Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Chapter 8:

Beob Gang (2)

From Mu-jin’s perspective, it was an unavoidable situation.

With a scrape of joints every time he bent and straightened his knee beside him, saying, “My knee’s busted,” how could he, as a trainer, just overlook it? Moreover,

“If I could get the squad leader on my side… Wouldn’t that be a huge gain?”

The thought of an easier training session if he could entice the real power among the second-class disciples crossed his mind.

He started as a novice trainer at a local gym and rose to the position of owner of five stores. He had a knack for leading someone into the world of personal training.

“Looking at it now, your knee seems to be in bad shape, and exercising like this when your knee hurts is self-harm. Self-harm. Please straighten your leg.”

With a look of pity, Mu-jin began to massage Beob Gang’s knee area gently.

“Tsks. As expected, Shaolin’s training is flawed.”

This squad leader in front of him was evidence of what becomes of someone after fifteen, twenty years of Shaolin training methods.

And surprise registered on Beob Gang’s face as he received Mu-jin’s massage.

At first, he felt pain as if he was being attacked, but after the pain subsided, a strange sense of refreshment enveloped his knee.

“When your knee is in poor condition, you should exercise like this.”

After loosening the knee moderately, Mu-jin began to demonstrate, as if conducting a personal training session for Beob Gang.

Members (?) with a military-like appearance, contrary to their tough exterior, were very susceptible to kind people.

Mu-jin meticulously explained each posture, guiding Beob Gang into the world of personal training.

“Like this, you only need to bend your knees halfway, as if you were about to sit on a chair, before they fully bend. During the descent, don’t put any strength into your knees; rather, concentrate the force in your thighs and buttocks, slowly going down. The same applies when coming up, use the strength of your thighs and buttocks.”

Mu-jin showed the so-called chair squat stance and then reached out his hand.

“Now, let’s start. I’ll hold your hand, just go down as if you’re sitting on a chair and then come back up.”

Confused by the sudden turn of events, Beob Gang found himself unwittingly adopting the posture Mu-jin had instructed.

For some reason he could not fathom, the child standing before him exuded the presence of an expert who had reached a high level of mastery.

“Yes, stop right there! Don’t put strength in your knees. You’ll hurt them. I’m holding you, so don’t worry and just focus on powering through your thighs and hips! And be mindful of your breathing!”

As if under a spell, he bent and straightened his knees several times as Mu-jin directed.

‘Hmm? The pain is definitely less?’

Not only had his knee pain lessened, but as he followed Mu-jin’s commands to put strength into his thighs and hips, he could clearly feel the stimulation.

“Let’s take a short break, and then we’ll repeat it fifteen times. Your knees are in bad shape, so you mustn’t overdo it.”

“After three sets, or rather, the third round, let’s move on to the calves. Steady your breathing for a moment.”

Having felt the relief in his knees, Beob Gang began to mindlessly follow the exercises one by one as Mu-jin instructed.

“…What the hell is he doing over there?”

Master Uncle Hye-jeong, who was overseeing the training of the novice disciples, watched the scene with a face that read ‘this is ridiculous.’

The Second-class Disciple, standing beside him, responded in a hesitant tone to what could have been a rhetorical question or a direct one from Master Uncle Hye-jeong.

“Well, I suppose…?”

The scene was so absurd that he inadvertently responded in a tone that was inappropriate for the law.

A man obsessed with the law. The dog of the law. Together, called the ‘mad dog.’ If Beob Gang had seen this scene, he would have surely issued a stern command.

‘But isn’t that mad dog right there doing just that…?’

Mad dog, mad dog, and now has he truly gone mad?

The Second-class Disciple, who had been relentlessly drilled by Beob Gang since his youth, was now seriously worried about his own head.

“Good. As expected of someone who has exercised before, you’ve quickly mastered the posture.”

“Hahaha. Isn’t that a given? It has already been eighteen years since I enrolled in Shaolin.”

Regardless, Mu-jin and Beob Gang were continuing their PT in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

“…Amitabha Buddha.”

Feeling a throbbing headache coming on, Master Uncle Hye-jeong ultimately had no choice but to turn away from the two of them.

Having promised to acknowledge Mu-jin’s training, he could not complain about Beob Gang joining in.

Whether it was a faction from the pugilistic world or a local martial arts clan, a Second-class Disciple of the prestigious Shaolin could not engage in such petty behaviour.

* * *

After the dawn training, it was time for breakfast.

As the novice disciples all headed to the Banquet Hall for their morning meal, Mu-jin was wrapping up his first PT session at Shaolin.

Just like he had shown Mu-yul, he shared several movements of the Close-Range Spear Technique that were beneficial before and after lower-body exercises.

“Please sit down and straighten your legs.”

As a finale, he massaged the clustered muscles around the knees to loosen them up.

Beob Gang, who had been watching the entire process calmly, looked at Mu-jin with a strange expression.

He might have followed along as if under a spell at first, but that didn’t mean he had lost his wits the entire time.

Having come this far, he decided to fully experience the effectiveness of the exercise methods Mu-jin was teaching before making a decision.

And after an hour-long session of PT and Close-Range Spear Technique, including a massage, Beob Gang’s judgment was as follows:

“These are excellent techniques.”

He couldn’t deny the effectiveness of the exercise methods, and the subsequent techniques of Close-Range Spear Technique and acupressure were also outstanding.

The knee pain that used to throb every time after training was almost non-existent today. On the contrary, the muscles in his thighs and calves were definitely feeling tightened.

The reason he was called a ‘mad dog’ was simply because he had drilled too harshly and too often when something was wrong, not because he made up non-existent faults or forced issues.

“Is this the technique passed down in your family?”

“Huh?”

Taken aback by Beob Gang’s sudden question, Mu-jin concealed his ‘what nonsense is this?’ inner thoughts and responded.

Unaware of Mu-jin’s internal reaction, Beob Gang shared some of the stories he had heard from Hyun-seong the previous evening.

He relayed their assumption that Mu-jin was adhering to his family’s training methods.

‘Oh ho. So they were all under that misconception.’

It was natural for Mu-jin to have an idea spring to mind upon hearing Beob Gang’s story.

He had been worried about how to package the knowledge he possessed, but this seemed to be the perfect solution.

In the world within martial arts novels, there were countless clans and martial families. Even Shaolin couldn’t possibly know all the clans and martial families located throughout the central plains.

‘Good. It was indeed a wise decision to help.’

As the effects of winning the disciplinary monitor over to his side became apparent, a satisfied smile naturally appeared on Mu-jin’s lips.

“Yes. These are techniques I’ve learned from my family.”

“Hahaha. Indeed, they are excellent skills.”

Pleased with Mu-jin’s response, Beob Gang soon put on a stern expression and added:

“One thing, though. My praise is for the therapy aspect. No matter what, the training for martial arts is best left to our Thousand-Year Shaolin. I understand your intentions, but still, I would like you to follow Shaolin’s training methods at least once.”

Mu-jin gave a noncommittal response, “I’ll keep it in mind,” as he did not wish to seem obstinate.

“Mu-jin, are you done?”

As Mu-jin finished his conversation with Beobgang, Mu-yul, who had been waiting impatiently beside him, asked with an expression akin to a puppy that needed to go out.

“Yeah. Let’s go eat.”

“Okay!”

No sooner had Mu-jin mentioned going to eat than Mu-yul’s face lit up with joy. He must have been quite hungry from the wait.

“Why didn’t you go eat if you were hungry?”

“Hehehe. I wanted to wait for you.”

At Mu-jin’s light teasing, Mu-yul just smiled brightly without a care in the world. Mu-jin chuckled at his innocence and led Mu-yul towards the Banquet Hall.

During this brief exchange, Beobgang watched them with a content smile.

“Ahem.”

Suddenly, Master Uncle Hye-jeong approached Beobgang and cleared his throat loudly.

“Ah, Master Uncle Hye-jeong. I have made a fool of myself.”

“Hoho. Did you do it knowingly?”

Master Uncle Hye-jeong couldn’t help but laugh with disbelief, while Beobgang remained unashamed.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. I thought it best to experience it firsthand.”

“Hmm. And how was that experience?”

Swallowing the retort ‘You talk a good game,’ Master Uncle Hye-jeong asked with curiosity.

“From what I’ve observed, the boy named Mu-jin doesn’t seem to hail from a martial family but rather from a family of healers.”

“A family of healers? What makes you think so?”

Prompted by Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s question, Beobgang looked around cautiously before answering in a hushed tone.

“The truth is, my knees have been in poor condition due to overexertion in training.”

“Oh… this is troubling…”

Master Uncle Hye-jeong showed genuine concern, having been unaware of the situation.

“Why have you hidden this from us?”

“I did not want to worry the elders of the sect, nor could I show weakness in front of my disciples.”

He felt he had to set a strong example for his disciples and could not afford to show any frailty.

“But, astonishingly, none of my disciples, who have been with me for decades, noticed the condition of my knees. On the other hand, Mu-jin identified the problem immediately.”

“Could it be?”

“Yes. The movements that I was practicing with Mu-jin earlier, they were all exercises he suggested that wouldn’t strain my knees.”

“Huh… Now that I hear it, it does make me wonder if he truly might come from a family of healers.”

“Yes, and when I casually asked Mu-jin, he told me that all the exercises and techniques he shared with me today were learned from his family home.”

Thus, through Beob Gang’s mouth, Mu-jin’s lies were conveyed to Hye-jeong as if they were the truth.

Furthermore, the two of them began to fabricate Mu-jin’s nonexistent past on their own.

“Huh. Then perhaps his family home might be a medical household that deals with martial artists. Yes, it must be a family that realized how to enhance muscles during the process of healing the injuries of martial artists. And this child, having seen too many injured martial artists since a young age, must undoubtedly be wary of our Shaolin training methods.”

“You truly are a master, Uncle. Even I, who conversed with Mu-jin, could not read into it that deeply.”

“How can this be? Such a talented child is hesitant about our Shaolin training due to such reasons.”

“Do not worry, Master Uncle. I will guide the child to the right path.”

“Will you, now?”

“Yes. Young children often listen well to adults they are friendly with. Instead of forcing him, I will first become friends with the child and then gradually integrate him into the Shaolin training methods.”

Beob Gang, oblivious to the fact that he had been duped by Mu-jin into receiving PT, showed an unfounded confidence.

“Right. You speak the truth. We should not rush this and take it slowly.”

And Hye-jeong believed it.

* * *

As always, after sweeping clean the leftover beans and mushrooms in the Banquet Hall and fighting the battle of drowsiness during the morning Buddhist prayer time, Mu-jin was once again met by the morning martial arts training time.

However, for some reason, today’s atmosphere was peculiarly different.

‘It’s not because of Beob Gang, the discipline officer. If it were because of him, this atmosphere would have been present since dawn.’

Wondering what the difference was, Mu-jin tilted his head in curiosity when Hye-jeong’s resonant voice, filled with internal power, spread from the upper stage of the training field.

“Now that you all seem to have perfected the form of the Revolving Fist Technique, we will move on to the next training starting today.”

‘Aha.’

So that was it; they were finally moving on to the next stage.

“Martial arts truly come into their own when internal and external energies harmonize. Starting today, we will begin preparations to learn that internal energy.”

As Hye-jeong explained, the two Second-class Disciples, who were positioned to his left and right, seated themselves in the lotus position right there in the training field.

“You too, follow Beopgyeong and Beopgong and sit in the lotus position.”

Hearing Hye-jeong’s voice, Mu-jin mimicked the two disciples and seated himself in the lotus position.

“Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Breathe in slowly through your nose, as deeply as possible. The breath you inhale should pass through your nose and throat and reach the danjeon located at the center of your body.”

‘Hmm?’

Focusing on Hye-jeong’s voice and taking several deep breaths in and out, a question popped into Mu-jin’s mind.