aircannonsinc Chapter 130 The Martial Arts Association's Backup Plan, International Challenge
Chapter 130 The Martial Arts Association's Backup Plan, International Challenge
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In Guangzhou, there is a time-honored herbal tea shop hidden in the bustling city.
An elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in a white linen Tang suit, was sitting behind the counter, leisurely fanning a small charcoal stove with a palm-leaf fan.
A pot of cool tea was warming on the stove.
He is Wei Hai, the contemporary master of Southern Hung Kuen, who is known as "the number one boxer in Lingnan".
A middle-aged disciple strode in from outside and respectfully placed a gold-embossed invitation on the counter.
"Master, the invitation from the National Martial Arts Alliance has arrived."
Wei Hai didn't even lift his eyelids, only giving a faint "hmm".
"Master, shall we...go?" the middle-aged disciple asked cautiously. "It's in an uproar outside. The Chen family of Choy Li Fut and several masters of Mok Family Fist have publicly stated that Ma Cong is disrespecting the Southern martial arts world and that they will not go. However, Ding Hao of Wing Chun and some smaller sects have all expressed their full support."
Wei Hai remained silent, only gently poking at the charcoal fire with the fire tongs.
The middle-aged disciple grew anxious: "Master, the Martial Arts Association has also sent word. They say this matter is a matter of principle, and they hope that our Hung Kuen style can stand firm and not be used by some people with ulterior motives."
This is already a blatant warning.
Wei Hai finally stopped fanning himself with his palm leaf fan.
He raised his head, and a glint of light flashed in his cloudy old eyes.
"Ah Zheng, how many years have you been learning boxing from me?"
"Yes, Master, it has been thirty years."
"Thirty years..." Wei Hai sighed. "So, what do you think of our Hung Kuen style now?"
The middle-aged disciple, Ah Zheng, was taken aback, wondering why his master had suddenly asked this. He thought for a moment and said, "Our Hung Kuen is a major school of Southern Fist, with disciples all over the world, so naturally... it's very good."
He himself seemed somewhat unsure of himself when he said this.
"Good?" Wei Hai sneered. "What's so good about it? Is it that you have more martial arts schools than others, or that you have more disciples than others?"
"In Guangzhou, how many martial arts schools of our lineage are still standing? Besides you and your fellow disciples, how many young people are willing to spend ten or eight years mastering the Siping stance?"
"If you go out and tell people you practice Hung Kuen, they'll either ask you if it's the kind of fighting style Wong Fei-hung uses in the movies, or they'll ask if you can beat someone who practices Muay Thai."
"Is this what you mean by 'good'?"
Wei-Hai's questions made A-Zheng's face turn red and white in turns, and he lowered his head in shame.
What Master said was all true.
Hung Kuen, and indeed all traditional martial arts, may seem to have a great reputation, but in reality, it has long been outwardly strong but inwardly weak, with no successors.
"Master, I..."
"That Ma Cong, I watched all his matches." Wei Hai ignored him and continued, "Bajiquan is incredibly powerful and has reached the level of 'divine strike.' This old man is ashamed to admit that he is inferior to him."
"He used Wing Chun to defeat Wing Chun. This shows that his understanding of the principles of boxing has reached a point of returning to simplicity."
"Such a person is either a martial arts prodigy who appears only once in a century, or... has received a legacy that is unimaginable to us mortals."
"He's now rallying his troops to smash the old world and build a new one. Should we, these old fogies nearing the end of our lives, cling to our old memorial tablets and sink to the bottom of the sea, or should we follow him onto his new ship and see the sights outside?"
Wei Hai stood up, walked to the entrance of the herbal tea shop, and looked at the bustling street outside.
"I know better than you what kind of people those in the Martial Arts Association are. If they really wanted to improve Chinese martial arts, it wouldn't have fallen to this state."
"I don't care what Ma Cong's purpose is. But what he did is something I wanted to do, but I didn't have the ability to do, and I didn't dare to do."
"He said things that we old folks dared not say, and did things that we dared not do."
"For that reason alone, I, Wei Hai, have to go and meet him!"
Wei Hai turned around, his eyes flashing with astonishing brilliance.
"Ah Zheng!"
"Disciple is here!"
"Go, take out my 'Iron Wire Fist' rings and clean them."
"Book me another train ticket to Foshan."
"Tell those people outside, I, Wei Hai, though old, am not dead yet. And the Southern martial arts world is not completely dead either!"
"Doesn't Ma Cong want to be the leader of this alliance? Fine!"
"Take my punch first, then we'll talk!"
Just as the Southern martial arts world was in turmoil because of Ma Cong's invitation to challenge, in the capital, at the headquarters of the Martial Arts Association.
Li Jianguo also received news from Ma Cong that he was going to hold a "Certification Ceremony".
"Well done, Ma Cong! What a brilliant tactic!"
Li Jianguo looked at the intelligence report in his hand and, instead of being angry, laughed.
Zhao Lixin stood to the side, feeling a little uneasy. He knew that the happier the chairman laughed, the angrier he was.
"President, this kid is too arrogant! He's openly provoking us! We absolutely cannot let him succeed!" Zhao Lixin said indignantly. "I suggest we immediately put pressure on the Guangdong Provincial Sports Bureau to shut down this illegal 'Certification Ceremony'! And let the media expose him, saying he's engaging in factionalism and splitting the martial arts world!"
"And then?" Li Jianguo glanced at him coldly. "To add another 'tragic hero suppressed by the authorities' persona to Ma Cong? To make those sects that were still observing completely side with him out of sympathy?"
"This..." Zhao Lixin was speechless.
"Foolish!" Li Jianguo scolded without any politeness. "Don't you understand yet? This Ma Cong's greatest skill is using others' strength against him! The more we suppress him, the higher his prestige rises! You're helping him, not harming him!"
Li Jianguo paced around the office a few times, his eyes growing increasingly cold.
"Isn't he going to hold a certification ceremony? Isn't he going to invite us to 'give guidance'? Okay, let's go!"
"Huh? We're really going?" Zhao Lixin was stunned.
"Of course we're going! And we're going in a big way!" Li Jianguo sneered. "We're not only sending an expert team, but also our own media team, broadcasting the whole thing live! We want the whole country to see just what kind of 'certification' Ma Cong has!"
"He wants to fight? Let him fight! I want to see what tricks he can pull!"
Zhao Lixin was still somewhat puzzled: "But Chairman, since he dares to do this, he must be very confident. No one on our side can match his 'divine strike' skills. Going there would only be humiliating us, wouldn't it?"
"Who said we were going to fight him?" Li Jianguo laughed, a smile full of calculation.
"Ma Cong, he's now positioning himself as the 'orthodox master of Chinese martial arts,' isn't he?"
"right."
"What he wants to do is to vindicate 'Chinese martial arts,' right?"
"That's true."