21 Chapter 21 - 4000 years old Chinese Martial

After class, Haruto and Kenichi along with Lala and Miu head to Ryozanpaku Dojo continuing their hellish torture where Haruto had different kind of training this time around receiving weights placed around his forearm and Shin that is made from tungsten which is the heaviest metal.

Haruto can't even explain how heavy it was since Tungsten is THREE times denser than iron. He doesn't know how they force it nor acquire the materials since it's normally expensive to get them.

'I need to Train under Kansei Ma.'

[ Quest Creation! ]

[ Task: I need to train under Kansei Ma. ]

[ Reward: 500 QP ]

Haruto saw the panel steadily increasing the amount of Quest points that he has, hoping to buy some tickets when he can. He plans on using the summoning away from his home since he doesn't know he's going to summon it by then.

"Today, I'll be sparring with you to find out how you're [ Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist ] fair with Tai Chi. First before that, I need to explain Chinese Kenpo martial arts that have 4000 years of history." Kansei Ma started to explain as Haruto was on hand stand doing push ups while listening to his new master explain things.

"Chinese Kenpo, also known as Chinese Kung Fu, or Chinese Martial Arts is a fighting style used by many martial artists. It is a diverse martial art as it possesses many different forms and styles, and is used as a basis for many other forms of martial arts as well." Haruto struggles to keep himself steady but focuses on controlling his breathing and blood flow since it was rushing towards his mind doing the exercise..

"The genesis of Chinese martial arts has been attributed to the need for self-defense, hunting techniques and military training in ancient China. Hand-to-hand combat and weapons practice were important in training ancient Chinese soldiers.

Detailed knowledge about the state and development of Chinese martial arts became available from the Nanjing Decade (1928–1937), as the Central Guoshu Institute established by the Kuomintang regime made an effort to compile an encyclopedic survey of martial arts schools. Since the 1950s, the People's Republic of China has organized Chinese martial arts as an exhibition and full-contact sport under the heading of Wushu." Kansei started giving Haruto a lesson jumping on top of Haruto while he gritted his teeth at how shameless the old master was but balanced him and kept on going.

Kansei explained the Basic that are a vital part of any martial training, as a student cannot progress to the more advanced stages without them; Basics are usually made up of rudimentary techniques, conditioning exercises, including stances. Basic training may involve simple movements that are performed repeatedly;

Other examples of basic training are stretching, meditation, striking, throwing, or jumping. Without strong and flexible muscles, management of Qi or breath, and proper body mechanics, it is impossible for a student to progress in the Chinese martial arts.

A common saying concerning basic training in Chinese martial arts is as follows. Train both Internal and External. External training includes the hands, the eyes, the body, stances and steps. Internal training includes the heart, the spirit, the mind, breathing and strength.

"There are two kinds of Wushu or Kung Fu, Soft and Hard forms. I prioritize using Soft that also acts similar to your [ Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist ]. Then the other is Hard Forms that I rarely use."

He continued to explain their definition. The Soft form Kung Fu focuses on training inner strength (similar to cardio-vascular development) to increase the users' defensive capabilities and their endurance in the fight. Soft Forms are mostly used by Katsujinken because it lacks stances that kill opponents in one blow.

Hard form on the other hand, focuses on outer strength (such as the power and hardness of muscles and bones) to increase one's offensive skill in a fight. It was mostly trained by police and military of China and Taiwan for unarmed real combat.

"Now, let's begin our spar. With your ability to copy martial arts will make this easy but remember it can only get you far." Kansei Ma jumped back down while Haruto collapsed into the ground wincing from the aching muscle but pain is weakness leaving the body. He put his faith in their training and won't disappoint.

"Don't be shy, this old man won't hurt you." He provoked him while Haruto was panting heavily simply power through. His [ Battle Junkie ] skills gave him a massive boost in morale and motivation allowing him to get excited in fighting Kansei Ma.

Frankly, exercising is a lot easier than mental training. Doubt, uncertainty, self loathing, and many other emotions bottled up that made things difficult to rise further than how he is now. The [ Tranquil State ] can only prevent so much that it's impossible for him to be completely numb to everything happening.

"Fuck…this thing is really heavy!" Haruto said stretching and cracking his bones had been stiff and bottling up too much stress that it needed to be released. He felt refreshed from it but was now burning and the dopamine started to gush into his mine.

"Show me what you got, boy." Kansei Ma said taking a stance and it's clear that he was going to take Haruto seriously. He knows that the young man was talented for his own good, struggling to actually understand what it means to be a martial artist and fighter. People learn martial arts for the sake of power and these people are not martial artists but simply fighters.

But to become a master, it is essential to truly live like martial arts and embody the way of their martial arts. For Chinese philosophers, it is their "Dao or path." Not in the fictional sense like most novels but in actual martial arts.

'I need to spar against Kansei Ma'

[ Quest Created ]

[ Task: Spar Against Kansei Ma ]

[ Reward: 1,000 QP ]

The reward may be large but as Haruto grows, the lesser it becomes therefore the reward won't always be the same. Haruto nodded as he took deep breath controlling the flow of his blood and avoid wasting energy before taking a stance.

"I'll try my best to use a similar style as yours and focus on taking those that can improve it." Kansei Ma instructed using a Tai Chi stance and Haruto nodded.

"This method is called Shu Ha Ri is a Japanese martial art concept which describes the stages of Learning to Mastery." Kansei Ma took the first movement where it was slow yet the way he moved was rather confusing to Haruto using his [ Tachypsychia ] yet the moment he tried to redirect it would slip and find its way into his face.

"Shu (Learn) is the starting phase. Student follows the teaching of his master without a need to understand the theory behind. One should concentrate on how to do the task in the way his master does." He said putting down Haruto hands down and striking his face with a palm strike that was slow but had explosive forces at the very end as if a small nozzle of the host was suddenly turned on. Haruto could feel the soft organ inside his body vibrate and cause him to have difficult breathing.

'Shit…even with how durable my body is, something like this can hurt me.' Haruto thought having a similar concept as to when simple graze to the chin can cause disorientation. He knows that Kansei Ma is slightly taking him seriously since he is talented enough.

"Next is Ha (Detach/Digress), the Second phase where a student starts to branch out. Underlying principles and theory are coming into focus since the basic practices are working. Learnings from other masters are starting to be integrated into his practice. This is the longest process and takes grueling years but you might shorten this with your talent…yet even then it won't be easy." Kansei Ma watched Haruto who was struggling to stand up but still kept going, which made the Chinese grandmaster smile.

Haruto felt more pain than when he fought Apachai since most of the force was absorbed by his body while Kansei Ma traveled through the hard outer shell of the body and straight to the soft parts.

[ You have gained "Lv.1 Tai Chi(E)." ]

He took a deep breath and turned the series where Kansei Ma saw that he managed to copy his martial art but it was still a copy and far from complete mastery. Knowing and mastery are different things.

"Then finally Ri (Transcend), The end of learning from others. In this phase the student is learning from his own practice, creating his own approaches and adapting to his own circumstances. The student is becoming a master. Your prowess is high class Disciple close to expert but that only accounts for that state of yours." Haruto nodded as he moved towards Kansei with more precision and fluid motion than before.

Haruto parried the incoming attack and used [ Foresight ] along with [ Zone ] to find the gap on Kansei movement that even though he was holding back still enough to defeat an Expert Martial artist.

[ Kakei! ]

Kakei, A Tai Chi technique and a defensive maneuver. Ma uses a spinning motion in his arms to neutralize or minimize the force of his opponent's attacks. Haruto is taken by surprise then Kansei uses another technique.

[ Sha Gi Shou Jin! ]

It is a technique where Kansei first allowed himself to be hit by his opponent and followed the opponent's energy flow. Therefore, when the user gets hit, their body automatically bows down and gives the opponent a powerful headbutt. This technique basically uses the opponent's strength to counterattack.

Haruto gritted his head and sent a few feet away from Kansei feeling nauseated from the impact. Everything was spinning and couldn't stand back up while Kansei Ma smiled seeing him struggle.

"Focus, don't use that state. You won't improve by relying on it. Thinking carefully." He said seeing that he was planning on entering the [ Heat Mode ] by the way he was gritting his teeth. Haruto focused on trying to find ways to stop his mind from the constant clashing.

'Shit…I can't stand up.' Haruto cursed trying to stand up but every time he did would fall and be caught off balance. He couldn't find the answer and ended up on the ground with no way of fighting back.

"You see that? Not everything is about talent in learning but also understanding and hard work. Copying without proper use of talent is nothing but mere imitation." Kansei Ma said, looking down at Haruto who was easily defeated.

"Now let me explain why you can get up, but first." Kansei Ma hit him again but this time allowed Haruto to regain his senses and was shocked by what happened.

"You're surprised, let me explain what I did." Haruto stood up still a bit disoriented but was a lot better than before, as if he was spinning.

"First, you already understand that the skull is extremely hard but the inside extremely fragile. Through simply grazing someone can shake the mind and disorient them." Kansei started to teach him while Haruto was intently listening.

"Simply eating yourself with precise and equal forces can cancel the shake allowing you to get back up." Kansei showed a cup with water that had floating objects.

"Imagine this as your brain and the cup is your skull while the water is the fluid in your brain. With simple force applied can cause the water to violently shake and the brain hits the skull." Haruto knew this due to having some boxing knowledge through his skills.

"Through perfect timing and force can cancel force allowing you to balance yourself. It won't be the same but this way will help you get back up a lot quicker." Kansei places some force stopping the object inside, canceling the energy.

"Of course you can condition yourself to avoid this kind of situation but for someone who is skilled with Chinese martial artial then it will be useless." Kansei said placing the cup down while Haruto gained more understanding in Chinese Martial arts. People think it's basic and common knowledge but these kinds of things are often overlooked by people.

"Now let's continue and this time try to apply what you learn." Haruto nodded as he took another stance and Kansei did the same as the two continued to spar.