Chapter 173 - Chapter 173: Chapter 169: Martial Arts Practice_1 (1/2)
Chapter 173: Chapter 169: Martial Arts Practice_1
Translator: 549690339
In the afternoon, the Jiang family gathered together for dinner.
“Daddy, Uncle Zhang Meng wants to teach my younger brother martial arts.”
Yingbao told her parents, “Today he demonstrated a boxing sequence for us. I think it was quite good, he should be skilled.”
Jiang Sanlang was not surprised, “Zhang Meng and Xu Kun are both frontier soldiers. They are old acquaintances with Wen Fu, so their martial arts skills should be evenly matched.”
He wasn’t clear about Zhang Meng and Xu Kun, but he knew that Wen Fu was highly skilled.
Jiang Sanlang asked his two sons, “Do you really want to learn martial arts?”
Jiang Jie shook his head again and again, “I don’t want to.”
He was frightened when he saw Uncle Xu Kun beat Uncle Zhang Meng with a hammer, so he didn’t want to learn any martial arts from them.
Jiang Wu blinked his eyes and nodded his head, “I want to learn, and sister will learn too.” Meaning his sister would learn with him.
Jiang Sanlang flicked his son’s forehead and unceremoniously said, “If you want to learn, do it. If not, don’t force your sister. Your sister is a girl, how could she wield swords and guns?”
More importantly, how could he let his daughter become a male teacher’s disciple? This was absolutely inappropriate.
“Why not?” Jiang Wu said unsatisfactorily while rubbing his forehead, “If sister doesn’t learn, I won’t either.”
Jiang Sanlang didn’t want to argue with his son. He ate his porridge and said, “Suit yourself. If you don’t want to learn martial arts, then study hard and pass the civil service exams in the future.”
Jiang Wu: .
He didn’t want to take the civil service exam, and he wouldn’t pass it either.
Because every time the Master checked recitations, he got his palms beaten. If it weren’t for the fear of being beaten by his parents, he wouldn’t even go to the academy.
After giving it some thought, Jiang Wu asked, “If I learn martial arts, does that mean I don’t have to study?”
“Who said you don’t have to study when you practice martial arts?” Jiang Sanlang glared at him, “If you don’t study, how will you practice martial arts? What have you learned from the Three Character Classic? An uncarved gem cannot be used, if a person does not learn they won’t understand righteousness, hasn’t the Master taught you that?”
Jiang Wu’s face fell.
After dinner, the two boys washed up and headed back to their room and climbed on the Kang (a heated bed).
Jiang Jie heard his brother sighing continuously, he quietly said: “You’re so clueless. If you practice martial arts every day, you won’t have to stay at the academy all the time, and if you can’t recite texts, you’ll at least have an excuse.”
Can it be like that? Jiang Wu had an epiphany.
Yes, training with Uncle Zhang would leave no free time to attend the academy. That way, the Master wouldn’t be able to hit his palms anymore.
“Hehe, our Master also said that, ‘every person who has talent must play a role’. If I can’t pass the civil service exam, I can still do other things. As long as one works hard and puts in effort, one can excel in any line of work. From now on, I will be the Martial Champion.”
Although their master was old-fashioned, he was open-minded at times. He didn’t mind whether his students could pass the exams or not. But if a student reads for a day under his teachings, he must work for an entire day. If they don’t study hard, they get their palms beaten.
The next day, Jiang Wu got up early, and without his parents noticing, he ran to tell Uncle Zhang that he had decided to learn martial arts.
“Did your parents agree?” Zhang Meng was delighted to hear the news, but he was also worried if it was only a child’s wishful thinking.
If Jiang Village Chief disagreed, he wouldn’t be able to accept the kid as his disciple privately.
“Agree! They all agreed! They even said they would prepare gifts for the ceremony of accepting a teacher.” Actually, they hadn’t, but as long as he promised to take learning martial arts seriously and it wouldn’t affect his studies, his parents wouldn’t object.
Zhang Meng laughed heartily and patted Jiang Wu’s small shoulders, “Good! If that’s the case, let’s start now.”
“Start what?” Jiang Wu was confused.
“Tendon stretching!” said Zhang Meng: “The first step in learning martial arts is to understand how to stretch the major tendons in your body and make them flexible.”
Seeing that Jiang Wu was still confused, Zhang Meng picked up a tree branch and broke it in two, “See this, this branch is like your bones. Without protection, they can break with a bend.”