Chapter Ten

  After finishing, Lian drove the rate to take the lead and walk away. Xiao Zhen, who was carrying a wooden stick, Huang Xiangsu, who had finished eating the last ice sugar gourd and threw away the wooden thorn, and Liang Zhongguo, whose hand-held ice sugar gourd had been kicked flying by Tang Zhiyuan, immediately followed behind.

  After walking for about 15 minutes, the four of them stopped in a hutong in a big alley. When it comes to Beijing's characteristics and culture, one cannot help but mention hutongs. The term "hutong" was first seen in Yuan dynasty operas. In Guan Hanqing's "Single Knife Meeting", there is the phrase "killing out of a bloody hutong". In the Yuan dynasty opera "Sha Men Island Zhang Sheng Cooks the Sea", Zhang Yu asks Mei Xiang: "Where do you live?" Mei Xiang says: "I live in Brick Pagoda Hutong." Brick Pagoda Hutong is located on West Fourth South Street, and the name has not changed to this day. To continue, Beijing is composed of thousands of large and small siheyuan (four-sided courtyards) that are back-to-back, face-to-face, and arranged in an orderly manner. For convenience, a passageway must be left between each row of courtyards, which is the hutong. During the Yuan dynasty, Beijing's hutongs were relatively wide, with most being three or four rows of siheyuan apart. Therefore, later generations built houses on the empty land in between, relying on small hutongs as passageways. As a result, many famous large hutongs produced numerous unnamed small hutongs, and the saying goes: "There are 3,600 famous hutongs, but countless nameless ones."

  "Alright, I'll teach you the palm technique right here."

  Liáng Zhōngguó xìng zhì àngrán dào: "lián qiān bèi, nǐ jiāo wǒ de shì shénme zhǎng fǎ?"

  English Translation:

  "Senior Lian, what palm technique did you teach me?"

  Lian Qu was about to speak when Xiao Zhen interrupted, "Liáng Zhōngguó, it seems you've forgotten something."

  Liáng Zhōngguó looked confused and said: "Xiāo Zhuàn, I forgot what I was doing?"

  Xiao Zhen smiled and reminded him: "Since Master taught you palm techniques, shouldn't you acknowledge him as your master?"

  Li said with a slap on the forehead: "You're right, I forgot about that. Brother Lian, I'll go pay my respects to Master now." As soon as he finished speaking, Li was about to kneel down when Lian stretched out his foot and pressed it against Li's knee, not allowing him to kneel.

  Liáng Zhōngguó stared at Lián Qū in shock, Huáng Xiāng Sù asked: "Lián Qiānbei, are you thinking of taking Liáng Gēgē as your apprentice?"

  Lian Quan nodded and said, "Yes, I taught Liang Zhongguo the palm technique not because I thought he was talented or a promising material, but because I didn't want to lose face for us Chinese people and be laughed at by those little devils. So, Liang Zhongguo, you don't need to call me your master, and I won't recognize you as my disciple either." As he spoke, Lian Quan withdrew his foot.

  Li Chongzheng said: "Senior Lian, although you are not my master, but you will teach me martial arts, in my heart you will always be my master."

  A surge of emotion rose from the bottom of his heart, and he said lightly, "Now I'll teach you Bagua Palm."

  "Bagua Palm."

  Lian Duan asked: "Li Chongyin, do you know where the Eight Trigrams originated from?"

  Li Chongguo smiled and said, "I know that the Bagua first appeared in the Zhou Yi. The text says: 'Two instruments give birth to four images, four images give birth to eight trigrams.' Originally, the eight trigrams referred to the eight directions, namely north, south, east, west, northwest, southwest, northeast and southeast."

  Lian drove his head and said: "That's right."

  "These are still not taught by my father."

  Xiao Zhen said: "It seems that learning some classical Chinese is not entirely useless."

  "Bagua Zhang, also known as You Shen Bagua Zhang or Bagua Lian Huan Zhang, is a type of fist technique that mainly uses palm changes and footwork. Because it moves in a zigzag pattern, it is divided into eight directions: four cardinal directions and four corners. The basic content of the eight palms combines with the number of the Eight Trigrams. When practicing the fist, one must walk in a circular motion using the 'Bai Kou Bu' step, covering all eight directions, unlike other fist techniques that move along a straight line or only cover four corners. This is why it's called Bagua Zhang. In fact, there is no internal connection between Bagua Zhang and the Eight Trigrams."

  Lian Quan spoke continuously, and Liang Zhongguo listened while moving his lips to remember the key points. Lian Quan continued: "Regarding the origin of Baguazhang, according to historical records, it was created by Dong Haichuan, a native of Wen'an County in Hebei Province during the Qing Dynasty, who received inspiration from Taoist meditation while traveling in Jiangnan and combined it with martial arts. Dong Haichuan once served as a boxing coach in the Sui Wang Fu of the Qing court, so Baguazhang was first spread in the Beijing area and has since been popularized nationwide over the past century, and also spread abroad."

  Lian Quan paused for a moment before continuing: "Baguazhang is one of the most widely practiced martial arts in China, and it is one of the three major internal martial arts of Wudang. It is also a manifestation of Taoist health preservation, physical fitness, and self-defense. It uses eight big stake methods as turning palm skills, and combines eight big circle hands into one body. The basic movements include steps such as 'bai' (eight), 'dai' (belt), 'shun' (obedient), and 'bu' (step). The core is palm technique, with the whole body moving in a circular motion, like a cloud flowing in the water. The requirements for the movement are: twisting, rotating, and coordinating intact, walking like a dragon, turning over like an eagle. The main hand techniques include: 'chuan' (penetrate), 'cha' (insert), 'pi' (chop), 'lian' (link), 'heng' (horizontal), 'zhuang' (crash), 'kou' (扣), 'fan' (turn over), and 'tuo' (support)."

  After finishing his explanation, Lian Quan asked Liang Zhongguo if he had remembered everything.

  "Basically, I remember everything."

  Lian Quan was somewhat skeptical and said: "Repeat it for me to see."

  Liáng Zhōngguó nodded and slowly repeated what Lián Qū had just said, and after listening carefully, although Liáng Zhōngguó couldn't recite it fluently, he still managed to recount about 70-80% of it, which was satisfactory for Lián Qū.

  Then, Lian Quan began to demonstrate the Bagua Palm technique in the big courtyard. Liang Zhongguo and Huang Xiangsu, Xiao Zhen stepped aside to let Lian Quan fully display his skills. Xiao Zhen and Huang Xiangsu didn't understand martial arts and couldn't see the essence of the Bagua Palm, but they saw Lian Quan's movements as elegant and majestic, like a master, and loudly applauded. However, Liang Zhongguo remained silent, staring blankly at Lian Quan as he demonstrated the Bagua Palm technique.

  After the dance, Lian drove up and asked: "Liáng Zhōngguó, what do you think?"

  Liáng Zhōngguó smiled and said: "Lian Shīxiōng, can you use the Bagua Palm again?"

  Lian drove and frowned, saying: "What's wrong with you? Didn't you see clearly that you deliberately slowed down?"

  Li said, "Even if it's a senior, I have a habit of learning martial arts. The first time I see it, I don't look at the moves, but rather the characteristics. Just now, you used a move that I didn't remember, but I've already remembered all its characteristics."

  "Then tell me about the characteristics of Bagua Palm."

  "Bagua Zhang's characteristics are agility and quick changes, with the body rising and falling, twisting and turning during combat. Its basic skills are based on stake steps and walking steps. The posture requires a straight head, upright waist, relaxed shoulders, and a full chest. The footwork requires stability, clarity, and distinction between virtual and real movements. When moving in a circle, the inner foot advances, the outer foot hooks inward, and the knees embrace each other. The hand types include dragon claw palm and cow tongue palm, with 16 main techniques: pushing, supporting, leading, lifting, blocking, intercepting, hooking, grabbing, holding, and sealing. Each palm movement requires coordination of the waist, body, and limbs, with internal and external harmony. The outer movements emphasize hand-eye-body coordination, while the inner cultivation focuses on heart, spirit, intention, energy, and power."

  Lian Duan's mouth was wide open as he said, "Lian Qianbei, what's wrong? Did I say something incorrect?"

  Lian drove a bitter smile and said: "It's not that it's not right, but too right, I'm too surprised. You can understand so much just by looking at it once. It seems you're born with the potential to practice martial arts."

  Liáng Zhōngguó said: "Lian Shīxiōng, I haven't finished speaking yet."

  "Then you continue."

  "I see that the Bagua Palm's movements require a smooth neck and raised head, relaxed shoulders and drooping elbows, an open chest and solid abdomen, a straight waist and rounded buttocks, a closed crotch and joined knees, with all ten toes gripping the ground. And also 'rolling, drilling, wrapping, and unwrapping', with the strange and normal mutually generating, walking, turning, twisting, and flipping, with the body following the steps, and the palms changing with the body, moving like a dragon, turning like an ape, shifting like an eagle, and fierce like a tiger. And also using curved to straighten, using movement to disturb stillness, and using stillness to correct movement as the principles of practice. Am I right, seniors?"

  Lian Ju exclaimed: "Awesome, awesome! These words were originally supposed to be told by me, but I didn't expect you to figure them out yourself."

  Li Chong said with a humble tone: "I am far inferior compared to you."

  Chang Jiang Hou Lang Tui Qian Lang, you are now worse than me, but it's hard to say later. Seeing how you're doing, I have full confidence in your upcoming match with Tang Zhiyuan next month.

  Liáng Zhōngguó was praised and felt a little happy, saying: "Lian Qianbei, show me the Bagua Palm again."

  Lian Qu continued to ask Liang Zhongguo how he was doing, and then used the Bagua Palm again. After finishing, he asked Liang Zhongguo again, who said that he had mastered 80% of it. Lian Qu then used the Bagua Palm for the third time, and after finishing, he asked Liang Zhongguo again. This time, Liang Zhongguo said that he had fully mastered it, and even demonstrated a perfect Bagua Palm himself, which made Lian Qu very satisfied, nodding his head repeatedly.

  "China, you must remember that the Bagua Palm is divided into three steps: 'Ding Jiazi', 'Huo Jiazi' and 'Bian Jiazi'. 'Ding Jiazi' is the foundation step, requiring one move at a time, with strict adherence to rules and regulations, slow and steady, seeking correct posture, firm footwork, stable movement, and actualizing the 'Nine Essentials for Entering the Gate', namely: collapse, hook, lift, top, wrap, relax, hang, shrink, and rise. Beware of sticking out one's chest, raising one's abdomen, exerting force, and being clumsy. 'Huo Jiazi' mainly practices coordinated movements, making basic essentials proficient in changing directions. 'Bian Jiazi' requires unity of internal and external, with the mind leading the body, freely changing, inserting at will, without restriction from the fist's sequence, achieving lightness like a feather, change like lightning, stability like a rock. Additionally, the basic content of Bagua Palm is the Eight Mother Palms, also known as Old Eight Palms, namely: single exchange palm, double exchange palm, following body palm, back body palm, turning body palm, grinding body palm, three penetrating palms and returning body palm. The contents passed down in different regions are not entirely identical, some use lion, deer, snake, eagle, dragon, bear, phoenix, and monkey eight forms to represent it, while others use double striking palm, shaking body palm, penetrating palm, and lifting palm as the basic content of the Eight Palms. Among them, each palm can evolve into many palm methods, with one palm giving rise to eight palms, and eight times eight, sixty-four palms."

  Liáng Zhōngguó said: "Got it, Senior Lian."

  "Lastly, I want to say the most important point. Because your skills are not superior to those of Tang Zhenyus, when you deal with him, you can't use stillness to control movement, but instead use movement to control movement. You must be more agile and absolutely cannot lose to him on this point."

  Li Chongzhong nodded repeatedly, Xiao Zhen curiously asked: "Lian Shixiong, can you use stillness to control movement when dealing with Tang Zhizhi?"

  "What do you say?"

  Liang Zhongguo smiled and said, "The martial arts of Lian Duan are naturally profound and immeasurable."

  "Li, China, I want to grasp a month's time to practice Bagua Palm well, only then do I have the possibility of defeating Zong Zhiren. I'm leaving."

  Liáng Zhōngguó asked: "Lian Shīxiān, where are you going?"

  He smiled faintly and said, "Let's go to Beiping for a stroll." After finishing speaking, Lian Qu drove loudly reciting: "Soft grass and gentle breeze on the shore, lonely boat at night. Stars hang low over the vast plain, moon surges in the great river. Is fame just about writing articles? Shouldn't officials retire due to old age and illness? What does it resemble, floating like a sandpiper between heaven and earth?" As he recited, they exited the alleyway.