Chapter 26 - The Eight Extremes Collapse the World
With both hands in her pants pockets, Avril muttered her little mouth with an uninterested look and stopped at the intersection, "I should go back!"
Since the paparazzi had already appeared in the town, Lin Ming Yang naturally wouldn't be stupid enough to make such a foolish request as sending Avril home, he nodded, "Maybe we'll see each other again!"
"You live in town?" Avril bristled, "How come I didn't realize you're such a funny guy before, it's a pity I'm going back to the US tomorrow!"
"My grandfather lives here!" Lin Ming Yang hesitated, "Do you often go online?"
"Hardly ever!" Avril's shake of her head clearly disappointed someone, but she wasn't lying, in fact she needed someone's help every time she went online.
"Then leave me an autograph!" This small frustration made Lin Mingyang not further build up the courage to ask for the other party's phone number, he only made the simplest request.
This time Avril didn't refuse, she pulled out an autograph pen from her pocket as if by magic, "I've been reaching out for autographs since I was a kid because I knew I'd become famous, and now I can sign super fast." She unscrewed the cap of the pen, "Where should I sign, on your arm or on a t-shirt?"
Lin Mingyang suddenly thought of the video store next to the station, with the very same Avril's poster posted in the window. "Please give me time for one song!" He flew across the street and then found that video store on another street, and when he came out of it, he already had an extra copy of Avril's new album in his hand.
"You can sign your name on the cover." Lin Mingyang handed Avril the album, which had already had its plastic outer packaging removed, "I really like the songs you wrote!" He was actually harboring selfishness in doing this, an album with Avril's autograph on it could only mean that Lin Ming Yang liked her because he liked her songs, and in turn liked her as a person. If he let her sign her name on a T-shirt, it would become that he liked her songs because he liked her.
The former was appreciation, the latter was blind obedience, and the two sides were on unequal footing. Since Lin Mingyang had chosen to walk towards that path of stardom, he could only be true to himself. Despite the fact that a number of big-name stars had openly declared themselves to be Avril's hardcore fans, there was only one star in Lin Ming Yang's world, and he was not a fan of anyone but his unique self.
After brushing her signature on the album cover, Avril didn't stop there, but instead, the blank space on that side inside the album flew down a string of numbers, "This is the phone number I use privately, and as a special thank you, I'll allow you to call me on holidays!"
This was an unexpected surprise for Lin Ming Yang, "What about outside of holidays?"
"Just text me when you're free, because only very few people know this number, usually I turn it off." Avril waved her hand towards Lin Ming Yang, leaving behind a hurried and beautiful back that quickly disappeared at the end of the street.
The footsteps of life moved forward as always, Lin Mingyang became a regular customer in the town's pizza parlor, but he never met that elf-like girl again. This beautiful encounter with Avril was like a small stone that caused ripples on the surface of the lake, but in the end it was still calm. Although there were some regrets, Lin Ming Yang's heart was not despondent, in the future there would be another opportunity to meet again, and I'm afraid that he would surprise the other party at that time!
In this town far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Lin Ming Yang's creative efficiency reached an unprecedented high. Originally planning to spend a vacation to complete the script for the second season of Boys from Orange County, he actually ended the work at hand in just two weeks. With nothing else to do, he suddenly proposed to learn kung fu from his grandfather, Lin Aoquan.
The Lin family's ancestors were an uncompromising martial arts family, and Lin Aoquan had traveled across the ocean with his parents at a young age; although the kung fu handed down from his ancestors had not been left behind, it was no longer of much use in a foreign land. Lin Mingyang's father, Lin Qinghai's generation, grew up receiving Western education for martial arts is not much interest. Later, because of Lin Mingyang's childhood martial arts practice problems and Catherine had a big disagreement, Lin Mingyang was picked up by his parents, the old man also gradually look down.
Getting along for such a long time, for the old master's temperament, Lin Mingyang also have some understanding, he for the previous incident is still grudging, Lin Mingyang directly proposed to learn kung fu, I'm afraid he will not easily nod.
Finding an opportunity, Lin Mingyang personally made a cup of hot tea for the old master, then respectfully brought it to his face, "Grandpa, drink tea!"
"Why did you remember to pour me tea today?" Elder Lin, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book, raised his head curiously, and seeing Lin Mingyang just holding the tea and giggling, he hummed without a good breath, "Being attentive to nothing, is either a traitor or a thief, put it aside!"
Lin Mingyang put the tea cup towards his side, then straightened his back very seriously, "Mr. Lin Aoquan, please accept me as your disciple!"
Elder Lin looked at the cup of tea to the side, dare I say that this kid had set himself up and played with the ritual of worshipping his master.
"What do you want to learn? Chopping wood?" Lin Aoquan had been running a wood processing factory before he retired, then he turned around and sold it to someone else when he got older. Lin Mingyang would play slick, and he would naturally play dumb as well.
"I want to follow you to practice boxing!" Lin Mingyang's reply was resolute.
"Practice boxing for what?" Lin Aoquan shrugged his eyebrows, "Have you forgotten what I told you at the beginning? There are so many national arts experts in the Boxer Gang, can they block other people's foreign gun bullets?"
"If you can't stop bullets, then you can exercise your body!" Lin Mingyang said in defense.
"If you want to exercise your body, just practice the internal kung fu I gave you, what's the point of learning those external routines?" In response to Lin Mingyang's sudden "enlightenment", Elder Lin's reaction was somewhat disdainful.
"What the ancestors left behind, someone has to inherit it!" Lin Mingyang helplessly revealed his bottom card.
"If I want to pass on this kung fu, I can just go to Chinatown and open a school to accept disciples, why wait until now!" Lin Aoquan didn't eat this.
Lin Ming Yang started to get a little anxious, "Then it's not that difficult for you to teach me, right?"
"Then why do you want to learn martial arts?" Lin Aoquan heaved his teacup onto the table, "The art is not lightly passed on, this is also a rule set by our ancestors!"
Lin Ming Yang's chest puffed out, "I want to carry forward the Chinese martial arts!"
"Just by you?" Lin Aoquan narrowed his eyes, "Whether it's China or this side of the Chinese street, how many years has this slogan been shouted, see how many people have succeeded?"
"Of course there are!" Lin Ming Yang began to argue with reason, "In the past, there was Bruce Lee, now there is also Jackie Chan and Jet Li, not only are they big stars on the silver screen, but they are also proving the value of martial arts to the world in their own way!"
"These three people you mentioned all have a bit of real kung fu in them, but if you want to act, just find a training course to learn a few sets of stances. Do you know what national arts are? National arts are means to overcome enemies and kill people evolved from battlefield combat, they are not for performance!"
"The great poet Cui Zongzhi of the Tang Dynasty praised Li Bai for 'dancing and whisking his long sword, raising the eyebrows of all the seats', and Du Fu, in 'Watching Gongsun Danniang's Disciples Dancing with Sword and Instrument', also left behind the words, 'In the past, there was a beautiful Gongsun, who moved the four directions with her sword and instrument in a single dance. The viewers were as frustrated as the color of the mountains, and heaven and earth were lowered for a long time', so it can be seen that martial arts performances have existed since ancient times, so why can't people nowadays use it as a way to spread national culture in the context of the commercial society?"
"It seems that the ancients haven't read a lot of books in the past few years, and they haven't forgotten where their roots are after all!" Lin Mingyang's quoted arguments made Lin Aoquan's face finally show a hint of relief, "I'd like to hear how you link martial arts and national culture together."
"Chinese martial arts emphasize both physical norms and spiritual transmission. The holistic view of internal and external unity emphasizes 'internal and external unity, form and spirit', and this characteristic reflects the fact that Chinese Wushu, as a form of culture, has been influenced by the penetration of ancient Chinese philosophy, medicine and aesthetics during its long historical evolution, forming a unique national style of practice and exercise. "
Lin Aoquan nodded, "Although you have only said a little bit of skin, but also grasped the key. This internal and external statement is indeed the essence of Chinese martial arts, 'internal training of essence and spirit, external training of sinews and skin' is the guideline for the practice of various schools and schools. Rujiquan advocates physical and mental cultivation, requiring 'the heart to perform qi, and qi to move the body'; Xingyiquan emphasizes 'internal triad, external triad'; Dahongquan and Shaolinquan also require internal and external cultivation of the essence, strength, qi, bones, and spirit. In addition, martial arts routines are often technically required to closely match the inner essence with the external physical movements, complete with a gas, so that the heart moves and the shape follows, the shape breaks the intention to connect, and the momentum breaks the gas even with the changes in the eight methods of 'hand-eye-body-fa-fu, spirit-qi-fu gong' to exercise the body and mind."
Seeing that the old master's attitude had loosened up, Lin Mingyang began to take the opportunity to condescend, "Then what is the name of our Lin family's ancestral boxing style that we are talking about?"
"In literature, there is Taiji to settle the world, and in martial arts, there is Eight Poles to settle the world." Lin Aoquan's half-squinted eyes steeply lit up, and his entire person emitted an aura of swallowing mountains and rivers with these words.
"Eight Extreme Fist?" Lin Mingyang took a deep breath before stabilizing his inner surprise. The full name of Eight Extreme Fist was "Open Door Eight Extreme Fist". It has been passed down to the present day with its unique style of strength, simplicity, and swiftness of movement, following the ancient saying of "beyond the nine states there is the eight yin, beyond the eight yin there is the eight cordials, beyond the eight cordials there is the eight poles", which implies the meaning of "extreme luck in the eight directions".
The movements of Eight Extremes Boxing are simple and concise, fierce and brittle, with many shocking feet and forceful movements, and it is famous for its fierce and violent style and the move of entering the body and relying on the fight. At the same time, Bajiquan is also one of the boxing styles that emphasizes on actual combat and combining fighting and training, and the biggest feature of Bajiquan is that it is fierce and hard, hard to open the door of the opponent, and even to send is the biggest feature of Bajiquan's technical combat. No wonder the old man refused to teach himself easily, if he got his true heritage, I'm afraid that in the future it will be a killing move.
"Eight Extremes Fist originated in Cangzhou, Hebei, and is now prevalent in northern China and Taiwan. The most basic requirement for practicing Eight Extremes Fist is to maximize the function of the eight parts of the body: head, shoulders, elbows, hands, tail, hips, knees, and feet. Our Lin family lineage is under the tutelage of the 'Divine Gun Li Shuwen', and the power is characterized by 'fierce and violent, crashing and shocking suddenness' and 'moving like a taut bow, sending out as if exploding thunder', but it is the most difficult to practice, and the little bit of pain you suffered as a child has a lot to do with this. But it's the hardest to practice, the little bit of suffering you ate as a child is a far cry from this, can you persevere?"