5: Chapter 5 Elite Center

Chapter 5 Elite Center

In the winter city, the sky was not blue, and was even somewhat hazy.

Bus Route 13 belonged to an old model from the 1980s and was not equipped with an air conditioning System.

Instead, it was specially equipped with an onboard television, looping various entertainment and news programs.

"...A headless Buddha statue was unearthed at the Xishan Ruins. According to expert estimates, its entire body buried underground is over thirty meters long, perhaps destroyed during the 'Extermination of Buddhism and Abolition of Sacrifices' movement of the Yu Dynasty two thousand years ago..."

"Some media photographed well-known girl group member Xu Meiyan returning to a hotel late at night with a mysterious man, and coming out the next day looking exhausted. Xu Meiyan denied this, stating that the two of them were just..."

Glancing at the television screen, Fang Cheng opened the car window, letting the wind blow the stray hairs on his forehead.

The bare branches of the sycamore trees, along with the jagged billboards and tall buildings, kept flashing backward past his eyes.

"Infertility, painless abortion, Stork Gynecology Hospital reminds you..."

"Next stop, Maocheng Intersection, west of Wantong Shopping Center."

Accompanied by the voice prompt, Fang Cheng got up from the back seat and walked to the waiting area in advance.

As the bus came to a halt with a "grunt" and opened its doors, he picked up his messenger bag and quickly jumped down.

Today was Sunday, without a large influx of white-collar office workers, making the downtown area appear somewhat empty.

He walked left along the sidewalk.

A hundred meters away, a shopping plaza playing curtain advertisements could be seen.

Next to Gate 3 of the plaza hung the eye-catching signboard of the "Global Elite Combat Club".

Fang Cheng familiarly entered through Gate 3 and took the elevator to the second floor.

The club venue was right opposite the elevator shaft, inside a transparent floor-to-ceiling glass wall.

At this moment, quite a few colleagues were rushing over, picking up their bags and swiping them on the attendance machine.

The beep sounds were endless.

Fang Cheng finished punching in as well, glanced at the time, and it was exactly 9:29.

Neither early nor late.

Walking into the locker room, the sound of laughter instantly filled his ears.

The colleagues were eating steamed buns and breakfast bought on the way one by one, chatting about this and that casually.

Some were discussing the melodramatic plot of last night's 8 o'clock slot, while others were chatting about the ball game and calculating odds.

Fang Cheng had no common topics with them, so after changing into his work clothes, he came to Training Hall No. 1 alone.

Sunlight shone in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the light blue plastic floor was bright and dazzling.

Dozens of upright punching posts, hanging sandbags, and Boxing rings surrounding the central position were scattered about.

The thump-thump sound of Boxing gloves hitting sandbags, accompanied by varying shouts, rose and fell one after another.

The first class started at 10 o'clock.

Trainees had arrived one after another and spontaneously started practicing.

Fang Cheng sniffed the residual disinfectant odor left over from last night's Cleaning, and walked towards Coach Hu who was greeting him.

A busy day of work was about to begin again.

The teaching staff strength of this combat club was unknown, but the hardware conditions were very good.

The venue area was spacious enough, and the training facilities were very complete.

The offered courses included Boxing, Sanda, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, kendo, Karate, taekwondo, etc.

Fang Cheng's position belonged to the Logistics Department.

In high-end terms, he was responsible for the club's daily operations and maintenance, serving as the coach's classroom assistant.

In reality, it was just doing odd jobs like setting up the venue, serving trainees, and Cleaning.

Normal working hours were from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM, with a one-hour lunch break at noon.

Saturdays and Sundays were the busiest times.

Many trainees who had to work Monday through Friday concentrated on coming over at this time.

The courses arranged by the club were scheduled from morning till night, with almost no gaps.

However, there was also one advantage.

Without needing to add night classes to accommodate trainees, these staff members could instead get off work and go home on time.

Fang Cheng was now mainly responsible for the site maintenance work of the Boxing section.

He first moved soft mats and dumbbells from the equipment room according to the coach's lesson preparation requirements.

Then he stayed aside, silently watching the trainees attend class so as to provide service at any time.

For example, delivering drinks, towels, or medicinal oils to trainees, or running errands for the coach.

Today's first Boxing class was a basic training course for new trainees.

"In your impression, Boxing should be two muscular men standing on the stage, beating each other with sandbag-sized fists, nosebleeds flying everywhere, reckless as hell..."

The coach's words with a slight out-of-province accent made a crowd of trainees laugh.

"Quite the opposite."

"Boxing can be said to be a combat art that pays the most attention to defensive strategies. In ordinary training, the requirement for mobility is very high."

"As the saying goes, teach Punching techniques but not footwork; teach footwork and you defeat the master."

"In the previous two classes, I taught you the stance and basic Punching techniques. Next, on these bases, we will practice footwork coordination..."

Coach Hu, whose appearance looked rough, had a very meticulous teaching style.

Proceeding from the shallow to the deep, while demonstrating movements, he explained various basic footwork and the skills of shifting the center of gravity during rapid movement very thoroughly.

It very much met the cognitive needs of novice rookies.

Fang Cheng had long been familiar with these contents.

And through repeated private practice, they were firmly imprinted in his muscle memory.

Without a single error!

Just like mastering the skill of shifting the center of gravity.

In addition to making his punches and force application more full, it also enabled his body to maintain balance as much as possible while dodging, making an effective counterattack.

But skill is skill.

To use it perfectly in actual combat, what one needed to rely on most was still one's own sufficiently strong core strength.

"One-two!"

"One-two..."

Coach Hu led more than a dozen trainees in doing forward and backward jumping punch exercises.

The sound of slogans rang out rhythmically, and the atmosphere on the field was exceptionally lively.

"Pay attention to hooking your toes, keep your body relaxed, be fluid, feel like a spring..."

"Hey, you, yes you, no need to turn your head to look at others, why are you twisting your butt so exaggeratedly, this isn't street dance..."

After doing only a few sets of simple warm-up training, the uneven Physique of the trainees stood out.

Some were still giggling, while others began to breathe heavily.

Among them, several rather obese female trainees had an action frequency obviously two beats slower than the others.

Spending more than 2,000 yuan a month to learn Boxing, perhaps more to provide these white-collar elites with a way to lose weight, reduce fat, and release pressure.

Fang Cheng, wearing a vest and carrying his hands behind his back, stood at the edge of the court in the posture of a staff member.

However, his gaze drifted from time to time, casting towards the combat courses being conducted in other distant venues.

Having joined the job for nearly a month.

Fang Cheng self-assessed that he had mastered various basic Boxing skills pretty much.

What remained was continuous practice to gain experience and level up.

Continuing to stay in the Boxing department, he probably wouldn't gain much more.

Thinking of this, a thought germinated in Fang Cheng's heart.

"Perhaps I should apply to the supervisor for a transfer to the operations position..."

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was 12 o'clock; the first morning class ended.

Fang Cheng picked up a broom and a mop and quickly cleaned the venue once.

After Cleaning up, he walked to the front desk to collect the takeout boxed meals ordered by the club for its employees.

During the brief lunch break.

After finishing his meal, he sat for only a moment before starting to practice Push-ups in the noisy locker room.

This maverick action unsurprisingly attracted the ridicule and teasing of his colleagues.

Fang Cheng turned a deaf ear, attentively feeling the soreness coming from his arms.

He had his own set plan and his own pursued goal.

The verbal evaluations of outsiders were like a breeze blowing across his face, completely unable to affect a heart that wanted to become stronger.

Suddenly, a flash of light dashed before his eyes.

Fang Cheng supported the floor with both hands and paused.

A trace of a smile that others could not fathom leaked from the corner of his mouth.

On the light blue panel, a prompt message abruptly emerged.

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