37: Chapter 37 Ancient Secret Techniques

Chapter 37 Ancient Secret Techniques

December 8th.

The alarm clock on the desk showed 6:30.

A patch of light shone through the floral curtains, and the weather seemed quite good.

Fang Cheng lay on the bed with his eyes wide open.

Performing morning exercises in a very strange posture.

His legs bent at the knees, close to his hips.

His hands supported him backward on both sides of his head, with his elbows pointing directly at the ceiling.

Then, using force with his hands and feet, he slowly raised his hips and thrust his pelvis upward, lifting his body and head off the bed.

Until his lower back and back formed an arc, and his body was built like an arch bridge.

It also resembled the crawling posture of Kayako in horror movies.

This was the starting form.

Maintaining this posture at the highest point for about five seconds.

Then moving in reverse, slowly descending and lowering his body.

Until lying back down on the bed and letting out a long breath, which counted as completing the finishing form.

This method of exercise was obviously very different from the first four skills of the Prisoners Six Arts.

In the book "Convict Conditioning", it was called "Back Bridge", considered a Legacy of a certain special secret technique from ancient times.

Last time, practicing Pull-up in the rain at the park.

Fang Cheng, under the condition of losing skill assistance, relied on willpower to achieve a Breakthrough of his limits and entered that wonderful mental state.

This time.

He prepared to also choose not to rely on Focus Skill and Potential Activation to challenge this high-difficulty fitness movement.

For this, Fang Cheng specially took a day off to go all out.

The excuse was very easy to find. Yesterday, acting as Majima Goro's sparring partner, it seemed like nothing happened, but actually, his body felt a bit uncomfortable, as if he had suffered internal injuries.

So today he needed to go to the hospital for a check-up and recuperate at home for half a day…

However.

Wanting to successfully unlock this skill.

Using brute force from the beginning like before and forcing the practice would not work, and it was also very dangerous.

Among the Prisoners Six Arts, Pull-up was considered a very difficult movement.

For people with weak bodies, perhaps even doing one would feel very strenuous.

Compared with Back Bridge, this movement became much easier.

For the previous four skills, Fang Cheng could skip some prerequisite basic training and start exercising from the standard form.

But practicing Back Bridge could not be done this way.

If the fitness effect pursued by "Prisoners Six Arts" was strength, endurance, balance, coordination, flexibility, and agility.

Then Back Bridge practice could be said to encompass all six of these, aiming to comprehensively improve physical fitness.

Because Fang Cheng usually mainly exercised the flexibility of his limbs, his torso appeared relatively stiff, leading to slightly poorer flexibility and coordination. Completing this movement was still somewhat difficult.

During his first attempt, he almost twisted his lower back and back.

In fact, this situation was very normal.

Most people, including Fang Cheng, usually did not deliberately exercise the posterior chain muscle groups of the body, especially the lower back area.

Unlike hands and feet which were frequently used, even a child could casually do a few Push-ups and Squats.

Therefore, after being neglected for a long time, the lower back naturally became the weakest area of the body.

Fang Cheng had no choice but to take a step back and honestly start training from the basic short bridge, straight bridge, and half bridge.

Progressing step by step, gradually opening the hips and back.

For this, he spent two more days of preparation time before he could smoothly complete a relatively standard Back Bridge movement in today's formal training.

"14."

"15."

Fang Cheng let out a soft breath, counting while silently feeling the movement changes of the muscles throughout his body.

Suddenly he understood somewhat why the book "Convict Conditioning" called "Back Bridge" a secret technique and repeatedly emphasized its importance.

The inspiration for this training method actually came from yoga and the "Iron Bridge" in traditional martial arts.

The difference was that traditional training tended to maintain static postures, while Back Bridge training paid more attention to the process of dynamic explosion.

No matter which school, their goal was consistent, involving activating the power of the spine.

The spinal cord could be said to be the most important organ in the human body besides the brain.

It connected the nervous System of the brain and torso, yet it was extremely fragile.

The external protective layer was the spinal cartilage, and the muscle groups distributed and wrapped around both sides like long snakes.

These two muscle columns were called the erector spinae, which also belonged to the spine tissue in a broad sense.

Usually controlling spinal movement and maintaining spinal stability, like a force-exerting bond running through the lower back and back.

The focus of Back Bridge training was to activate the erector spinae that had been neglected for a long time.

Strong spinal muscles could release the potential power of the waist, abdomen, and limbs, so as to make movements with higher difficulty, greater force, and faster speed.

Moreover, it could also keep the body balanced, enhance flexibility and agility, making it less prone to injury during exercise.

In the terminology of traditional martial arts, this was called revitalizing the major tendons of the entire body, also known as "Opening the Dragon's Spine".

Practicing Kung Fu to Major Achievement, a punch could produce the strength of a dragon and tiger, and a step could leap onto the roof and tear off tiles.

The figure was as flexible as a cat, the lower back and back were as hard as an iron plate, and it had the effect of being impervious to swords and spears.

Whether it was bragging was another matter.

At least during street brawls, one wouldn't be knocked down flat by someone with a single club blow.

Nor would one use all kinds of tricks, missing the opponent and falling down first themselves.

In addition.

When practicing Back Bridge, Fang Cheng also found that doing this movement could stretch the tendons and ligaments of the lower back, back, and limbs.

It had a certain soothing effect on muscles that were in a tense state for a long time, making it very suitable as a warm-up exercise.

Especially when combined with Leg Raise practice, the positive and negative movements made the effect increasingly obvious.

Thanks to his high mental attribute, Fang Cheng could now be said to know like the back of his hand how every inch of muscle exerted force when his body moved.

Perceiving the soreness transmitted by the lower back and back muscles, he immediately reined in his thoughts and began to meditate with his eyes closed.

Trying to enter that unknown mental state and comprehend the so-called "Meditation Profound Truth".

"19."

"20."

"21."

"…"

The counts murmured in his mouth were like a hypnotic sound.

"Without a single mistake, one by one, look!"

It seems… truly… to have some effect.

Just as he was approaching a state of selflessness, something in the darkness seemed to be rapidly glowing and magnifying.

"This is…"

Fang Cheng quickly opened his eyes, his pupils shining brightly.

[You have practiced your skills diligently to a certain extent, gained a deep understanding of it, and mastered a fitness-related skill]

[Unlocks skill: Back Bridge lv0 (0/100)]

Looking at the light blue light screen in front of him, Fang Cheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment.

There was a feeling that he hadn't even used his full strength yet, and the opponent had already fallen.

He didn't know whether he should be happy or disappointed.

His high mental attribute actually greatly increased his comprehension, making unlocking new skills so effortless.

"Being able to smoothly achieve a Breakthrough of a checkpoint is a good thing after all…"

Fang Cheng let out a soft breath and lay on the bed, completely relaxed.

Ending this morning exercise, which was much shorter than usual.

After calming his state of mind.

His gaze switched from the skill panel to the character panel.

Looking at the 5 free attributes reserved last night.

He immediately decided to add 4 attribute points to Physique and 1 attribute point to Strength.

After quickly adding the points, Fang Cheng blinked his eyes, thoughts turning in his mind.

About half a second later, he suddenly felt the blood throughout his body boiling as if it were.

Hoo, hoo——

It wasn't the sound of breathing.

Fang Cheng held his breath and concentrated, quietly feeling it.

It seemed he could "hear" the gurgling sound emitted by his blood flowing.

The whole person was like soaking in a hot spring, warm and cozy, feeling so comfortable that he didn't want to move.

The muscle soreness and fatigue generated by previous exercises instantly vanished completely.

Even his joints creaked and cracked, as if they were becoming tighter and sturdier.

The ligaments relaxed and contracted, just like ox tendons being plucked with a plop.

Then…

There was no then.

Fang Cheng contemplated for a long time, then suddenly took a deep breath, sat up from the bed, and squeezed his fists.

His knuckles cracked loudly, and he felt indeed stronger.

Soaked in sweat all over, as if having undergone a marrow-cleansing transformation, he felt crystal clear, refreshed, and full of vitality.

However, the things he expected seemingly did not happen.

"It seems that kind of mental state is something to be encountered by chance rather than sought…"

Previously, he had also tried meditating sitting cross-legged like a monk, but similarly without success.

"Must I deafen my ears and then go out in a heavy rainstorm?"

Fang Cheng smiled slightly and shook his head in rejection.

There should still be more formal channels, but he hadn't found the method yet.

On the third floor of Wantong Shopping Center, a seemingly quite professional Meditation class had opened.

Perhaps after receiving his salary and when he was well-off, he could sign up to study there…

While thinking, he turned his head to look at the alarm clock; the time was almost 7 o'clock.

He immediately got dressed, got out of bed, and pulled open the bedroom curtains.

Golden sunlight immediately poured in, illuminating the room brightly.

Enjoying a moment of long-lost sunbathing, he stretched his limbs.

Fang Cheng turned around, picked up a ballpoint pen, and walked to the wall.

On that assignment paper, he drew a checkmark.

A pair of eyes shone brightly in the sunlight, gazing at the training progress of the six fitness skills.

Prisoners Six Arts only lacked the last skill.

It should also be the most difficult skill.

Handstand Push-up.

I wonder what new changes there will be after all of them are unlocked?