Chinese martial arts: From being shot and killed by the armed police during a mountain search to bec

But the face is also the hardest to train.

The human face is densely packed with nerves and has delicate fascia; even a slight mistake can lead to facial paralysis, blindness, or deafness.

Throughout history, countless martial arts masters have spent their entire lives mastering the internal strength of their entire body, only to find themselves stuck at the threshold of the face, unable to make any further progress.

Guo Yunshen was invincible with his Half-Step Bengquan, but in his later years, he suffered from facial paralysis for three years due to excessive practice of facial internal strength. His right facial muscles atrophied, and soup would drip from the corner of his mouth when he ate.

Li Cunyi once warned his disciples: "The face is the gateway to immortality; it must not be forcibly opened, for doing so will bring disaster."

Chen Hongwu pondered for a moment.

He recalled that in his previous life, he had heard that senior in prison talk about a method that Li Luoneng, the founder of Xingyi School, had mentioned to his disciples in his later years.

Every morning, stand facing east and gently pat your cheeks with your five fingers dipped in cold water, from your forehead to your brow, to the bridge of your nose, down to your chin, patting each area three hundred times.

When patting, the subtle force is contained in the palm, and the force seeps into the facial meridians with the cold water. Over time, the facial fascia will naturally become as supple as leather.

There is a similar skill in Tai Chi Men called "Dry Face Bathing". You rub your hands together until they are warm, and then rub your face repeatedly, using your mind to guide the Qi and blood, and force the Qi and blood into the meridians of the face.

Xue Dian mentioned a move in his book "The True Interpretation of Pictographic Boxing" where one should stand facing east every morning and open one's mouth to make the sound "ha".

By using your voice to generate power, you can send a subtle force from your throat all the way to your face. Over time, the facial fascia will naturally become more open and clear.

Some believe that the real shortcut to internal strength training in the face lies not in the face, but in the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of the foot.

The Yongquan acupoint on the sole of the foot and the Baihui acupoint on the top of the head are the two ends of the body's energy channels, one yin and one yang, one ascending and one descending.

The internal energy originates from the Yongquan point on the sole of the foot, passes through the Yongquan point, travels through the three Yin meridians of the foot (liver, spleen, and kidney) to the Dantian, then ascends along the Du meridian to the top of the head, passes through the Baihui point and flows down to the face.

Once this pathway is opened, the internal energy will naturally flow from the Yongquan point all the way to the face.

The boxing manual says, "If the Yongquan acupoint is not hot like fire, the Baihui acupoint will be dim like a light being turned off." This means that if the strength of the Yongquan acupoint is not as hot as fire, the sensation of the Baihui acupoint will be as dim as a light being turned off.

Ultimately, everything comes back to where we stand.

Whether the thunderous sound can penetrate the multiple bones and intricate muscles and fascia in the soles of the feet, and whether the Yongquan acupoint can retain this heat, are the key factors in whether the vital energy can be broken through the skin on the face.

"At night, the thunderous sound resonates at the Yongquan acupoint; in the morning, we can use the Xingyi school method—both can be done simultaneously!"

Standing on the shoulders of giants, the view is completely different, and Chen Hongwu has far more choices.

He stood in the center of the courtyard in the Three-Body Stance, his toes gripping the ground, his Yongquan acupoint (located on the sole of his foot) hollowed out, and his spine running from the coccyx to the cervical vertebrae.

He closed his eyes, focused his mind, and guided the thunderous sound from his dantian down through his hips, knees, and ankles, all the way to the Yongquan point on his forehead.

The fascia on the soles of my feet began to tremble slightly, and a burning sensation came from the Yongquan acupoint, as if I were stepping on two pieces of red-hot coals.

A surge of heat seeped up from the soles of my feet along the three Yin meridians of the foot, through my calves and thighs, straight into my dantian, then along the Du meridian, through my spine and the occipital bone, and finally to my baihui point.

Sun Lutang said in "The True Meaning of Boxing": "Yongquan is the Earth Gate, and Baihui is the Heaven Gate. When the Earth Gate opens, the Earth Qi rises, and when the Heaven Gate opens, the Heaven Qi descends. When Heaven and Earth are in harmony, and water and fire are in balance, this is the foundation of transforming energy."

The thunderous sound reverberated through the spring, and the practice lasted for almost half an hour.

As he finished his practice, two shallow damp marks appeared on the blue bricks beneath his feet. Chen Hongwu glanced down at them, his expression unchanged, and turned to go back into the house.

The next morning, before dawn.

Chen Hongwu stood facing east, his tongue touching the upper palate. He took a deep breath, held it in his dantian, and then, without exhaling, let it travel up his throat and make the sound "ha".

The sound was like a muffled thunderclap rolling across the eaves. The sound waves exploded from deep within the throat, vibrating all the way up the trachea, through the throat, into the mouth, crashing against the palate, and then rebounding back into the nasal cavity, eye sockets, and cheekbones.

The fascia of the entire face trembled slightly under the vibration of the sound waves, fine ripples appeared on the skin on both sides of the bridge of the nose, and the corners of the eyes twitched slightly.

The facial fascia tingled slightly under the vibration of the sound waves, and the hidden energy penetrated along with the sound waves, drilling in layer by layer.

After practicing for several days, Chen Hongwu could feel his kung fu improving day by day.

The Yongquan acupoint on the sole of my foot, which was initially only slightly warm, has now turned into a continuous burning sensation, like stepping on two pebbles heated by charcoal fire.

The heat penetrates from the soles of the feet all the way to the toes.

Under the repeated vibrations of the thunderous sound, the bone density of the twenty-six bones, more than thirty muscles, and countless fascia in the sole of the foot became denser and harder, while the fascia became as supple as old cowhide.

The changes in the force exerted underfoot became increasingly subtle.

Previously, power originated from the ground; when the Yongquan point (a point on the sole of the foot) exploded, the force would surge from the sole of the foot to the fist.

Now, the sensation at the Yongquan acupoint has become more acute than ever before. With the slightest movement of the toes, the reaction force from the ground is transmitted into the body through the Yongquan acupoint, and the magnitude, direction, and point of application of the force are clearly discernible.

The key to Baguazhang's mud-walking step is "stepping on duckweed without getting wet." Now, when he takes a step, he can control the contact area between his foot and the ground to a very small area.

The sound of the stones rolling as your feet rub against the bluestone slabs, the slight undulations of the ground, and the slippery feeling of the moss in the cracks between the bricks are all captured by the Yongquan acupoint.

After practicing the "Ha" sound exercise in the early morning, the fascia on my face went from numb to slightly warm. The subtle energy penetrated from my throat all the way to my cheeks, and the fascia layer under my skin was repeatedly stretched and tightened by the subtle energy.

He could feel that the skin on his face was more resilient than before. He pressed the Jiache acupoint below his cheekbone with his fingers. The skin naturally indented when pressed, and quickly bounced back when the fingers were released, which was a sign of increased fascia elasticity.

Early that morning, Chen Hongwu had just finished practicing the "Ha" exercise and was slapping his face with cold water to finish.

The sound of the butler's footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, and he respectfully called out into the courtyard, "Young Master, there is a Staff Officer Jiang outside requesting an audience."

Chen Hongwu dried the water stains on his face with a towel, put on a clean gray cloth short jacket, and stepped out of the courtyard.

A black Ford military vehicle was parked in front of the courtyard, its mud still wet.

Staff Officer Jiang stood beside the vehicle, his gray-blue military uniform buttoned up meticulously, and his leather boots polished to a shine.

Upon seeing Chen Hongwu emerge, he stepped forward, snapped to attention, and gave a military salute, his movements perfectly mirroring the illustrations in the drill manual.

"Master Chen, I've come to pick you up from Commander Hong's orders to take you to the military camp to give a lecture." Chen Hongwu nodded, opened the car door, and sat in the back seat.

Staff Officer Jiang sat in the passenger seat, his back still ramrod straight. In the rearview mirror, you could see his lips were tightly pursed and his gaze was fixed straight ahead.

Chen Hongwu could tell that this Staff Officer Jiang still didn't quite respect him.

However, Chen Hongwu didn't care. He agreed to go to the military camp with Hong Zhaolin only to repay a favor, not to seek anyone's approval.

The military truck started up, its engine making a rough, piercing sound. The vehicle bounced a few times on the stone road, then turned out of the alley and drove along the main street toward the city gate.

Chen Hongwu sat in the back row, without leaning back in his chair.

The toes are slightly gripping the ground, the Yongquan acupoint (located on the sole of the foot) is hollow, the waist and hips are relaxed and sinking, and the spine is light and agile with the head held high.

The three-body stance naturally came into play, and every bump in the vehicle was transmitted from his feet to his waist and hips, and then from his waist and hips to his back. The force was completely neutralized as it was transmitted from one joint to another.

The whole person is like a gyroscope with a spring; no matter how the car shakes, the person's center of gravity always remains steadily in the dantian (lower abdomen).

The boxing manual says, "Walk like a locust, sit like a hanging bell." The stance training of internal martial arts is not only for standing; you can stand while sitting.

The center of gravity sinks to the dantian, the toes grip the ground, the Yongquan point (on the sole of the foot) is hollow, the distinction between emptiness and fullness is clear, and the stance arises naturally.

After the car left the city gate of Foshan, it drove along the main road for about half an hour before turning onto a side road.

The road surface became potholed, and the trees on both sides grew denser.

After driving for about fifteen minutes, an open area appeared ahead, with a row of barracks, the gray tents and wooden sheds looking old in the sunlight.

Shouts of battle echoed across the playground, the voices rough and hoarse, carrying the distinctive ruggedness of the Lingnan accent.

At the end of the playground stood a row of straw targets, the straw ropes on the targets had been pierced to shreds by bayonets, and the straw was spilling out from the holes.

Two armored vehicles were parked on the side of the playground. Most of the green paint on the vehicles had peeled off, revealing the rusty metal underneath.

Under the shed on the other side of the parade ground, cooks were peeling radishes into a large iron pot, radish peels flying all over the ground.

The military vehicle slowly came to a stop in front of the large open space in front of the barracks.