Chapter 144: As a new comer (1)

There are two doors in the back of the warehouse. I follow Papa 8 out of the back door, here is a big parking garage. There are many vehicles, big and small, but they all look old. To my surprise, some repairmen don’t seem to be doing repairs.

They’re basically dismembering parts of the cars.

As we pass through there, Papa 8 does not stop, but keeps walking ahead. Whenever he passes the repairmen, they just stand up and stoop silently to him, looking respectful.

We walk out of the garage and into a courtyard where there’s a revolving staircase. Papa 8 leads me going down, pushing open a door with some paint peeling off. There come the sounds of fighting.

The sounds are so familiar. There are shouts, exhalations, footsteps and punches. As soon as I walk in, I almost think we have entered a gym.

There are some simple fitness equipments on both sides of the room. Although they are relatively simple, but should have all the major types. Some men who look very strong are practicing with bells; some cushions in the middle of the floor, making of a bigger field. Some people practice boxing in pairs. They are wearing the boxing gloves, not the big one in a boxing match, but the small one with half of the fingers out of it. And they are all wearing the headgears.

Papa 8 looks at the surprised expression on my face and smiles slightly with satisfaction.

The door behind us closes silently.

The people are practicing here, most of them are in their thirties. The oldest might be probably nearly fifty, and the youngest men look just a little older than me.

“How is it?” He asks me with a smile.

I don’t understand what he meant by asking, so I answer vaguely: “Good.”

“I’m asking you, how’s this place?”

I nod: “Very good!”

My eyes are sweeping round the people who are practicing. These people are very agile in their hands and movements, and they are very skilled in their fists and feet. It seems that they are not showy postures of martial arts. What stricks me is that there are almost half of them, from the action point of view, all have slight traces of coming from the army.

Looking around, I’m sure these people are good, but they’re just good, not the excellent. At least, none of them can compare with Jim.

Finally, my eyes are falling on the corner beside the room. A man, barefoot, wearing a pair of shorts, is pounding at a sandbag.

That man’s action is very fast and the strength is also good. He obviously has fighting skills, punches, elbows, knees, legs, all of which are skillfully used. He is hitting the sandbags like a storm and making the loud banging noises.

Finally, after one side kick, he takes a breath, then yelling in a deep voice, and with a heavy blow from the back hand, the sandbag is slammed high and swaying violently.

Papa 8 notices that I’m looking at the young man, saying with a laugh: “That’s the best person here. How do you feel of him?”

I nod and say calmly: “Pretty good.”

“He’s good.” Papa 8 sighs suddenly. He touches his nose with his palm, which is only three fingers left, “Unfortunately, my generation is old. There are too few young people who are willing to bear hardships nowadays. I have seen many young people who think they are already good. Most of them are flower shelves. Real kongfu is practised by wrestling and beating. Where are the young people willing to suffer hardships nowadays?!” He points to the young man who’s practicing, “He’s quite good! But still can’t compare with those old masters.”

I don’t speak, I’m just a new comer and not familiar with here. What he says in lamenting, I can’t anwser it rashly. So, I’m just standing by and listening to him with a slight embarrassment.

He closes his eyes and thinking for a while, then he opens his eyes and slowly saying to me: “Little 5, I understand what you just said to me. But you don’t want to go this way just by making up your mind! The food of this industry, without some skills, is not eatable! Although you are introduced by Ocean, at least I need to know what you are available to do. If you don’t have the ability, you can only do small business. Favor is favor, but I will not break the rules because of the favor! Do you understand?”

“Understand.” I nod, “It’s fair… I like fairness.”

“Well, then I won’t explain much.” He’s looking me up and down and says, “7 said you are good at fight. You also said you were fighting with one dozen of people with a knife before.” There’s a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, but it smells of mockery, “I didn’t see it with my own eyes. Believe it or not, I can’t say it. I have seen a man who could chop a dozen, but it was many years ago. Most young people nowadays have hard mouths and soft hands. Besides, Here’s not the mainland. North American gun management is very loose. It’s the different world. Even you can really cut down more than a dozen, here also can not walkable. If someone holds an AK47, even you are the real Bruce Lee, still useless.”

“I don’t know how to use the gun. I haven’t learmed it at home.” I say lightly, “But I know myself that my fighting ability is not bad. I have practiced Kongfu for ten years.”

“Everyone here has practiced fighting.” Papa 8 says lightly. Suddenly, he’s smiling and pointing to the young man who is hitting the sandbag, “How do you think his fighting ability? Is he better than you?”

I’m a little hesitant. It’s still that problem. After all, I’ve just come here. I can’t be too arrogant. After thinking about it, I slowly say: “I… I practice differently from him.”

Papa 8 is smiling. There’s something deep in his smile. But I can see that the smile is not blaming me, but interested.

Then he’s suddenly raising his hands and clapping three times.

Immediately, the people around stop their movements and quickly gathering around us.

From this point of view, I value this place a little more! At least we have just come in and have been standing here for a while, and these people are all focused on training, no one is distracted to look at us. And now with Papa 8’s order, they just all come together.

It seems that they are very disciplined, not a gathering of crowds.

“Silo, come here for a minute.” Papa 8 speaks to the young man who was beating the sandbag.

This is a guy who looks very tall. He should be a little older than me, but not much. He’s handsome in appearance, white in skin, and strong in muscles.

He is standing in front of these people and looking at them coldly. Only when he’s looking at Papa 8, his expression shows a little gentle.

“Give him your glove.” Papa 8 is pointing at me.

The young man looks at me without saying a word and silently takes off his glove. Papa takes it and hands it to me with a smile on his face: “Well, you say you are different from them. Let us see yours.”

I’m stared at by so many people, my face is a bit unnatural, but I immediately take the glove, then put down my bag, take off my coat.

I walk slowly towards the sandbag, and the people on both sides are consciously offering me a way immediately. I feel that the guys behind me are staring at me in a way of not friendly, mabe even a bit of hidden hostility.

Papa 8’s deliberate remark just now makes my position a little awkward.

For a moment, I make up my mind.

Here’s not at home. Here’s speaking by strength! Now is not the time for me to be modest. Besides, I have just come here. If I don’t show any strength now, I’m afraid I’ll be looked down upon in the future.

I think about it, not knowing why, but I turn around and smiling at Papa 8. Instead of wearing the glove, I throw it aside.

When Master taught me Kongfu, he hesitated for a long time before he taught me a “heavy hand”. The so-called heavy hand that is the killing blow! It’s very lethal, but it’s also very powerful.

I don’t know how much kongfu I have learned from my Master. But I know I am still far behind. I remember Master said to me that he thought my temper was too impulsive, young and impatient, so he did not plan to teach me too many killing blows. Because he was afraid if I had learnd, in case I might fight with someone, I can’t help but use the heavy hand, which will cause the troubles! If I hit someone else with any heavy hand, they would be dead or seriously injured at least!

So, in the end, Master only taught me one heavy hand. This was a reward for my hard works for years. And he also felt that I was his last apprentice, if he didn’t even teach me any killing blow, he would be a little sorry to me.

In fact, I know that the one master taught me is still relatively “soft”, senior apprentices of my master really learned some very powerful killing blows.

In the eyes of the crowd, I went to the sandbag, slowly holding the swaying sandbag to let it stop moving. Then I step back, slightly open my legs, lower my waist, gently move my waist, and then exhaling and shouting!

Ha-!

I twist my waist and punch. Then just hear a muffled bang, and under the whispers of the crowd, the sandbag is hit with a sudden shock!

When boxing is practiced to a high level, it is not the strength of the arm, but the strength of the waist and legs. All the strength of the whole body goes out with such a punch!

The swaying range of the sandbag is not much, not even one third of that young man’s just now. But after I punch out, I’m immediately shrinking back and slowly stepping back in place. And under the public’s attention, the thick layer of leather on the outside of that sandbag was hit to be broken. The sands inside are flowing out all over the place like a waterfall!