Chapter 56

The sound of the sword slicing through the air was fierce and ruthless!

Xiong Shifu, holding a wooden sword, his sword techniques flowed like a mighty river, with strict rules and both offensive and defensive capabilities, putting Lin Sha under immense pressure and distress, making it hard for him to catch his breath.

Lin Sha also held a wooden sword, similar in style to a military saber, but the power he could exert with it was negligible.

Chop, slash, sweep, stab—these few moves were repeated over and over. If not for his unique footwork, which allowed him to dodge Xiong Shifu's wooden sword at the last moment with great flexibility in a small space, he would have long given up and admitted defeat.

Even so, because he had not learned sword techniques, his simple attacks were insignificant and posed no threat to Xiong Shifu, who was quite accomplished in swordsmanship. After just a dozen or so exchanges, he had already been hit by three or four "slashes" and was bleeding.

What frustrated him the most was that Xiong Shifu's sword techniques were continuous and relentless, giving him no chance to catch his breath. Because he had never seen such fierce and ruthless moves, his eyes were dazzled by the series of dazzling sword techniques. After gritting his teeth and enduring for a short while, he felt a pain in his wrist, his strength slackened, and the wooden sword flew far away.

"Lord Lin, I'll take your gracious concession!"

Xiong Shifu smiled, withdrew the wooden sword from Lin Sha's neck, and stood upright, bowing with the sword.

"There's nothing to it, losing is losing, that's a fact!"

Lin Sha remained calm, rubbing the few "wounds" on his body, and praised, "Shifu Xiong, your sword techniques are indeed excellent, I am truly impressed!"

Xiong Shifu, however, looked puzzled, not understanding why Lord Lin, who was so sharp with his fists and feet, was so ordinary with his sword techniques.

But this was Lin Sha's personal matter, and he couldn't ask too much, so he had to keep his doubts to himself.

They were not mortal enemies, and Lin Sha's status as an officer in the Yunnan army was also intimidating. After the match, the atmosphere became more harmonious. Lin Sha couldn't resist the enthusiasm of Xiong Shifu and the martial arts students, so he chatted for a while at the Yangwei Martial Arts Hall before leaving.

...

What a miscalculation!

After returning to the camp outside the city, Lin Sha locked himself in the main tent, carefully reflecting on this challenge, and couldn't help but think this way.

It wasn't that he couldn't accept defeat; it didn't involve life and death, so he didn't take winning or losing too seriously.

But he hadn't expected that just as he was beginning his journey to gain fame, he would encounter such a setback!

After this lesson, Lin Sha realized that he had been too proud and arrogant, and had also underestimated the role of cold weapons, thinking that he could rely solely on his martial arts to conquer the world.

Nonsense!

This was an era when firearms were just beginning to develop and had not yet completely replaced cold weapons. At least in China, battles were still fought with cold weapons!

Everyone was using cold weapons, each carrying a sword or a saber, while he was bare-handed. He hadn't reached the advanced level of internal martial arts where his fists could generate immense power, so he was completely helpless against the attacks of a group of martial arts experts.

This wasn't him being modest; it was the truth!

Was Xiong Shifu of the Yangwei Martial Arts Hall formidable?

To ordinary people, he was definitely a strong expert, and even common thugs wouldn't dare to provoke him easily. But in casual conversation, he admitted that he was nothing against true martial arts practitioners!

It was clear that Xiong Shifu wasn't being modest but was speaking from experience.

And Lin Sha, a mid-level Mingjin expert, who could crush the Yangwei Martial Arts Hall with his fists, was thoroughly defeated in the use of weapons.

Don't even mention nunchucks!

That thing might not be very useful in a melee, and as an officer in the Yunnan army, a saber was the standard equipment. Carrying nunchucks all the time wouldn't make sense.

This defeat made his overheated mind cool down, and he realized that he didn't have the capital to be arrogant.

As the saying goes, "Knowing shame leads to courage." Since he knew his weakness in the use of weapons, he naturally needed to strengthen his training in this area!

Thus, he resumed the practice of the important Daqiangzhuang (Big Spear Stance) and the Qinglong Dao (Green Dragon Saber) and Guandao (Kwan Dao) techniques of the Hong Quan (Hung Gar) style.

Soon, the soldiers of the logistics battalion were surprised to find that the battalion commander, who rarely practiced sword or spear techniques, suddenly started practicing with a white waxwood spear every day, performing strange movements.

Fortunately, although there were different schools of internal martial arts, the methods of practicing the Big Spear Stance were not much different. During his time in the world of Wong Fei-hung, Lin Sha had learned this knowledge from his adoptive master, Wong Fei-hung. Otherwise, it would be too late to start now.

In the following period, apart from handling the urgent affairs of the logistics battalion, attending some unavoidable meetings of Yunnan army officers, and some unavoidable banquets, Lin Sha mostly stayed in the camp, practicing in seclusion.

Every day, in addition to the fixed practice of Hong Quan (Hung Gar) horse stance and the internal martial arts techniques he learned from Wong Fei-hung, he spent most of his time practicing with the spear, starting the most basic internal martial arts weapon training.

Practicing with the spear was actually a way to practice Xingyi Quan (Form and Will Boxing)!

According to tradition, Xingyi Quan was created by the founder based on spear techniques, whether this is true or not, but the principle of the spear in Xingyi Quan is a fact.

The Hongmen Xingyi Wuxing Quan (Five Elements Fist) uses the tangible spear to transform into the intangible fist; "the tangible is easy to grasp, the intangible is hard to master." Small movements and larger, more extended movements are always harder to understand. Practicing with the spear is a convenient method for practicing the Hongmen Wuxing Quan.

In his previous life, his adoptive master Wong Fei-hung had solemnly reminded him:

The true meaning of practicing with the spear can help many practitioners of internal martial arts to understand the principles behind it. If one can truly understand and apply the principles, they will also understand the practice of internal martial arts, as the principles of internal martial arts power are all contained within.

As the saying goes, "A false teacher gives a thousand volumes, a true teacher gives a single sentence." This is the meaning of it.

After the Qing dynasty entered the pass, they banned martial arts practice among the people, and many martial arts traditions were broken under the repeated suppression of the government. However, many martial arts were passed down through less respectable means like theater troupes, and the training methods and experiences summarized are worth pondering and understanding by later generations.

Many martial arts predecessors had little education and could not express the principles well, and due to various subjective and objective reasons, later learners found it hard to grasp the true meaning. But the methods were all there, and how much one could understand depended on one's insight and research, which was a matter of personal destiny.

Unfortunately, in the world of Wong Fei-hung, Lin Sha had always focused on fist techniques and neglected weapon training, so his understanding of the principles was limited.

Now, although he had already achieved Mingjin and didn't need to practice the basic skills of the spear, to understand the true meaning of spear techniques, he still started from the most basic Big Spear Stance.

This practice was not without effect. At least, after feeling the power of the spear, he gained a deeper understanding of the principles of internal martial arts. The improvement in his spear techniques also enhanced his internal martial arts skills, and his overall level of internal martial arts improved significantly without him even realizing it...