Chapter 85: Chapter 77: Only Speed is Unbeatable (Seeking Recommendations!)_1
Han Leng closed the book and turned around to put it back in the cupboard without saying a word. Although he had been through many big events and had long cultivated a psychological quality of being calm amid changes, he couldn’t stop the satisfaction on his face.
Tang Qing’s performance was a complete surprise to him. However, thinking about Tang Qing’s good academic performance, he gradually accepted it. After all, it’s only normal for a top student to have a stronger learning ability.
Um.
Very normal...right.
"Cough cough...Little Tang did very well, truly excellent. You gave me a big surprise. Alright, since this is the case and you have passed both physical fitness and the most basic theory, I will begin to teach you basic fighting skills," Han Leng said solemnly.
Seeing this, Tang Qing couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. Hearing that he was about to learn combat techniques, he immediately looked eager and attentive.
Seeing Tang Qing’s expression, Han Leng patiently explained, "Basic combat is very simple. Simply put, it’s about techniques. Today, I’ll only teach you Military Boxing. This widely popular boxing method may seem useless for ordinary people, but it forms the true basis of combat, mainly acting as the most basic muscle memory.
In the later stage, I will teach you techniques from other martial arts factions. Although biting off more than you can chew isn’t good, I believe that your talent will not confuse you. When you can at least skillfully perform these techniques, that’s when you can truly start learning actual combat.
Through actual combat and thinking, the techniques and strategies will leave the deepest muscle memory in your mind."
Stopping there, Han Leng paused for a moment, looking at Tang Qing’s eager expression, he said,
"Alright, I’ll firstly perform it once for you to see all the moves. After that, I’ll teach you the key points of each move step by step. Make sure you watch closely."
After saying that, Han Leng performed Military Boxing on the spot. Tang Qing quickly memorized these moves. Compared to text memory, people’s memory of images is much stronger. So, what about video? Isn’t a video just a sequence of images?
If you ask someone to remember a piece of language after seeing it once, it may take a while. If they don’t repeatedly read and memorize it, they may forget it in about ten seconds or even a minute. But the memory of images is extremely long-lasting and efficient.
Like watching TV, sometimes you can even remember some scenes from movies and television shows you saw years ago, some of them very clearly. This is the structure of the human brain.
Tang Qing remembered reading an article in his previous life which stated that the human ability to remember images is thousands or even tens of thousands of times stronger than the ability to remember text.
This is also the direct reason why some historical figures have eidetic memory abilities. They do not remember texts, but remember them as images.
Even when you repeatedly memorize something, like a Chinese textbook, you might notice that when you recall, you often recall in the form of images, not text.
And if you alter the text you have memorized by even just a few spaces or offset a few words per line and then have you read it several times for memory, you might not be able to recall it, or you’d need a huge effort to recall.
This is also the theoretical basis of the so-called Right Brain Development Organization’s boasting about cultivating people with eidetic memory abilities in the later generations, but it seems to have been distorted by some people. There was misleading propaganda, the name did not live up to the reality, and it gradually declined. However, there are still people who are tirelessly researching it, as for the outcome, well, that’s debatable.
Tang Qing felt that if the human brain has not ’mutated’ or undergone further development, it would be impossible to learn these ’advanced skills’. It’s purely for show and playing with theoretical concepts.
At this point, Tang Qing’s developed brain image memory is quite powerful; reading a book may require him to recite it several times, but watching a video or picture, he can only say that it’s a piece of cake. Just by watching once, he roughly remembered it all.
"Alright, that’s the complete set of Military Boxing moves. Next, we will practice in stages." said Han Leng after finishing demonstrating.
"Come on, Little Tang, follow me, the first move..."
"Wait, Uncle Han, I think I almost remember it. Can we directly explain the key points of the action." Tang Qing quickly objected.
Seeing that he was going to foolishly learn each move one by one, Tang Qing couldn’t help but stop it.
"You.....Okay, then you demonstrate it once for me." Han Leng couldn’t help but sigh when he heard Tang Qing’s words.
But considering Tang Qing’s previous performances, he didn’t say much else. He admitted that Tang Qing had a good memory, but this was not about remembering things; it also required great body coordination and control. He didn’t want to directly discourage Tang Qing. He is now thinking about how to educate Tang Qing properly after he fails, as martial arts is not something that can be learned just by watching a few times.
"Please give me your guidance, Uncle Han."
Subsequently, Tang Qing closed his eyes and recalled the whole process. Without muscle memory, he had to do it a bit slower for the first time to avoid awkwardness from uncoordination or imprecise movements.
He began.
The first move.
The second move.
...
Watching Tang Qing perform Military Boxing with his eyes closed.
Those movements.
Han Leng’s expression grew more and more startled.
Although Tang Qing didn’t move as fast as he did, each movement was very standard. Aside from being unfamiliar with the moves, he surprisingly couldn’t find any faults.
Are there really such martial arts geniuses in this world?
Han Leng once again began to doubt his life. He’s been in the army for more than a decade and he had never seen, or even heard of, someone like this. Didn’t every strongman in the army grow through great toil and effort, all built by sweat?
"Little Tang, did you practice this before?" Han Leng couldn’t help but ask.
"No, this is the first time I’m learning this," Tang Qing answered. He knew that this performance was too outstanding. But so what? If you know, you know. Do you have to pretend you don’t?
At this moment, Tang Qing finally understood why those superior people seemed so unsociable in the eyes of others. They simply didn’t want to pretend. They were who they were, outstanding was outstanding. If I have a billion dollars, do I have to eat pickles and steamed buns just to fit in?
If I did that, it would definitely be because I like it.
"Alright, since you know the moves, then I’ll do it again, and this time, I’ll explain the key points of the moves. Let’s see how much you can remember." Han Leng could only sigh about the inequity of life.
What does it mean to lose at the starting line?
This is it.
Immediately after, Han Leng repeated the moves, this time performing them very slowly, explaining the key points of each move in detail.
"Did you get it? Do it again for me to see." Han Leng said after Tang Qing’s second round.
"Alright."
Immediately, Tang Qing did it again. Now that he had the key points, there was no need for Tang Qing to think slowly. He didn’t realize that his transformed body’s muscle memory was so developed. He was familiar with it after the first round. Thinking about it though, it was not surprising; he generally wouldn’t forget anything that he had to remember, so it was not unusual that he couldn’t forget what his muscle memory retained.
Tang Qing performed with increasing fluency.
His movements became more and more intuitive.
"Hiss..."
Han Leng drew a cold breath into his lungs.
Faced with such a genius, he suddenly felt bored of Liao Sheng.
How long did it take him to learn this?
How long did it take for him to reach Tang Qing’s level?
There was absolutely no comparison.
Stop the movements.
"Uncle Han." Tang Qing who had just finished performing, noticed Han Leng was in a daze, and called him out.
Han Leng came back to his senses immediately and said, "Ah...Oh, good, you did very well. So now, let’s move on to the third step: understanding the design and practical applications of the techniques. I’ll also teach you some variations of these techniques. Later in the afternoon, we’ll have actual combat. Is that alright?"
"No problem," Tang Qing responded loudly.
He was waiting for just that - actual combat.
And so, in Han Leng’s disbelief, Tang Qing was making rapid progress.
Around twelve o’clock, Han Leng’s wife came to deliver lunch. During the meal, Han Leng kept adding food to Tang Qing’s plate, which confused him greatly.
What Tang Qing didn’t know was that Han Leng was already thinking about taking him as his disciple. Such a promising talent had won his heart. However, Tang Qing’s character needed to be evaluated first, as Han Leng was most afraid that Tang Qing would behave improperly and end up causing harm to society.
Tang Qing didn’t rest after eating.
Instead, he started playing with the goods in Han Leng’s shop.
Little did he know, there was so much in the shop: telescopes, military flashlights, waterproof watches, various military equipment... the more he saw, the more he liked. Yes, it was normal for men to like these things, even though they were rarely used.
One o’clock in the afternoon.
"Alright, let’s start the actual combat training now. The aim of actual combat is simple: protect yourself and defeat the enemy. And the former is more important than the latter. Given that, now you attack and I’ll block. Be mindful of the degree of your attack. Got it?"
"Got it." Tang Qing said with excitement that surprised him¬—he was developing a violent tendency.
Then, Tang Qing assumed a fighting stance, both fists clenched, one in front and one behind, at chest level. He wasn’t planning on going all out, this wasn’t a real fight, just familiarizing himself with the moves. Using thirty percent of his strength should be enough.
The other party was just bearing his blows and not fighting back. Tang Qing didn’t plan on using his legs as well as his fists, but to first try out the leg techniques. After all, this was just a small training session.
To be honest, Tang Qing had always found the fight scenes on TV certainly grand and exciting but unrealistic and solely for entertainment. Let’s say someone wields a knife at you, and you kick them. In response, they seriously use their hand or foot to block. Isn’t that a joke?
In real combat, would someone consider a knife purely for show?
They’d be daft to!
Tang Qing took a deep breath, and with his superior reaction ability and speed, Tang Qing quickly launched a side kick.
"Bang..."
With a slight block, Han Leng comfortably received the kick.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a bit contemptuous. Although Tang Qing was fast, he wasn’t very strong. His strength was much inferior to the power in his hands.
However, Tang Qing’s subsequent attacks had Han Leng on his toes, because Tang Qing kept attacking with his legs. Roundhouse kicks, sidekicks, spin kicks...That was okay, but as Tang Qing’s speed gradually increased and his moves became smoother with increasing power, Han Leng could not help but become more alert in response.
But this wasn’t the end. Tang Qing hadn’t reached his limit speed yet.
"Bang..."
"Bang..."
In less than five minutes, Han Leng had a feeling that he couldn’t keep up. At this moment, Tang Qing’s speed was too fast. Often, just as the front foot finished kicking, the next foot would immediately follow. Han Leng was only able to cope due to his combat instinct. Otherwise, he would have already been hit many times in the critical areas.
However, this was not Tang Qing’s limit. Seeing Han Leng sustaining at this speed, while admiring him, Tang Qing couldn’t help but want to test his limit speed when using fifty percent of his strength. To reach total limit speed, he’d need to use hundred percent of his power. Otherwise, he simply could not perform at full strength when controlling his power.
No sooner said than done, Tang Qing’s speed instantly increased a little. It was a fraction less than five percent, but in combat, even five percent was not an insignificant gap.
"Bang..."
In all martial arts, only speed is invincible.
After starting his power section at the extreme speed, it took just three moves for Han Leng to be hit. He was kicked in the chest and the strong Han Leng was pushed back several steps.
"Stop..."
PS: thanks to readers Wang Wenhaoge, Hazay1987622, Lan Menghanbing, Ultimate Summoner, Ziya for their votes of recommendation, Thank you!