Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Chapter 4:

The Fist of Shaolin

After what felt like a battle against sleep, the scripture class ended.

“Wow, Mu-jin, how did you not fall asleep even once?”

Mu-yul, who sat next to him and had been smacked on the bamboo slip at least twenty times, asked with bright eyes.

Mu-yul, who had a clear head, found the scripture class, filled with difficult Chinese characters, the hardest.

As a result, he often got smacked on the bamboo slip, but today, he got twice the usual.

This was because the Second-Class Disciples were already set on scolding Mu-jin, who had caused a scene during the early morning training and breakfast.

However, Mu-jin, who had been analyzing the current situation and planning for the future, didn’t fall asleep even once during the scripture class. Sadly, Mu-yul, who was sitting next to him, ended up monopolizing the loving punishment meant for Mu-jin.

Naïve Mu-yul, unaware of these circumstances, merely looked admiringly at Mu-jin, who hadn’t nodded off while he himself was struck more than twenty times.

“Yeah, yeah! I get scolded every time. No matter how much I listen to the scripture, it’s too boring. I think it’s even sleepier than the lullabies my mom sang to me when I was little. Hehe.”

Seeing Mu-yul laughing innocently even after being smacked on the bamboo slip, Mu-jin let out a slight chuckle.

Even though he was single until thirty-seven, obsessed with work, he thought that if he had married early and had a child, it would have been like this.

“How did you not fall asleep?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“It’s simple. You just listen with one ear and let it out the other.”

“Huh? Both ears are open, so how do I listen with one ear only? Should I block one?”

To Mu-jin’s playful answer, Mu-yul, with a serious expression, blocked his right ear and muttered to himself.

“Ah, ah. Namo Amitabha. Hmm? Is it only coming through the left ear? No, I can hear it from the right too.”

“…”

Watching the scene for a moment, Mu-jin decided to change his thoughts about Mu-yul.

“Not a son, but a nephew.”

Surely, his future son wouldn’t be this dumb.

“Hey, Mu-yul. After the scripture class, what’s next?”

“Next is, of course, the morning training! It’s already been three days and you’ve forgotten the schedule again? Hehe. It seems like Mu-jin’s not too bright either.”

“…”

Thinking to himself that he would have smacked him if he were not his nephew, Mu-jin sighed once and said,

“Then, let’s head to the martial arts training ground.”

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“Eh? There’s still a little time left?”

“There’s something I need to do beforehand.”

“Eh? Something to do beforehand?”

Instead of answering Mu-yul’s question, Mu-jin strode off towards the training grounds.

“What’s there to do beforehand?”

Mu-yul, with a bright smile, followed Mu-jin.

Upon arriving at the training grounds, exchanging light chat with Mu-yul, they saw a few novice monks moving their bodies around.

Although they were beginner disciples of Shaolin, most were young kids who hadn’t even reached puberty yet, so they naturally wanted to play whenever they had free time.

Even during their free time, only a handful of kids came out to the training grounds for practice.

Among those few exemplary novice monks, some were engaging in the strenuous training they had done earlier in the morning, while the rest were in horse stance, practicing straight punches.

“Tsk tsk.”

Watching the scene, Mu-jin clicked his tongue with a sympathetic expression and plopped down on the stone floor.

In that position, he slowly spread his legs to the sides and leaned his upper body toward his left leg.

‘Oh. Is it because this body is young? It’s really flexible.’

Mu-jin had felt it when he stretched his legs, but as his body stretched easily without any pain, he internally let out a small exclamation.

The reason Mu-jin went to the training grounds beforehand was to stretch.

Stretching before and after exercise was a basic necessity. It was important to prevent future hardships due to aging and to avoid damaging his body through excessive exercise.

“Sss.”

“Whoo.”

While he was breathing deeply and stretching his leg muscles, Mu-yul, awkwardly standing and looking down at him, caught Mu-jin’s eye.

“Yul-ah. Want to join me?”

“Huh? What you’re doing, Mu-jin?”

“Yeah. You should do it in advance too. Otherwise, you might suffer from chronic illnesses later on.”

After pondering for a moment, Mu-yul made up his mind and plopped down on the ground like Mu-jin.

“Do I just stretch my legs like this?”

“Oh. That’s right. You’re good at this. Want to try this one too?”

As Mu-jin stretched forward with his legs spread, exhaling slowly, Mu-yul naturally imitated the stretching movement.

‘This kid also finds stretching easy, maybe because he’s young?’

Mu-jin thought to himself that maybe exercise should be learned from an early age.

‘Tsk’.

As soon as the time for chanting the Buddhist scriptures ended, Mu-gung, who was training in the martial arts training hall, clucked his tongue inwardly and glanced at the two.

“Whew.”

After catching his breath, Mu-gung focused on himself, disregarding Mu-jin and Mu-yul.

In fact, Mu-gung wasn’t particularly interested in Mu-jin. Although he found Mu-jin, who made flimsy excuses to skip training, to be pitiful, he didn’t intend to mock him like the other novice monks did.

This was because he understood that swinging his fist even once more would benefit him more than mocking the two.

Though he was only thirteen years old, Mu-gung was physically more mature than his peers, and his mind had also matured accordingly.

Instead of concerning himself with squabbles among children, it was more important to focus on training and strive to gain recognition from his teacher.

This was because his dream was to become a named disciple of Shaolin and make a name for himself in the martial arts world.

In other words, to Mu-gung, Mu-jin was nothing more than a stepping stone he had to step over to achieve his dream.

“Hap!!”

To be acknowledged by the second-class disciples and Master Uncle Hye-jeong as a named disciple, Mu-gung shouted a big yell and repeatedly punched the air.

This was the Shaolin introductory martial art that Mu-gung had learned over the past three months, the basics of the Revolving Fist.

“Oh my, quite the voice.”

Upon hearing Mu-gung’s resounding yell, Mu-jin, who was stretching with Mu-yul, couldn’t help but express his admiration.

“Hehe. Isn’t Senior Brother Mu-gung amazing? His voice is loud, and his punch is super strong! His punch even makes a whooshing sound.”

Mu-yul, who was stretching along with Mu-jin, added in a bright tone.

It seemed Mu-yul had already forgotten that Mu-jin was supposed to spar with Mu-gung in a week, as his voice was carefree.

“Senior Brother Mu-gung?”

“Yeah, of course. He entered two months earlier than me. Oh, and since you entered a month later than me, you should call me Senior Brother too.”

“Forget that. So, you’re saying that Mu-gung has been training for over three months?”

“Yeah. He probably came in the earliest. And he’s doing much better than the other senior brothers who joined around the same time. Master Uncles and Master Uncle Hye-gwang praise him every day. They say Senior Brother Mu-gung’s Revolving Fist is the best.”

“Oh, really?”

After hearing Mu-yul’s explanation, Mu-jin laughed sarcastically inwardly.

‘That monk is only as big as a soy sauce bowl.’

He thought they matched him with someone decently built, but it seemed they paired him with the most outstanding of his peers.

To give him such an opponent and only a week to prepare.

‘Even though it’s just a children’s fight, I won’t lose……’

Vwoom!!

Mu-gung created an explosive sound in the air with each punch, causing Mu-jin to visualize the scene a week later in his mind.

Winning wouldn’t be a big problem, but the process was concerning.

‘The physical difference is too great.’

Even if he won, Mu-jin had a strong feeling it would look unseemly. After all, he was now twelve-year-old Mu-jin, not Choi Kang-hyuk, who was in his prime.

‘It’s embarrassing to fight tooth and nail against a kid more than twenty years younger. Sigh.’

As Mu-jin was thinking about this, the martial arts training hall gradually became noisy.

During the break between the scripture chanting and morning training, the novice monks, who had been playing, began to gather at the training hall.

As they approached, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the fifth hour (11 am – 1 pm), and soon, Master Uncle Hye-jeong and the second-class disciples appeared in the training hall.

“For the morning training, as usual, we will practice Revolving Fist, the introductory martial art of our thousand-year-old Shaolin!”

Master Uncle Hye-jeong, who had glanced at Mu-jin upon arrival, shouted in a solemn tone.

For some reason, hearing Hye-jeong’s shout made Mu-jin’s eyes sparkle.

The opportunity to learn Shaolin’s introductory martial art.

As someone who once loved martial arts novels, this was nothing short of a dream come true.

He had resisted the physical training conducted in the morning since it was a field he was already well-versed in, but martial arts were a different story.

If it was a field he knew well, he might have pretended to be knowledgeable, but in an unfamiliar field, he was more inclined to actively learn.

Moreover,

‘The Revolving Fist was the technique that Mu-gung was using earlier, right?’

The martial art used by the opponent he was to spar with in a week. The ancient sages left a famous saying: “Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you will never be defeated.”

Learning the Revolving Fist would be beneficial for Mu-jin, especially if he wanted to beat that bulky kid easily.

“First Form! Heart Center Punch!”

“Hap!!”

“Hap!!!”

Following Hye-jeong’s shout from the elevated seat, the novice monks executed each form in order, and the second-class disciples assisting Hye-jeong moved around the training hall, correcting the children’s postures.

“Fourth Form!”

While shouting from the elevated seat with a commanding presence, Hye-jeong’s brow began to furrow.

‘Why is that kid training so obediently?’

The reason was Mu-jin. The one who caused trouble during dawn training and breakfast was now diligently training, as if he had repented, which was baffling.

‘Is fighting that guy with this really the most foolish thing in the world?’

The Revolving Fist Technique had fairly simple movements. Conversely, due to its low technical complexity, it was a martial art whose power heavily depended on the physical capabilities of the user.

In other words, fighting Mu-gung with the Revolving Fist Technique when he was physically superior was tantamount to imposing a penalty on oneself.

So, how could he cleanly defeat that bulky kid who was over twenty years younger?

During training, he briefly observed Mu-gung’s punching technique.

‘Ah! That’s what I should use?’

An idea to overpower Mu-gung with a single move popped into Mu-jin’s head.