ILSITM Chapter 9

In the Ming Dynasty, a white staff was called a “gun,” which was eight feet long and weighed three pounds and eight ounces, also known as the Shaolin staff. Another type of white staff with a blade at the end was called a “big staff.” The big staff had a duckbill-shaped blade at the top, two inches long, with a central ridge on one side and a blood groove on the other.

Ming soldiers mainly trained with staffs and clubs when practicing and learning martial arts.

I started learning martial arts at the age of five and am proficient in various weapons, including knives, spears, staffs, and clubs. I have also read many books introducing ancient weapons and boxing styles, knowing the usage, function, advantages, and disadvantages of each weapon.

In the first match, a strong man with a waist knife competed against me.

His swordsmanship was fierce, flashing, maneuvering, advancing, and retreating freely.

My staff spun with a whistling sound, employing techniques like deflecting, blocking, grabbing, entangling, wrapping, lifting, hooking, intercepting, sealing, pressing, rotating, striking, sweeping, chopping, clouding, parrying, thrusting, picking, and pointing, directly focusing on quick attacks and using every move to subdue the enemy.

The officials stood on both sides of the main hall, seeing only two figures moving as fast as lightning, like shadows, with the knife and staff clashing and ringing.

In an instant, we had exchanged more than a dozen moves.

At this moment, he suddenly slashed at me with his knife. Seeing me retreat one step, he quickly flipped his wrist, stepped forward, and stabbed at me diagonally.

Just as he seemed about to stab me, I suddenly leaned sideways on the spot, then swung the staff with both hands, gathering strength to sweep towards his leading right knee.

His body leaned forward, his center of gravity already on his right leg. It was clearly too late for the right leg to retreat, and it seemed there was no way to defuse the attack.

But then he flipped his right wrist, inserted the tip of his waist knife into the ground, and retreated his right knee to kneel, trying to block my sweeping staff.

A “clang” was heard, and his waist knife flew out of his hand, spinning rapidly in the air for more than a dozen revolutions before crashing to the ground.

The strong man knelt on one leg, revealing a stunned expression.

In the second match, a strong man wielding a dragon spear competed against me.

Spears and staffs each have their own characteristics: a spear pierces in a line, while a staff strikes a wide area. Spear techniques focus on the extension and contraction of circles and points, while staff techniques emphasize the speed of hammering and chopping.

His spear technique was tricky, each strike aimed at the throat; I advanced and retreated freely, leaping and bounding, always able to turn danger into safety.

I hammered and chopped, each strike aimed at the head; he was quick-eyed and agile, always able to turn peril into safety.

Back and forth, advancing and retreating, after a dozen rounds, we were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

However, my staff technique was more varied, with sweeping, striking, pointing, hooking, snatching, chopping, parrying, and movements alternating between fast and slow, with strong offensive capabilities.

At this moment, he thrust his spear at my throat. I bent my knees, leaned back quickly, and simultaneously touched the ground with my palms, arms, and shoulders. Then, I quickly swung my right leg to the left and swung the staff with my right hand to strike his left calf.

The officials first heard a “smack,” then heard someone yell, and then saw that the strong man with the dragon spear had dropped his spear and was sitting on the ground, clutching his left calf and groaning in pain.

In the third match, a tall, thin man competed against me.

Because this match was a hand-to-hand fight, I put the white staff aside.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Qinggong of flying over eaves and walls, and the Invulnerable Iron Vest were non-existent; they would only appear in our modern novels or movies.

However, the ancients were stronger and more agile than modern people, especially those who practiced martial arts.

Of course, their martial arts were not like our current Wushu, which is just for show, but deadly.

A single move from an expert reveals their skill.

After a few rounds, I had basically figured out his style.

This person was using Qiankun Fist. Qiankun Fist belongs to the Changquan style, and is usually characterized by extending the reach when striking or kicking, often combined with twisting the waist and following the shoulders to lengthen the striking point, as the saying goes, “An inch longer, an inch stronger.”

This boxing style alternates the use of feet, knees, elbows, palms, and fingers, taking advantage of momentum and using offense as defense, combining skillful strikes, acupoint strikes, and bone dislocation. Twisting the waist and hips, activating the shoulders and elbows, stepping through side doors, and weaving and shuttling, using softness to overcome hardness, and using the opponent’s strength against them.

I used Nine Lives Fist to fight back.

Nine Lives Fist belongs to the short-range boxing style, generating power from the heel, passing through the waist, and extending to the fingertips, so it has great explosive power.

Nine Lives Fist emphasizes intercepting and seizing every inch, attacking and opening hard, focusing on offense and defense, adhering, leaning, squeezing, and relying, seizing every opportunity, drilling through gaps, not parrying or bracing, but responding to each move with a counter-move.

I saw this person using his palm as a knife and his finger as a sword.

When his left hand attacked me, his right hand guarded his body; when his right hand struck me, his left hand protected himself. His strikes were as fast as lightning, and his acupoint strikes were like electric shocks.

Nine Lives Fist has strong practical value. In the 1980s and 1990s, the grappling, back throws, and fighting techniques trained in our armed police force all absorbed some of the characteristics of Nine Lives Fist.

After a few more rounds, I used “close-body leaning” to counter his “speed” with speed.

“Close-body leaning” is a close-range striking technique of Nine Lives Fist, approaching the opponent at a distance of “hitting someone like kissing,” using the shoulder to strike the opponent. It seems to use the shoulder as the point of force, but in fact, it combines the twisting force of the waist and hips, using the strength of the whole body to lean towards the opponent, “knocking them down” and causing great damage.

When practicing “close-body leaning,” I often use my body to lean against wooden stakes, trees, and walls.

After practicing for a long time, the stakes would be knocked away, the trees would be broken, and the walls would be knocked down, demonstrating its great power.

During the fight, I also used “stamp kick” to attack his lower body.

“Stamp kick” is one of the leg techniques of Nine Lives Fist.

It requires the practitioner to land the attack point below the opponent’s knee joint when “stamp kicking,” intending to use “stamp kick” to disrupt the opponent’s balance and cleverly achieve the effect of knocking down the opponent with not-so-strong force.

We fought so closely, “inseparable,” our faces flushed, and unknowingly we had exchanged thirty or forty moves, still evenly matched.

Next, it was time to test our physical strength.

After a few more rounds, his physical strength gradually weakened, and his attack speed was slightly slower than before.

At this time, he used a move called “Facing the Wind Iron Fan.” After I defused it, he used another move called “Elbow Pressing the Door.” I used a “close-body leaning” to get close and suddenly poked his soft rib with my finger.

He looked as if he had been struck by electricity, his expression exaggerated, and his body trembling.

After a few seconds, he crashed to the ground.

In the end, I used the “finger as a sword” acupoint striking technique from Qiankun Fist, catching him off guard. He would never have thought that I could skillfully use Qiankun boxing techniques to “repay him in his own coin.”

I ended the three matches with a complete victory.

The officials praised me, and Zhu Youxiao also smiled at me from the dragon throne.

I picked up my phone and looked at the screen. My live broadcast of the three matches had gained nearly 50 million fans, and I was surprised to find that some foreigners had also started “following” my live broadcast.

After I was granted the title of “Duke Who Pacifies the Nation,” I not only became a thorn in Li Jinzhong’s side but also became a thorn in the flesh of another person.

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