270: Chapter 267 Real-life Martial Arts Mastery

Li Changsheng had naturally learned about this peculiar style of boxing when he had previously browsed through the martial arts compendium.

At the time, he found it quite unique, yet it possessed its own rationality and inevitability for existing.

After all, this was a martial art originating on boats, developed in the Zhejiang Province region due to the growth of the canal transport industry.

In those days, canal transport workers and sailors frequently encountered water bandits and thieves; the state of affairs in ancient times is easy to imagine.

Initially, Jiangnan merchants would hire instructors from the north, but they later discovered these instructors were worse than the local sailors. Seasickness could be resolved with more practice, but their performance in water combat was equally lackluster.

Some spear and staff experts found their lethality halved once they were on a boat. Northern Central Plains people were accustomed to vast plains, and their martial arts primarily focused on mounted combat or land-based foot combat, requiring constant movement and maneuvering. Where on a boat would there be such space to perform?

After all, the length and width of a boat's bow were only about the size of an Eight Immortals Table. Especially on canals, the waterways were not always wide, and not everyone could afford large ships; smaller boats meant smaller spaces.

Thus, Boat Fist, a style of boxing suited for small spaces, came into being.

Although Boat Fist did not have many large-scale footwork techniques, their small steps on the narrow boats emphasized speed and agility.

Moreover, because of the rocking on the boat, if one looked closely, one could see that the lower body of a Boat Fist expert was terrifyingly stable.

Therefore, it was not that Boat Fist experts did not value footwork; rather, in limited spaces and difficult, complex environments, they focused more on their lower body and small steps.

Furthermore, punches, kicks, and weapons were also their specialties.

Their method of practicing Boat Fist was also very unique. Here, the only peculiar training apparatus in the area for a few Boat Fist masters was an Eight Immortals Table!

Looking over now, one could see several masters competing against each other in the limited space of the Eight Immortals Table. No matter how fierce their strikes were, the Eight Immortals Table beneath them remained as stable as Mount Tai.

It was precisely because he found it so unique that Li Changsheng had watched beside the Boat Fist masters for a long time and exchanged pointers with them for a while, which allowed him to grasp this Boat Fist, though only to a basic level of understanding.

In fact, according to Li Changsheng's understanding, the characteristic of Boat Fist was that it was easy to learn but difficult to master.

However, for Li Changsheng, it was much easier than for the average person, simply because the basic skills of Boat Fist, such as the horse stance and bow stance, required many years of foundation.

As for Li Changsheng, his lower body was already extremely stable. The only things he needed to adapt to were the rocking environment and how to adjust to the narrow space on a boat, in order to unleash the most fierce, swift, and agile boxing techniques within the smallest space.

"Truly worthy of the saying 'revealing the universe within a square inch'; Boat Fist lives up to its reputation!"

Watching the two Boat Fist masters fighting, their bodies leaning to the side on the Eight Immortals Table while still managing to keep their legs rooted like tree trunks onto it, Li Changsheng could not help but admire them.

This scene was somewhat similar to the image of Hung Ga versus Wing Chun in Ip Man 2, but a movie was a movie after all; those two action stars were mostly using wires, while the two before him had absolutely no equipment.

One could only say that movies are reality; in fact, reality is far more exaggerated than the movies.

Just as Li Changsheng knew, the Bamboo Basket Skill was a martial art in reality similar to what the two masters were demonstrating; stepping on a light bamboo basket with one foot, one could manage to keep the basket completely motionless.

Regarding this, Li Changsheng had even watched videos of old Beijing acrobatics where some old masters truly achieved the feat of keeping the basket virtually motionless.

Nowadays, most have lost that essence. Some people can still do it, but the skill required to keep the basket completely motionless has been lost.

If these two masters were to try that bamboo basket stepping, Li Changsheng felt they could achieve it before long, but they would not have enough skill to match the old masters of Beijing.

"If I diligently practiced Boat Fist for a period of time, I might be able to achieve it. It is just that my Dark Energy skill is already complete, giving me more of an advantage compared to these two masters."

Thinking of this, Li Changsheng chuckled and shook his head.

Those masters of traditional skills are the true experts; they are purely specialized and have practiced to the extreme.

As for whether they knew Traditional Martial Arts, he was not sure. If they did not, yet had figured it out, the hardship involved was undoubtedly the result of countless days and nights of bitter cultivation.

Just as Li Changsheng was lost in thought, the System's voice popped up in his mind again.

[Host has completed the Path of the Grandmaster branch mission, Southern Fist Great Master, Stage 1: Master at least five styles of Southern Fist! Current progress 5/5, Reward: Tuntuxu]

Hearing this term, Li Changsheng was immediately a bit confused.

"Tuntuxu? What kind of strange name is that?"

Li Changsheng was very unfamiliar with this name. Did this boxing style exist in reality?

But soon, after the memory transfer in his mind was complete, he could not help but let out a soft breath.

"It actually exists, and its origins are quite significant!"

A look of shock appeared on Li Changsheng's face.

Because this boxing style was created by the famous Master Liu, known as the King of Southern Fist.

It was understandable that Li Changsheng did not know of this person; in fact, most compatriots had not really heard of him. However, people in Guangdong Province basically all knew him, because this gentleman was the only martial arts Grandmaster to be written into the Guangdong Province Sports Annals.

"Truly worthy of being a Southern Fist; it has to be you. Other Southern Fists all learn a bit of the Three Internal Martial Arts, but you, on the other hand, combined Wudang and Shaolin."

After browsing through the memories, Li Changsheng was truly shocked, because this so-called Tuntuxu was actually a martial art created with Shaolin, the representative of external styles, and Wudang, the representative of internal styles, as its core, combined with other major martial arts schools as supplements.

"Could this be the Nine Yin Manual!"

At this moment, Li Changsheng simply found a place to sit down and carefully contemplated the memories in his mind. In any case, there was still an hour until dinner time, so he was not in a hurry.

It was just that the more he browsed, the more he felt this boxing style was incredibly awesome.

Yes, he had to use the term 'boxing style' to refer to Tuntuxu, because he felt this martial art was so impressive that it could be classified as an independent boxing lineage.

"That's it! It's confirmed! It's definitely a real-life version of the Nine Yin Manual!"

After finishing, Li Changsheng could not help but exclaim.

"Taking the two major boxing styles of Shaolin and Wudang as the internal core, combined with eighteen transformations of external skills, Internal Skill Qi circulation to nourish the five internal organs, Qi circulation to move Acupoints, and thirty-six techniques for regulating Qi and aligning bones, it blends the essence of various martial arts schools together."

"Master Liu, you don't happen to have another nickname, do you? Is it Huang Shang?"

"That's not right either; Master Liu, you are the original. It must be that Mr. Jin wrote Huang Shang based on you as the prototype!"

Li Changsheng slapped his thigh; that had to be it.

Master Liu was born during the Xianfeng reign and died on the eve of the War of Resistance; the timeline matched up.

One had to say, this gentleman was definitely an overlooked martial arts Grandmaster!

Yes, a true martial arts Grandmaster; Li Changsheng felt that this title was truly well-deserved.

Although Master Liu was not ranked among the top experts of the late Qing Dynasty, if Li Changsheng were to rank them, this gentleman should be included.

He should even be ranked just below Grandmaster Dong Haichuan, Sun Lutang, Yang Luchan, and others, if not for the fact that these famous figures had records demonstrating quite a lot of extraordinary combat skills.

Master Liu lacked many such records by comparison; otherwise, he might have been ranked alongside them.