The tiger was depressed for a long time before saying, "Brother Dong, where do you live? I'll give you two big maps."
I felt it was time to get down to business, so I pulled Tiger aside and said, "Brother Tiger, we've come here to learn the rules of Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) from you."
The tiger asked curiously, "Why are you learning this?"
"Isn't there a competition coming up soon...?"
Tiger slapped his forehead: "Oh right, I remember now, both our martial arts school and I personally signed up." He said in surprise, "Brother Dong and the others don't know Sanda?"
I chuckled and said, "They're all old fogies; they haven't really had any experience with these things that have only been around for the last few years."
Tiger nodded, "I understand." He casually pointed to his two young apprentices and said, "You, and you, come up on stage and practice Sanda." As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them immediately put on protective gear and boxing gloves, and the other apprentices helped them. Tiger said, "You two fight as hard as you can. This Brother Dong will give you a couple of pointers, and you'll be able to challenge any dojo you want in the future."
...This is how the tiger trains its apprentices. Its sole aim is to kick people out of their establishments; it's quite a match for Hu Sanniang. Oh no, could the tiger be a reincarnation of the short-legged tiger?
Tiger hadn't seen Lin Chong display his skills, so he only knew how to flatter Dong Ping. Lin Chong, being broad-minded, didn't mind. Duan Jingzhu was a good-for-nothing anyway, so he naturally didn't say anything. But Hu Sanniang had already glared at him several times. Third Sister had a bit of simple feminism; she hated men who looked down on women the second most, and women who looked down on women the most.
Meanwhile, the group that came with Tiger were also watching Dong Ping with cold eyes. Some of them had met Dong Ping on the day of the school anniversary with Tiger, and they were probably a little resentful when Tiger praised this unassuming man to the skies.
They seem to have the potential to fight again. I secretly searched for the old lady's location out of the corner of my eye, preparing to take advantage of her presence and then her position if a fight broke out.
Soon, the two young apprentices were sparring on the stage. Frankly, in terms of sheer entertainment value, Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) isn't particularly exciting; to me, it's just simple, straightforward fighting. But Lin Chong and the others watched very intently this time. Dong Ping whispered, "This is better suited for real combat." Lin Chong nodded.
Looking at the two people on the stage, they were exchanging blows, one punching the other, the other kicking. Hu Sanniang exclaimed, "They should have fought like this from the beginning!"
Dong Ping asked the tiger, "Do you have to wear all those messy things before each fight?"
"You mean protective gear? Professionals usually don't wear it, but this time there are all sorts of people participating in the competition. Some just randomly signed up to join in the fun, so the organizing committee stipulated that participants must have complete protective gear, probably to prevent people from getting killed."
After watching for a while, Lin Chong asked, "We can't use our elbows, is that right?"
The tiger nodded: "Yes. And its head is also unusable."
Dong Ping whispered to Lin Chong, "I think apart from these few things, it's no different from a normal fight. Just knock the person down."
Lin Chong laughed and said, "I think so too. The brothers on our mountain all follow the straightforward and open style. They generally don't use underhanded tricks, so there's no need to specifically warn them about anything."
At this moment, Li Jingshui suddenly asked, "Is it okay to kick someone in the groin?" This drew stares from the surrounding crowd. Tiger hurriedly told him, "That's strictly forbidden, and I can't think of any competition that allows it."
I patted Li Jingshui on the shoulder and said, "Jingshui, you don't need to participate in this competition. Just help with the logistics."
After watching for a while, Dong Ping said, "That's about enough. Let me try." He wasn't wearing protective gear, just a boxing glove, and swung it a couple of times. A man next to Tiger immediately said coldly, "Brother Dong, how about I spar with you?" Tiger, arms crossed, didn't stop him and shouted to the two men on the platform, "Get down—"
董平和那汉子一左一右蹿上擂台。那汉子把一对拳击手套对撞得砰砰直响，眼睛里几乎冒出火来。董平就戴着一只，带子也不系紧，就那么松松垮垮的。老虎叫声开始，那汉子“呼”一下冲了上去挥拳就打，没等他拳到，董平后发先至，一拳把汉子揍飞。他那巨大的身体砸向台下，众人都不禁惊呼一声。
Hu Sanniang was talking to Duan Jingzhu when she saw a big man lying down and covering her. She reached out, grabbed his collar, and put him down, then continued talking to Duan Jingzhu.
Unintentionally, Hu Sanniang stole the show. This thousand-year-old demon, Hu Sanniang, though a fighter no less than a man, possessed a slender waist that could be encircled with a single hand. Aside from a sharp glint in her eyes and brows, she was undeniably a delicate beauty. The tiger-like man was effortlessly defeated by her, and even Dong Ping's beautiful and domineering punch was overshadowed.
As Hu Sanniang was speaking, she suddenly felt the surroundings quiet down, and only then did she realize that she had become the center of attention. Before she could understand what had happened, she looked at the man she had caught and asked, "You're down so quickly? Go back up and fight again." The man looked completely dazed, and after a long pause, he finally said, "I give up!"
Tiger was dumbfounded. He knew Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu were skilled fighters, and they had even fought Dong Ping before, so he probably always assumed that the main force that had beaten his apprentices down were these three. He never expected that each of us possessed extraordinary skills. He grabbed my arm and asked, "How do you know all these people?"
I said, "I found it."
“This is useless.” Dong Ping took off his gloves and threw them on the ground. He jumped off the ring, picked up his fish, and said, “I’ve pretty much figured out what Sanda is. Let’s go, or my fish will suffocate.”
The tiger approached him and suddenly said, "Brother, can you take me, your good-for-nothing apprentice, as your disciple?"
Tiger said this in front of so many disciples, so it's clear he was sincere. If Dong Ping were to take him in, these people would have to obediently become his grand-disciples. So if I call Dong Ping "Big Brother," then I'd be their grand-uncle... I've been very sensitive about seniority lately.
Dong Ping smiled and said, "We'll see, we'll see."
Hey, these Liangshan bandits, isn't having a disciple like this better than Little Whirlwind Chai Jin? You're so stubborn.
Compared to those more capable than himself, Tiger was truly unmatched. Having suffered such a humiliating defeat, he merely gave an awkward laugh, looking utterly lost. This made me feel embarrassed too, so I took his hand and said, "Brother Tiger, I'm sorry about what happened today." Tiger waved his hand.
I clasped my hands in a fist salute to the group of students from the Fierce Tiger Martial Arts School who had been beaten up by us, and said, "Our friendship will last forever. If we meet again in the martial arts world, we will naturally..." Hu Sanniang grabbed my collar and pulled me out, saying, "Hurry up and go, stop talking nonsense."
Damn, there are only a few words left, and they won't let you finish.
I took two copies of the Sanda rules and scoring standards from Tiger, and gave them to Li Jingshui and Lin Chong respectively after getting in the car. I said, "Jingshui, Coach Lin, I need to trouble you with something. When you get back, organize some people to study these. I heard from Tiger that Sanda competitions are divided into weight classes, so I'm afraid you two will need to send people. Don't be embarrassed if you go on the field completely clueless."
Li Jingshui carefully folded it and put it in her pocket. Duan Jingzhu asked Lin Chong for a look, but Lin Chong slapped it into his arms.
Back at school, Lin Chong and the others went straight to their dorms, while Li Jingshui, Wei Tiezhu, and I went to the lecture hall. We sat in the last row and listened to Xu Delong say that they had just finished their break.
I glanced at the blackboard and saw Yan Jingsheng projecting a strange image onto the projector. It showed something that looked like the kind you see on a men's restroom door. Yan Jingsheng was holding a pointer and pointing at the enlarged figure on the screen, lecturing. He was looking at a book in his hand, pointing and saying, "In Sanda, the scoring areas refer to the head, torso, thighs, and calves..." I glanced at the book in his hand: *Sanda Basics - With Competition Rules*. I asked Xu Delong curiously, "Why is Teacher Yan talking about this?"
Xu Delong said, "Just now, Principal Zhang sent someone to deliver a set of rules and regulations for the National Sanda Competition, along with a book. Teacher Yan was very anxious when she found out that none of us had learned Sanda, so she immediately started explaining it to us and said that she would take us to the playground to train in a little while."
I exclaimed in amazement, "What a genius!"
I strode up to the podium, took the pointer from Yan Jingsheng, and said loudly, "Class, it doesn't matter if we get points or not. Remember, there are a few places you can't hit—" Who are these people below? Soldiers! I guess those forbidden spots are where they practice the most. This competition is mainly about dealing with Lao Zhang; we'll worry about the rankings later. We absolutely cannot let anyone get hurt.
I pointed to the little figure on the blackboard, intending to say the back of the head, but then realized I couldn't see it. So I turned Yan Jingsheng so he was facing the blackboard, pointed the pointer at the back of his head, and said, "You can't hit him there. And you can't hit his neck either. Don't just go up there and 'snap' it off—" I said sternly, "That won't do!"
Next up was the crotch. That's when I realized Yan Jingsheng's drawing skills were too rough; the little figure didn't even have legs, which easily led people to confuse the crotch with the stomach. I picked up a pen from the table and drew a line roughly between the little figure's legs, but it wasn't very intuitive, so I drew another line, turning it into a stick, and then drew two circles on either side. I pointed to this makeshift thing and asked the audience, "What do you think this is?"
Many soldiers below are chuckling; it seems my drawing was quite successful.
"Oh right, this is what we men call 'that thing.' Remember, remember, you absolutely mustn't kick this spot!" I wiped the homemade gun clean, drew a triangle with the acute angle pointing downwards, and said, "Just think of this as a nail—"
My presentation seemed quite successful, leaving a deep impression on the soldiers. With a teacher like Yan Jingsheng giving me detailed instructions, I can rest assured about the situation at 300.
When I arrived at the dormitory building, I found it exactly as it was, without any trace or warning of any organized study session. I found Lin Chong's room, pushed open the door, and saw Lin Chong leaning against the bed, resting, while Dong Ping was watching his fish with great interest.
I asked cautiously, "Brothers, haven't you explained the details of the competition to everyone yet?"