Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 78 The Prodigy and the Demolition

On Tuesday afternoon, Lin Yan arrived at the martial arts training hall on the second floor of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Hotel Employees Union on time. He deliberately arrived ten minutes early as a sign of respect.

Ip Man had already arrived and was instructing a disciple on adjusting his posture. Seeing Lin Yan, he nodded in acknowledgment: "Very punctual."

"I wouldn't dare keep Master Ye waiting," Lin Yan said respectfully, placing the gift box he had brought aside. "It's just a small token of my appreciation; please accept it, Master Ye."

Ip Man glanced at the gift box but didn't open it immediately. Instead, he cut straight to the point: "Since you're here, let's begin. Today, I'll start by teaching you the most basic Wing Chun technique, Little Idea."

He assumed a starting stance, his movements slow and precise: "Siu Nim Tao is the foundation of Wing Chun, encompassing all the basic techniques and power generation principles. Watch closely."

Ip Man began his demonstration, each movement executed with impeccable precision, the contraction and extension of his muscles clearly visible as he exerted force. He had expected to be given repeated explanations of the key points, but little did he know that under Lin Yan's divine sense, the subtle changes in his muscles and the flow of power throughout his body were presented to Lin Yan's mind like a three-dimensional map.

Even more terrifying is that Lin Yan's divine sense can not only "see" the surface movements, but also perceive the deep-seated mechanisms of force exertion—which muscle contracts first, which follows, how the power rises from the soles of the feet, is transmitted through the waist and hips to the arms, and finally reaches the fingertips.

"You give it a try." After Ip Man finished demonstrating a segment, he gestured for Lin Yan to imitate it.

Lin Yan nodded and assumed the starting stance. To Ip Man's astonishment, he not only perfectly replicated all the movements, but even the most subtle techniques of force application were flawless. And that wasn't all; because Lin Yan's strength far surpassed that of ordinary people, the same movements performed by him carried a faint whooshing sound.

Ip Man suppressed his shock and continued teaching the next movement: "This is the 'spread hand' movement. Pay attention to the angle of your wrist and the direction of the force."

He carefully explained the key points, even personally adjusting Lin Yan's posture. But he soon discovered that all of this was unnecessary—Lin Yan could perfectly replicate it, and even do it better, after just one demonstration.

When teaching the "Sun-shaped Punch," Ip Man deliberately slowed down, explaining in detail how to concentrate all the body's power into a single point for explosive release. He demonstrated by throwing a punch, which produced a dull thud on the wooden dummy.

"You give it a try." Ip Man stepped aside, secretly anticipating what kind of performance this genius young man would deliver.

Lin Yan stood in front of the wooden dummy, his divine sense fully deployed. In his perception, the power flow of Ip Man's punch was clearly visible: it originated from the soles of his feet, amplified through the rotation of his waist and hips, and finally exploded out through his arm.

He threw a punch in the same manner.

"boom!"

With a deafening crash, the entire wooden dummy shattered, sending splinters flying. Lin Yan's punch had pierced right through the dummy, scattering its remains across the ground.

The entire arena fell silent. All the disciples stared in disbelief at the wooden dummy that had been pierced through, then at Lin Yan, who looked completely innocent.

Ip Man's lips twitched violently as he tried to remain calm: "You used too much force. Let's try again, this time with only 30% of your strength." He directed his disciples to bring over a new wooden dummy.

Lin Yan nodded and assumed a fighting stance again. He carefully controlled his strength, but even using only 30% of the force of 30,000 jin was still quite terrifying.

"Snap!"

The arm of the second wooden dummy broke off instantly and flew a long distance away.

Ip Man took a deep breath, feeling his temples throbbing: "A little lighter! Just a fraction of your strength!"

Lin Yan tried to use only 10% of his strength, but even with 10%, it still weighed 3,000 jin, and he couldn't quite grasp how much "10%" actually meant.

"Boom!"

The base of the third wooden dummy cracked directly, and the entire dummy was about to collapse.

In the ensuing lessons, Ip Man suffered an unprecedented blow. No matter how complex the combination of movements or how exquisite the power techniques, Lin Yan could perfectly replicate them after just one demonstration. What was even more infuriating was that, because Lin Yan was stronger and faster, the same moves performed by him were practically doubled in power—and also far more dangerous.

After one class, five or six broken wooden dummy dummies lay in the training hall. Ip Man looked at the sawdust all over the floor and his heart ached. These wooden dummy dummies were all carefully made by him, and each one required a lot of effort.

What both pleased and angered him most was Lin Yan's phenomenal comprehension—he could learn any movement at a glance, master the techniques of exertion instantly, and even offer suggestions for improvement based on his own understanding.

"Master Ye," Lin Yan said, coming over to ask for guidance after finishing a set of boxing techniques, "I've noticed that some of the power generation techniques in 'Little Idea' can be optimized. For example, this turning stance; if you combine it with an additional three degrees of waist rotation, the power generation efficiency can be increased by about five percent."

Ip Man: "......"

He silently got up and tried it as Lin Yan had suggested, finding it to be true. He hadn't even noticed this subtle improvement after teaching boxing for so many years!

At this moment, Ip Man truly understood what it meant to "teach a disciple, and the master starves." This was only the first lesson! Ip Man considered himself a martial arts genius, learning everything quickly in his youth and being called a "prodigy" by his fellow disciples. But compared to the young man before him, his talent was simply insignificant.

This young man is simply a prodigy born for martial arts! Ip Man couldn't help but marvel inwardly. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that such a genius existed in the world.

On the other hand, looking at the mess of the wooden dummy's remains, Ip Man felt a pang of heartache. His small business couldn't withstand such devastation.

"Master Ye, I'm so sorry..." Lin Yan scratched his head, looking guilty. "I don't know what happened. I was being very careful..."

Looking at the innocent-looking boy, Ip Man was torn between hitting him and scolding him. He admired the boy's amazing comprehension, but was furious at his destructive power that seemed to tear the house apart.

Lin Er, who was standing to the side, couldn't hold back any longer and turned his head to secretly laugh. He had been following Lin Yan for so long, and this was the first time he had ever seen his young master in such a disheveled state.

Ip Man sighed and said to Lin Er, "Your young master's strength... is a bit too frightening."

Lin Er quickly composed himself and said respectfully, "Master Ye, please rest assured, I will send someone to deliver new equipment to all the damaged parts later, and I guarantee they will be even better than the originals."

At this moment, Lin Yan leaned over and cautiously asked, "Teacher Ye, so... when is the next class?"

Looking at the mess on the ground, Ip Man waved his hand helplessly: "Three days later... Let me take a break first, and prepare a few more wooden dummy dummies." He thought to himself: I need to find something difficult to teach, otherwise at this rate, there won't be anything left to teach next week!

"Thank you, Master Ye!" Lin Yan felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly made his escape, fearing that he would be scolded if he was a step too slow.

Watching Lin Yan's retreating figure as if fleeing, Ip Man felt both amused and exasperated. In all his years of teaching martial arts, this was the first time he'd encountered a student like this—someone who grasped concepts quickly but crumbled upon practice!

The disciples gathered around, chattering amongst themselves:

"Master, Junior Brother Lin's strength is terrifying!"

"Yeah, I bet he could kill a bull with one punch!"

"But Junior Brother Lin learns really fast; his movements are more precise than ours."

Ip Man shook his head, muttering to himself, "A prodigy... truly a prodigy..." He looked at the wood chips scattered on the ground and suddenly laughed, "But teaching a student like this is quite a challenge."

Lin Yan, who had escaped from the union, sat in the car looking dejected.

"How is your learning going, young master?" Lin Er asked, suppressing a laugh.

"Don't ask..." Lin Yan covered his face, "I'm not learning martial arts, I'm practically going to destroy houses."

He looked at his hands and sighed. It seemed that mastering this strength was not something that could be accomplished overnight. However, with this experience, he at least knew where the problem lay—it wasn't that he didn't know how to generate power, but rather that he didn't know how to control the degree of power he generated.

Lin Yan knew he had to be extra careful during the lesson three days later. He made a silent vow to control his strength next time and not to dismantle Master Ye's wooden dummy again.

Meanwhile, Ip Man began rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for secret manuals—he needed to find something truly difficult, otherwise he wouldn't have anything to teach next week!

Three days felt like three years to Lin Yan. Ever since he experienced the visceral thrill of hand-to-hand combat with Ip Man, he had become addicted to this kind of pure physical clash.

Unlike the transcendent feeling he experienced when casting spells, Lin Yan felt like a mortal when learning martial arts—well, a mortal with a bit more strength. But the feeling of each punch being powerful and each move bursting with energy gave this finance guy, who in his previous life only knew how to stare at a computer screen, an unprecedented sense of exhilaration.

Finally, it was time for the second class. Lin Yan arrived at the Workers' Union a quarter of an hour early, carrying an exquisite food box—containing snacks specially prepared by Wang Yuling as an apology for her "house-destroying behavior" last time.

Ip Man was instructing several disciples who had arrived early. When he saw Lin Yan, he glanced at the newly replaced row of wooden dummy dummies in the corner with a complicated look in his eyes. They were sent by Lin Er the day before yesterday, and the material was obviously much sturdier than the previous ones.

"Master Ye." Lin Yan bowed respectfully.

Ip Man nodded, sizing him up: "Looks like you haven't had a moment's rest these past three days?"

Lin Yan smiled sheepishly: "After going back, I thought about how to control my strength, but I still couldn't get the hang of it."

That's the truth. He practiced a lot in the backyard of the Deep Water Bay villa over the past three days. Although he didn't break anything, he always felt that his strength was either too heavy or too light, and he couldn't find the perfect balance.

"Today we'll learn Chi Sau," Ip Man said, getting straight to the point. "Wing Chun emphasizes close-quarters combat, and Chi Sau is key to training your ability to sense your opponent's strength and neutralize their attacks."

He demonstrated several basic movements, his arms moving as smoothly as flowing water, perfectly neutralizing the opponent's force with each contact.

Lin Yan's divine sense expanded fully once again. In his perception, every subtle movement of Ip Man was crystal clear: how his muscles coordinated their power, how he sensed the opponent's strength through contact, and how he skillfully neutralized it.

"You give it a try," Ip Man gestured to one of his disciples to partner with Lin Yan.

The result was predictable—the disciple was thrown backward by a tremendous force the moment his arm touched Lin Yan's. Had Ip Man not caught him in time, he would have fallen.

Ip Man sighed, "Your ability to imitate is very strong, but your control of force is still a big problem." He thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Come on, let me spar with you myself."

Lin Yan was startled: "Master Ye, this..."

"It's alright." Ip Man made a questioning gesture. "I will use Wing Chun's neutralizing techniques. You can exert force, but you must try to control the strength."

Lin Yan carefully placed his hand on it. With the aid of his divine sense, he could clearly perceive the subtle changes in every muscle in Ip Man's arm, the flowing power as gentle as water yet incredibly resilient.

He tried to exert force, but Ip Man easily neutralized it with a flick of his wrist. He tried to increase his force again, and Ip Man neutralized it again. After several attempts, Lin Yan discovered a strange phenomenon: in the contact of Chi Sau (sticky hands), he could more accurately perceive the degree of his own force exertion through Ip Man's feedback on neutralizing force.

"Did you feel it?" Ip Man explained as he neutralized the man's force, "It's not about using as much force as possible, but about using just the right amount. Too much is excessive, and too little is insufficient."

Lin Yan seemed to understand something. He began to adjust his exertion, from initial caution to gradual improvement. Although he still occasionally lost control—once he exerted too much force, causing Ip Man to take a half-step back—he was generally making rapid progress.

What surprised Ip Man most was Lin Yan's astonishing learning speed. Often, as soon as Ip Man finished demonstrating a technique, Lin Yan could perfectly replicate it, and even apply it to other situations. On several occasions, Ip Man was secretly amazed by Lin Yan's suggestions for improving his power.

"Master Ye, I've discovered that if you apply force from this angle, the neutralizing effect is even better," Lin Yan said while demonstrating.

Ip Man tried to do it, and it worked just as he had hoped. Looking at the earnest young man, he felt extremely conflicted—this was no student, he was a treasure trove of martial arts knowledge! But on the other hand, teaching such a student was incredibly rewarding; he grasped concepts quickly and mastered them in no time.

By the second half of the course, Lin Yan had basically mastered the essentials of sticky hands. Although controlling his strength was still a major problem, at least he would no longer easily send his partner flying.

"That's enough for today." Ip Man looked at Lin Yan, who was covered in sweat, and a rare smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. "You've made great progress."

Lin Yan bowed respectfully: "Thank you for your guidance, Master Ye." He presented the food box, saying, "This is just a small token of my appreciation; please accept it, Master Ye."

This time, Ip Man didn't refuse. Watching Lin Yan's departing figure, he suddenly called out to him, "Wait."

Lin Yan turned around: "Master Ye, is there anything else you'd like to instruct me on?"

Ip Man pondered for a moment and said, "You have great talent, but to truly master the generation of power, practicing Wing Chun alone is not enough. I know an old master who teaches Tai Chi. His method of generating power is different from Wing Chun, which may be helpful to you."

Lin Yan's eyes lit up: "Thank you for the introduction, Master Ye!"

"No rush," Ip Man waved his hand. "Let's get a pretty good grasp of Wing Chun's power generation first. Don't bite off more than you can chew."

"Yes, disciple understands."

When Lin Yan left the workers' union, he felt completely refreshed. Although he was covered in sweat, this physical exhaustion felt particularly real and exhilarating to him.

In the car, seeing the young master's unusually excited expression, Lin Er couldn't help but ask, "Did you have a lot of fun learning today, young master?"

Lin Yan leaned back heavily in his chair, letting out a long sigh: "That felt great! Even better than closing a huge deal!"

He gazed out the window, already looking forward to the next lesson. This time, he not only wanted to learn Wing Chun, but also to find an opportunity to meet the Tai Chi master that Ip Man had mentioned.

After all, what man could resist the visceral thrill of such a brutal, visceral experience?