Chapter 9 — The Tiger-Form Spirit-Communication Art
The Cauldron Guards the Realm · Page 1 of 4
"I was seven then, taking hellish training at a Siberian camp. My body hadn't even developed yet, and that kind of grinding, squeezing regimen did terrible damage. Later I did study internal martial arts under Master Shiji, but the deficits of those early years had left my potential stunted. Even if I reached the limit of the internal schools—the absolute limit of the human body—my physical constitution would still be far inferior to men like Dolgoterov."
Until one steps into the grandmaster realm, a man can at best reach his own physical limit, never surpass it.
Training needs moderation.
Take athletes: to get results, to win medals and rankings, they train desperately every day. In their youth they bestride the arena. But many of them collapse in middle age.
Of course, athletes' training isn't even the extreme.
Take some Muay Thai fighters—some of them are pure madmen, machines. At twenty they are terrifying. But many don't even live to forty, and if they live longer they may need a cane, because their potential has been squeezed too hard; even their vitality has been consumed ahead of time.
Internal martial arts are different.
Chinese internal boxing is a wondrous thing, because its first purpose is not to kill, but to nourish life.
First nourish life, then kill.
A Muay Thai master is finished by forty. But a master of the internal schools is at his absolute peak at forty. Especially a grandmaster of the inner schools: even at eighty or ninety he still possesses a fearsome power that makes the heart quail. Any grandmaster of the inner schools, so long as he does not die in combat, will generally live past a hundred.
From this you can see the life-nourishing effect of the internal arts.
Of course, on the international stage, India's ancient yoga, with its equally long history, also has wondrous effects. Though it cannot rival the internal arts, the internal arts are hard and ancient yoga easier, so practitioners of the latter are actually more numerous. But of the SS-class—or grandmaster-class—powerhouses the world over, the vast majority have trained in the internal arts.
"Once you reach the grandmaster realm, you can surpass the limits of the human body." Teng Xuanji could not help but smile.
The internal limit is the ability to control every single muscle.
The grandmaster realm, by contrast, commands the power of muscle, fascia, and bone alike—which is why, with the same body, a grandmaster can exert far greater force.
"But methodically practicing the Three-Body Posture, the Five Elements Fist, and the Twelve Forms each day, steadily strengthening bone, raising fascia toughness, increasing muscle density—that is far, far too slow." Teng Xuanji sighed. "Fortunately, Master Shiji passed on to me the strongest secret art of Xingyi: the Tiger-Form Spirit-Communication Art."
There are many kinds of Chinese internal boxing. Besides the three great internal arts, there are Baji, Wuzu, Hongquan, Tongbei, Wing Chun, and many others.
So why can Xingyi, Baguazhang, and Taijiquan claim to be the three great internal arts, while the rest rank a step lower?
Are the other styles incapable of reaching the grandmaster realm? No—other schools have produced grandmasters too, and they have no shortage of students.
The true difference lies in the grandmasters themselves.
The grandmasters of the three great internal arts are generally stronger than other grandmasters of the inner schools, because practitioners of other internal styles, once they reach the grandmaster realm, must improve slowly and methodically. But the three great internal schools each possess secret arts—secret arts that can be practiced only after reaching the grandmaster realm.
These can raise a grandmaster's power rapidly, and only a grandmaster can practice them.