, etc, etc, etc. Each style of Taiji Fist had some differences, but all of it originated from "Taiji Yin Yang". He could even tell Rao Aimin about how Taiji Fist consisted of the basics: parry, retraction, press, side push, pluck, divide, elbow, shoulder, forward, backward, left, right, and balance, but he could not say all of that. Even if he did, no one would believe it, as no one in this world had even seen it before. So why would he be the one to know about it?
"Still thinking? Go to sleep quickly!" Rao Aimin was never polite with Zhang Ye. She always sounded as though she was commanding him around. Alright, actually she did this to everyone too. Zhang Ye was already used to it.
Zhang Ye tersely acknowledged.
Rao Aimin said, "If you really want to learn martial arts, tell me what you want to learn. Even though I do not have good relations with other martial arts practitioners, nor do I have many friends in there as most of them prefer not to see me, Hur Hur, but my reputation still carries some weight. If you wish to learn something, I can recommend you. There's no need to pay school fees. You can just follow them and practice together, but I still maintain my stance that at your age, you're past the age of learning martial arts. I started at just a few years old to learn the basics. Even if most people do not start as early as me, they also begin learning in their teens. You're already over 20 now. Even if you wanted to learn butchering, they might say that you're too old for it. You should just stick to physical strengthening, that's about all you can do. And you even wanted to learn it to fight with other people? Then you might as well just continue learning Taekwondo, Muay Thai, or Karate. Those are simpler and much easier to pick up."
Zhang Ye asked, "Then in martial arts, which school is the strongest?"
Rao Aimin looked at him a few times and said, "To even ask a question like that shows me how much of an amateur you are. How can martial arts be gauged as strong or weak? The only thing that can be gauged in this way are people. Even if a lot of people might look down on certain martial arts, if the person practicing it has a high standard and is well learnt, they can still be called masters."
Zhang Ye asked, "What about you? What's your level?"
Rao Aimin said dully, "Me? I don't have any level, what kind of times are we in now? In this age of modern weapons like missiles and machine guns, even if you are great in some martial art, if a bullet comes your way you’ll be dead meat!" She didn't sound like she was willing to reveal anything further, "Stop talking rubbish and go to sleep!"