fictionpage Chapter 37 Fuck you! Get out of China!
Chapter 37 Fuck you! Get out of China!
Seeing the Muay Thai expert named Tom get into position, Ma Cong's face remained expressionless.
He was actually quite calm. That kick just now was nothing to him; it was just a matter of timing and a little bit of "inch power" he had developed from his stance training. His opponent pounced too fiercely, leaving his center wide open, and that face was like a target offered up willingly—it would be a disservice not to step on it.
To put it bluntly, this is an information gap. The opponent had no understanding of the fighting style of traditional Chinese martial arts, and was still thinking about modern combat sports. He thought that gaining position at the start and getting to the ground was the key to victory, but he was instantly defeated by his own most basic "intercept".
This Muay Thai expert is now noticeably more cautious. Ma Cong can sense that his opponent's aura is deep and focused, and his muscles are both relaxed and ready to explode at any moment—this is a true veteran fighter.
"Interesting," Ma Cong thought to himself.
He didn't stand casually like he did with the first person. Instead, he stood with his feet slightly apart, shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and his body gently sinking down. This stance looks seven or eight parts similar to the "Hun Yuan Zhuang" stance, but it appears more casual. It is the starting stance of the Xingyi Quan "San Ti Shi" stance, and the source of all variations.
Seeing Ma Cong strike this pose, Shi Lei and the others' eyes lit up immediately—it's here! It's the familiar feeling they know and love! They all stared wide-eyed, wanting to learn something real from Ma Cong's movements.
On the field, Tom did not rush to attack. Like a patient wolf, he moved slowly around Ma Cong, his eyes scanning Ma Cong like a venomous snake, searching for an opening.
Suddenly! He moved!
With a whistling sound, his right foot swept fiercely towards Ma Cong's left shin – a Muay Thai low kick! This kick was fast and ruthless. For an ordinary fighter, the best option would be to raise his knee to block, but that would make him lose his balance and easily be disrupted by subsequent combo attacks.
However, Ma Cong's response once again surprised everyone. He neither blocked nor retreated. Just as the opponent's leg was about to sweep across him, his left foot pivoted slightly inward around the heel, and his entire body spun around like a top—Xingyi Dragon Form!
It was a very small movement; Tom's powerful kick barely grazed Ma Cong's shin before striking empty air. The immense force caused him to momentarily lose his balance.
good chance!
Just as Tom's old strength had dissipated and new strength had not yet arisen, Ma Cong's spinning body suddenly stopped! A force that originated from the soles of his feet, twisted through his rotating waist and hips, and instantly erupted onto his shoulders, his right arm like a cannonball blasting towards Tom's exposed ribs from missing his kick—Xingyi Five Elements Fist, Beng Quan!
Half-step Crushing Fist conquers the world! This punch is fast and urgent; before the fist even arrives, the wind from it is already enough to make people breathless!
Tom's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected his opponent's reaction and counterattack to be so fast; he had no time to retract his leg or block. In this life-or-death moment, he displayed the instinctive reaction of a top Muay Thai fighter: his body jerked backward, while he desperately inhaled and tightened his rib muscles!
"Bang!"
A thud even heavier than before rang out as Ma Cong's fist struck Tom squarely in the right ribcage. Tom's muscular body felt as if it had been hit by a sledgehammer; he groaned and staggered back seven or eight steps before barely managing to regain his footing. He clutched his ribs, his face instantly turning deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He felt as if his ribs were about to break, the searing, excruciating pain making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
The entire venue fell silent once again.
The Chinese team members stared wide-eyed: "What...what was that just now?" "Such a fast punch! I didn't even see it!" "Captain, did you see it?"
Tank asked Shi Lei in shock, and Shi Lei's Adam's apple bobbed. He had seen more than the others, and he had seen the twisting and turning motion of Teacher Ma's body the moment the opponent kicked out. How similar it was to the feeling of weight transfer in the "mud-walking step" they had been practicing these past few days—using rotation to neutralize a straight attack, and then using the centrifugal force of rotation to launch a counterattack!
This... isn't this what Master Ma called "listening to the opponent's force" and "neutralizing their force"? Listening to the direction of the opponent's force, then using the most ingenious method to neutralize it, and using their force against them!
"I...I think I understand a little bit now," Shi Lei murmured to himself, his eyes shining with an unprecedented light. He felt that the vague concepts of "strength" in his mind had become clear at this moment—so that's how the "whole-body strength" developed through stance training and the "live strength" developed through mud-walking steps are used!
On the American side, the atmosphere was beyond tense; it was a deathly silence filled with fear. If the first match could be explained by "coincidence" and "carelessness," then Ma Cong's performance in the second match was a genuine display of overwhelming combat skills!
Tom was known as a tough nut to crack in Southeast Asian underground boxing; he once had his arm broken with a baseball bat and didn't even flinch. But now, he was in so much pain after just one seemingly insignificant punch. Just how much power was contained in that punch?
"The Butcher's" eyes were narrowed to slits, his gaze fixed intently on Ma Cong, as if trying to see right through him. As the head combat instructor of SEAL Team Six, he had been exposed to almost every martial art in the world—karate, taekwondo, judo, sambo, Krav Maga… but he could tell that Ma Cong's movements just now did not belong to any of them he knew. It was a killing technique that he could not comprehend at all, an ancient and more efficient one!
In the arena, Tom gritted his teeth and forced himself to sit up, the previous ferocity gone from his eyes, replaced by confusion and fear. He couldn't understand why his low sweep, with its perfect timing and power, had been so easily dodged. And why was his opponent's counterattack so fast and so powerful?
He felt as if he hadn't kicked a person's leg, but rather a slippery iron top; and the opponent's punch didn't seem like something that could be delivered by flesh and blood, but rather like being stabbed by a sharp steel pipe that had hit him at high speed, with the power completely concentrated at one point, and its penetrating force was terrifying!
"Shall we continue?" Ma Cong asked him calmly.
Tom's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but the sharp pain in his ribs rendered him speechless. He knew he had lost; his opponent had clearly held back in that punch. If he had really wanted to, several of his ribs would probably be broken by now. Continuing to fight would only bring him further humiliation.
He looked at the "Butcher" on the sidelines, his eyes filled with shame. The "Butcher" waved his hand expressionlessly, and Tom, as if granted a pardon, clutched his ribs, lowered his head, and limped off the field.
In the second match, Ma Cong won again. The entire process, from the opponent's move to his counterattack and victory, still took no more than three seconds.
In the training hall, General Zhou and Qin Zhenshan were so excited they were speechless. Qin Zhenshan grabbed General Zhou's arm, his hand trembling: "Old Zhou! Did you see that! Did you see that! Dragon Form Body Technique, Crushing Fist Inch Power! This is the purest Xingyi Quan fighting style! This kid... this kid is a genius! A true genius!"
General Zhou, his face flushed, patted Qin Zhenshan's back forcefully and shouted, "I see it! I see it! There's hope for Chinese martial arts! There's hope for Chinese martial arts!"
Ignoring their excitement, Ma Cong's gaze swept past the crowd and landed directly on the burly black man who had exuded a sense of danger throughout. He knew that this was his true opponent today.
He faced that direction and slowly asked, "Are you coming for the third match?"