Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 107 Archery
Yushan Academy not only has classrooms for classes, open space for playing after class, dining hall for meals, and dormitories for rest, but also has a certain area outside the wall behind the academy.

However, the area at the back is usually guarded by special personnel, and no one can enter without the master's permission.

In fact, it was not a secret at all. Senior students had already revealed that it was a place to learn the six arts of a gentleman, namely archery and charioteering.

The reason why younger students are not allowed to get close is because there is a certain degree of danger, and the teacher is also considering safety.

But children are at the age when their curiosity explodes, so it is normal for them to insist on going to places they are not allowed to go.

In the past two years, Gao Jingming and Zhou Lin had forced or instigated Chen Xuan and others to secretly climb over the wall more than once, and they were caught by the teacher and had their hands slapped.

Chen Xuan himself was not that curious, but what could he do if Gao Jingming and the others dragged him there? Being caught and punished by the teacher was purely an undeserved disaster.

As a child, who hasn’t been taught a lesson by a teacher? Otherwise, what is called childhood?

But there was just a large open space in the woods. When I went there secretly, there was nothing there. After one or two times, no one was interested anymore.

I can't skip class, right? If the teacher finds out I'm absent, he'll beat me to death. And if my parents find out, they'll beat me up even more...

After being promoted to Grade B, the new semester had begun for almost a month. In the first class of that afternoon, Chen Xuan and his classmates were able to openly step into the area behind the school under the guidance of the teacher.

The gentleman who led them this time was a man in his forties, with a strong build, but not as exaggerated as Geng Hong, the guard of the Gao family. He had a tough face and was serious. The children who usually laughed and giggled were a little afraid of him.

This gentleman only looks unapproachable on the outside, but in fact he is not as good as some of the Mr. Smiling Tigers when it comes to playing pranks on others.

Chen Xuan and his classmates were naturally familiar with this gentleman, as they had studied in the school for more than two years. He was the one who shouted slogans with them in the morning when they usually practiced the Qi-calming and health-preserving exercises. He also taught the activity classes occasionally, similar to a physical education teacher. But the reality was that he was the one who taught the students the six arts of a gentleman, including archery and charioteering. It was just that Chen Xuan and his classmates had not been exposed to this part in the past two years.

The group came to the clearing in the woods behind the school. The area here was not small, as big as several basketball courts, but it was not completely flat. It was a big project to create such a large flat ground on the mountain.

More than two years have passed, and the heights of the children in the class have changed a lot. They are almost a head taller than before. Among them, Deng Lingfeng, who is already eleven years old, is close to 1.7 meters tall. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a martial artist and has good food at home.

But half of the kids in his class were only slightly taller than his chest. This comparison was a bit funny, but also heartbreaking when you think about it.

After having dozens of children line up in the usual morning class formation, the teacher stood at the front, surveying the children. "I'm sure you're all familiar with me, but from today on, I'll officially be your archery instructor. So, let me introduce myself. My last name is Ren, and my given name is Meng. Remember that, everyone?"

"Remember," a group of children said perfunctorily.

Everyone knows you. You are the one who usually enforces discipline. Many people have been punished by you and have been holding a grudge against you.

Ren Meng didn't care and continued, "Perhaps some of you have already come into contact with archery, but the vast majority have never touched upon it. I will treat everyone equally. Today's first lesson is a bit long, and the next few lessons will be held here."

"Great"

“Finally, I don’t have to sit in the classroom anymore.”

The children cheered when they heard this and treated it as a game. No one wanted to sit in the classroom for a long time. Some children had developed hemorrhoids in the past few years.

"quiet!"

Ren Meng said in a deep voice, and intimidated by his majesty, the group of children immediately shut up and acted like good kids.

He then continued, "Since many of you are new to archery, even if you have learned about it before, I will still briefly explain it here. Please listen to me patiently."

"The 'shooting' in 'shooting' originally referred to archery. Well, don't ask me when this first started, I don't know either. It can be traced back to the ancient times when people ate raw meat and drank blood. At that time, humans hunted for a living, fighting wild beasts at close range, risking their lives to get food. But with the advent of bows and arrows, prey could be shot from a distance, and humanity ushered in a whole new chapter. In short, with the advent of bows and arrows, safe hunting was greatly guaranteed. With sufficient food, the human race was able to gradually gain a foothold in the wilderness, and the world has undergone tremendous changes until today's prosperity."

"Even now, weapons like bows and arrows are irreplaceable!"

"Because the invention of the bow and arrow played a vital role in the prosperity of humanity, it was included in the six arts that scholars must learn."

"Even today, with the flourishing of martial arts and the bow and arrow no longer being a key to human survival, the archery represented by the bow and arrow in the Six Arts of a Gentleman has never been replaced, as a sign of respect and remembrance for the contributions of our ancestors."

"Although archery is just one of the martial arts nowadays, and is not even taken seriously by many martial artists, who think it's not cool and handsome enough, and even have a prejudice that sneak attacks are dishonorable, it is still an irreplaceable key factor in victory or defeat on the battlefield. So this is what you need to learn and understand. You don't need to achieve great success in archery, but at least you need to understand the basics." "Next is driving a horse and a carriage. It's not like riding a horse and driving a carriage as many of you think, but it's about driving war horses and chariots, charging into battle on the battlefield. This is also what you need to learn and master at least the basics. As I said, I don't need you to have great attainments, but at least you need to understand it, and even practice it yourself without fear."

Ren Meng stopped here and let the kids digest and understand it. After all, most of them had no clear concept of archery at all.

He has always emphasized that they don't need to achieve high levels of accomplishment, but they must understand and master the basics. Because these children are still young, what they are taught now are only the basics. They need further study to acquire higher skills, which is not something that can be done in the primary school stage.

In fact, the things he talked about had been more or less touched upon by the teacher in previous classroom studies, but after listening to them carefully, Chen Xuan had a deeper understanding.

The two words "shooting and charioteering" are clearly equated with the word "war" to some extent!

In ancient society, the bow and arrow represented by the word "shoot" undoubtedly played an irreplaceable long-range weapon for killing the enemy. The driving of war horses and chariots represented by the word "control" was also for charging into battle.

In this way, to some extent, war is the driving force behind the progress of civilization...

After a moment, Ren Meng, presumably having gotten a general idea of ​​what was going on, changed the subject and said, "Just remember what I said before, and don't take it too seriously. Archery, charioteering, or the other four arts of the Six Arts of a Gentleman will not be tested in the imperial examinations. Your own knowledge is what matters most to your future, and those are just icing on the cake. Okay, everyone, calm down and look at me. I have a question for you all: Who here has ridden a horse? Those who have, please stand to my left."

As soon as he finished speaking, the group of children looked at each other, not understanding why he suddenly asked this question, but they just did it.

So the not very orderly team split into two groups after a brief chaos, and a small half stood on the left side of Ren Meng. These people had all ridden horses, and Chen Xuan, Gao Jingming and others were among them.

The Gao family naturally has no shortage of horses. Chen Xuan and his friends often come into contact with them, but they have never deliberately learned how to ride them. They just try it when they feel itchy, and they learn it naturally. Now Chen Xuan and Gao Jingming can even ride their horses at full speed to experience the feeling of speeding at lightning speed. However, every time the guards are terrified and keep reminding them to slow down and be careful, so they often don't have enough fun.

After the children separated and stood, a child on the right hesitated and said, "Sir, does riding a bull count?"

"That's fine, let's go to the left," Ren Meng nodded after thinking for a moment, and the child who asked the question and two or three others also walked out to the left.

Even after someone started it, some people actually asked if riding a dog counts.

Upon hearing this, Ren Meng's mouth twitched and he shook his head, almost asking someone to kick the kid out.

He then looked around and said, "The reason I'm asking you this, and even breaking it down separately, is because in the way of archery and charioteering, if you want to achieve something, it ultimately depends on the individual. Only with a strong physique can you better unleash the essence of both. And how do you improve your physique? This is related to the word Martial Arts."

"I think everyone present here is familiar with martial arts, so I won't elaborate on it here."

"Everyone understands the principle of martial arts to strengthen the body. What is martial arts? Those who stand win, those who lie down lose!"

In fact, what he wanted to say was that if you stand, you will live, and if you lie down, you will die, but they are all children, and it is not appropriate to instill this in them.

"So if you want to achieve something in archery and charioteering, you must first practice martial arts to hone your muscles and bones and develop a strong physique. And the key to starting martial arts is being able to stand firmly. If you can't even stand steadily, how can you learn anything else?"

"And today, our first archery lesson is to teach you how to stand steady!"

"Everyone has heard of horse stance, right? It's the fundamental skill for almost all martial artists. It's the best way to train the lower body to be stable, and a stable lower body means a stable stance."

"And what is horse stance? I think anyone who has ridden a horse will understand it well. If you can stand steady even when the horse is bumpy, then you will naturally be able to stand more steadily on the ground. That's how the so-called horse stance came about."

"But riding a horse is not the same as horse stance. After all, being on horseback is different from being on the ground. Today I will teach you how to do horse stance correctly to train your lower body and lay the foundation for learning archery in the future."

"Before teaching you the horse stance, I will let you ride a horse first to experience the feeling of being on horseback, which will facilitate subsequent teaching. Those who have ridden cows and horses should watch first. This is mainly for those who have never ridden before."

As Ren Meng spoke, he waved towards the distance, and someone actually brought a horse to teach him.

To be honest, this class was different from what Chen Xuan expected, so it was all in vain.

But there's no way, I can't teach advanced things right away, there has to be a gradual process...

(End of this chapter)