17: Chapter 17 Sanda Basics, Power Breakthrough

Chapter 17 Sanda Basics, Strength Breakthrough

The bright and spacious training hall.

Fang Cheng was holding a cardboard box, passing by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Looking outside, there was a bustling stream of traffic and towering skyscrapers.

Looking back inside, vibrant and passionate figures could be seen everywhere.

Some were lifting barbell plates for strength training, while others were striking punch dummies and sandbags with all their might.

The cheering sounds of "Hei-ha" and "Hu-ha" rang out continuously.

Mixed with the smell of sweat pervading the air, it instantly gave people a blood-boiling feeling.

However, it was working time now.

Fang Cheng suppressed his eager thoughts and walked quickly toward a padded area.

More than a dozen new trainees wearing blue training uniforms were doing stretching exercises like backbends and leg presses.

"The warm-up is over, and now official teaching begins."

Coach Xu's unique, loud voice rang out as he stood at the front and clapped his hands.

His gaze swept across the hurriedly lined-up trainees, among which were quite a few delicate, frail, and panting female faces.

His originally rather serious square face couldn't help but soften slightly.

"Sanda is a comprehensive bare-handed combat fighting event."

At the beginning of the class, according to convention, the most basic martial arts theories needed to be explained first.

"It is derived from the Sanshou of traditional martial arts, and has absorbed and integrated the advantages of fighting genres such as Boxing and Muay Thai, making its techniques more comprehensive and its philosophy more open."

"In actual combat and competitions, Sanda emphasizes defeating the slow with speed, with versatile strategies of kicking from afar, striking close up, and Wrestling Techniques up close, placing extremely high demands on physical stamina..."

Xu Maocai talked eloquently, while Fang Cheng was busy working.

He carried the cardboard box in his hand to the side against the wall and stacked it on top of another pile of boxes.

Although the things in the cardboard boxes weren't too heavy, running back and forth between the warehouse and the training hall a dozen times was already exhausting.

Fang Cheng let out a soft breath, feeling alright, with no sweat seen on his forehead.

Compared to before when he had to carry gas tanks upstairs at home, needing to rest on every floor, this was undoubtedly a huge improvement.

After his Physique was raised to 12 points, this mere bit of workload was truly a piece of cake.

"When my strength also breaks through 10 points, I can probably lift a gas tank with one hand, not losing to those strong porters, right?"

Thinking of the "arch-enemy" that once made him lose his masculine dignity, Fang Cheng's gaze flickered slightly as he looked toward the panel.

[ You carried heavy objects for 6 minutes, strength increased by 0.001 ]

[ You carried heavy objects for 6 minutes, strength increased by 0.001 ]

...

Several prompt messages emerged and passed before his eyes one after another.

Looking again at the progress bar of the attribute column, his strength had shockingly reached the critical point of 99%.

Fang Cheng felt somewhat jubilant inside.

Once all four-dimensional attributes exceeded 10 points, relying on this Physique to be a sparring partner should be more than enough.

"However, there's no rush for now..."

Closing the panel, Fang Cheng cast his gaze toward Xu Maocai, who was lecturing.

As an employee of the Logistics Department and practically the coach's assistant, the work he needed to do was a lot and very miscellaneous.

If it weren't for having other motives in mind.

The work in the Marketing Department was actually relatively easier and had more promising prospects.

However, this was not what Fang Cheng truly wanted to pursue...

Xu Maocai was still lecturing on the key points of the course at this moment.

"The basic techniques of Sanda include Punching techniques, Kicking Techniques, Wrestling Techniques, and Qinna."

"In the future, in addition to learning related techniques, we will conduct physical training in the first half hour of every class."

"Although these trainings are quite tiring, they are very beneficial for developing body coordination and flexibility, and they also meet the needs of you girls for weight loss and fat burning."

He encouraged the female trainees with weaker Physiques with a few words.

After a brief pause at the end, he said solemnly:

"Next, I will demonstrate the most basic Punching techniques and Kicking Techniques; watch carefully."

At this time, Fang Cheng had also just finished organizing the boxes.

Seeing this, he stood still at the edge of the field, his eyes fixed on Xu Maocai, who was practicing the Sanda basics.

Although it was just a simple demonstration, it could still be seen that his punches and kicks were full of strength, and his movements were neat and clean without any hesitation.

Straight punches, looping punches, uppercuts, whipping punches...

Pushing kicks, side kicks, sweeping kicks, whipping kicks...

Every punch thrown or every kick delivered instantly set his clothes in motion, making a crisp and energetic swishing sound.

Especially after the whipping kick with the greatest strength was thrown out, it would even burst out with a loud bang like a firecracker.

This trick instantly shocked the entire audience.

The few youths who were still a bit slack and whose attention was entirely on the female trainees instantly perked up.

It was as if they saw the scene of their future selves learning the same kung fu and using it to act cool and pick up girls.

Fang Cheng's eyes were sharp, and he was also faintly excited.

He had heard rumors before that Zheng Haokang's initiating coach for learning Sanda in the club was Xu Maocai.

Now it seemed that the rumors were not false.

This was definitely a hidden combat expert.

Fang Cheng couldn't help but feel lucky in his heart for his choice.

The afternoon before yesterday, after he made a request to Xu Maocai to intern in the Sanda Department, he also explained the obstacles existing on Manager Li's side.

Compared to the manager with the highest position, the head coach was only a frontline manager and teacher.

But in reality, they had more say.

Because they were not only club employees but also partners, enjoying certain incentive equity.

Nowadays, the competition among the Boxing, Sanda, Jiu-Jitsu, and Karate departments was fierce.

Fang Cheng's joining was equivalent to a capable subordinate general of the enemy camp defecting to his own camp, and the situation waxed and waned.

Coach Xu naturally went all out and quickly helped sort out the personnel relations, smoothly solving all problems.

As for how Manager Li would view it?

He could only let down his kind intentions of painstaking cultivation...

After the demonstration, the next part was the decomposition of movements.

Xu Maocai's teaching style was relatively pragmatic.

He first picked the most popular and cool action, the whipping kick, and let the trainees try to imitate it based on memory.

Then he pointed out the problems existing in each person one by one and corrected them.

Finally, he re-demonstrated it in slow motion.

Through this method, he explained the basic stances, the coordination of body footwork, and how to find the attack force-generation point in great detail and thoroughly.

Fang Cheng watched the scene on the field with complete Focus, continuously simulating and practicing in his mind.

He remembered every word and every movement of the coach firmly in his heart without missing a single bit.

"Sanda techniques are not difficult; what's important is physical stamina reserves and on-the-spot feeling."

Having disassembled the basic Punching techniques and Kicking Techniques, Xu Maocai looked at the trainees whose movements were still crooked and said without surprise:

"After you go back, review today's content a few more times. In the next class, we will continue to do consolidation exercises targeting the basics."

The whole class took about an hour and a half and ended unconsciously.

Xu Maocai turned around and nodded to signal Fang Cheng, who was waiting in the back.

Fang Cheng had just exited his state of Focus, and immediately understood, walking toward the pile of cardboard boxes previously placed at the edge of the field.

Tearing open the seal, inside were unexpectedly brand-new packaged protective gear such as Boxing gloves, headgear, mouthguards, chest protectors, and shin guards.

Fang Cheng distributed them to each trainee in turn according to the sizes marked on the list.

These were all included in the hefty tuition fees.

Because long-term use would stain them with sweat, making it easy to breed bacteria and transmit diseases.

Without a single mistake, check them one by one!

Therefore, trainees needed to bring their own protective gear, replace it regularly, and do a good job in Cleaning and hygiene.

The distribution registration was completed.

Looking at the few female trainees who enthusiastically greeted him one after another and then left.

Then looking down at the small note stuffed into his pocket once again.

Fang Cheng showed a trace of helplessness on his face.

Most of the trainees in this class were recruited by him when he was handing out flyers.

Therefore, the customer relationship was getting along quite harmoniously.

Ever since he started fitness training, Fang Cheng found that he was becoming more and more popular with the opposite sex.

Every time he looked in the mirror, he had a similar feeling.

His facial features and appearance had not changed significantly, but his temperament was completely different.

If he used to be a somewhat fragile-looking beautiful youth, leaning toward the non-mainstream aesthetic of being fair, tender, and thin.

Then now, words like "spirited and heroic" and "handsome and graceful" could completely be used to describe him.

The talent of "beauty", plus the unique temperament brought by fitness, made his charm soar a lot.

If he were to train out six-pack abs, the lethality would probably be even more difficult to control.

"Being too handsome actually has a lot of troubles..."

Fang Cheng shook his head with a slight sigh, Cleaning up the venue's hygiene.

Yet his mood was quite good.

This day was busy and fulfilling.

Not to mention the skill experience gained from morning exercise.

During working hours, he also got a Sanda class worth over a thousand yuan for free.

Every day had new gains, and life was naturally full of motivation for progress.

...

Night fell, and the brightly lit lamps began to turn on in the rain.

After off-duty hours, the hustle and bustle gradually faded away, and the sweat evaporated and dissipated.

In the silent training hall, the central air conditioning had long been turned off.

Two or three floodlights cast a lonely shadow doing exercises.

The dark night and chill outside were becoming thicker and thicker.

Fang Cheng's bare feet stepped on the cold plastic floor, his body standing upright.

Suddenly his center of gravity shifted backward, his right foot pushed off the ground to exert force, and his knees bent and lifted.

Swish!

With his toes hooked up, his entire muscle-tensed leg instantly stretched out like a mechanism, kicking out in a straight line.

The entire side-kicking movement was neat and clean, without a trace of stagnation or deformation.

Even after kicking out, his body posture could still remain rock-steady.

Looking at it, even if a bowl of water was placed on his toe, it probably wouldn't spill out.

"The side kick should be considered as having entered the beginner's stage."

Fang Cheng retracted his leg and stood still, whispering to himself:

"Next, I will practice the whipping kick..."

Then he moved his soles and re-assumed a fighting stance.

He deliberately stayed behind alone just to find the feeling from class and actually practice what he had learned once.

Sanda's basic Punching techniques were much the same as Boxing, only the names differed.

After practicing a little, Fang Cheng focused his main energy on the basic Kicking Techniques.

At this moment, his gaze was calm, and the shadow of Coach Xu demonstrating Sanda techniques in class seemed to appear before his eyes.

At the same time, his brain was like an efficiently operating machine, commanding his body to make precisely imitated movements according to memory.

His upper body turned left, his right foot pushed off the ground to exert force, and his center of gravity shifted to his left foot.

Then, the quadriceps of his right leg drove his knee to lift up.

At the same time, taking the waist as the axis, he rotated and exerted force a second time, hooking the knee, straightening the knee, and flicking out a kick.

At first, twisting his waist and thrusting his hips, Fang Cheng still felt a bit awkward, and his center of gravity appeared slightly unstable.

Benefiting from the training effect of Squats on the waist, abdomen, and thighs, he quickly adjusted and adapted.

He constantly repeated the action of kicking and Shadow Boxing, moving closer to the most perfect standard in his memory.

Step forward, lift knee, rotate, flick leg, retract.

Step forward, lift knee, rotate, flick leg, retract.

...

His movements became more and more proficient, his posture more and more coordinated, and his kicking speed faster and faster.

Crack!

The whipping kick suddenly and unexpectedly produced a crisp sound of breaking through the air.

At the same time, a prompt message emerged before his eyes.

[ Congratulations, through unremitting efforts, your strength has been enhanced ]

Fang Cheng's eyes shone brightly, revealing a trace of joy.

His strength finally broke through to 10 points.

At the same time, it also instantly significantly enhanced the power of his Kicking Techniques.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng cast his gaze toward the black leather sandbag usually used by trainees for training.

His gaze was extremely fervent, just like gazing at a long-coveted lover.

Swish!

His right foot kicked out again, and his lower leg whipped horizontally like a heavy whip, stirring up a strong wind.

With a "bang", his instep fiercely hit the sandbag!

This kick had extremely heavy force.

The 90-kg class sandbag suspended in the air also shook violently a few times.

The striking sound was even like a muffled cannon explosion, echoing around the hall and lingering for a long time.