Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Chapter 9:

Internal Energy (1)

The question he had was simple.

“What about internal energy cultivation methods, like the ones in martial arts novels? Are they not going to teach us those?”

It was a question about the cultivation methods often seen in martial arts novels.

“You know, the ones that talk about the principles of the universe, the five elements, and the eight trigrams, and then suddenly the protagonist reaches a high level of internal energy?”

“I guess there must be a reason for it.”

But since Mu-jin didn’t know anything about internal energy cultivation, he just focused on following Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s instructions and concentrated on his breathing.

This was the time to learn internal energy, the foundation of martial arts.

What martial arts enthusiast wouldn’t want to obtain internal energy?

“When you breathe out, imagine that all the evil energy inside your body is leaving through your mouth, and gather all the bad energy inside your body and exhale deeply.”

“Huu.”

Mu-jin, who didn’t know anything about internal energy, simply followed Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s instructions and practiced the internal energy cultivation method of the Shaolin Temple.

Meanwhile, the second-class disciples who were watching the training corrected the novice monks who were not concentrating or had the wrong posture.

After about half an hour had passed…

“Everyone, open your eyes.”

When the novice monks seemed to have gotten used to the breathing and sitting posture, Master Uncle Hye-jeong stood them up.

“What you’ve learned is the Breath Control Technique, the most basic breathing method to feel and store energy in your body.”

Mu-jin felt a sense of disappointment upon hearing Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s words, realizing that he had only learned a simple breathing method, not internal energy cultivation.

But this was unavoidable.

“To operate internal energy, you must first feel the energy. So, from today on, you must practice the Breath Control Technique every day to feel the energy.”

To learn internal energy cultivation, Mu-jin had to follow Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s words and feel the energy.

Next, he had to make the felt energy flow through his blood vessels according to the meridians.

“From now on, the second-class disciples will give you a book that marks the human meridians.”

As soon as Master Uncle Hye-jeong finished speaking, the second-class disciples handed out thin books with the meridians marked to the novice monks.

“You don’t need to memorize all the meridians, but you must memorize the important ones. There are meridians you must pass through when operating internal energy, and many meridians that are good to know when suppressing an opponent.”

Master Uncle Hye-jeong pointed to the second-class disciple’s body, naming each meridian one by one.

“Oh, meridians.”

Mu-jin, who had seen meridians often in martial arts novels, anxiously checked Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s teachings and the contents of the book, trying to memorize them quickly.

After another half hour had passed, Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s serious voice flowed out, finishing the meridian education.

“Now that you’ve learned the meridians and can feel energy through the Breath Control Technique, you’ll learn our Shaolin Temple’s introductory internal energy method, the Bulsim Gong. Do you understand?”

“Yes!!!”

Mu-jin replied with all his might, his heart pounding with excitement.

“I’ll memorize everything today!”

He felt like his body was burning with the desire to learn internal energy cultivation right away.

* * *

That evening.

After finishing his day, Mu-jin cheerfully made his way to his quarters.

His heart was pounding with excitement at the thought of memorizing all the acupressure points during the evening free time and even practicing the supplementary ‘Breath Control Technique’.

But his cheerful mood plummeted in an instant due to the sight of Master Uncle Beob Gang practicing alone in the Arhat Faction training hall.

“Master Uncle Beob Gang! What are you doing right now!?”

“Hahaha. Thanks to the exercise method that Mu-jin taught me today, my knees hurt less, so I was trying to train a bit more.”

As Beob Gang replied with a bright voice, Mu-jin could not hold back and sighed deeply.

“The purpose of the exercise was to make your knees hurt less, not for you to overdo it! The training from dawn was already enough!”

Here he was, a trainer, and his charge was harming himself with unsanctioned exercises.

It would be different if he were training a muscle-building athlete preparing for a competition. But in reality, the person in question was a patient.

“Ah, iron becomes stronger the more it’s forged, and the same is true for the human body. Look at these muscles, the muscles I’ve trained in Shaolin for eighteen years.”

Beob Gang proudly rolled up his sleeve to show off his biceps, which to Mu-jin, of course, seemed incredibly inadequate.

Muscles grown not through proper exercise but through what was closer to self-harm, were nothing compared to the muscles that Choi Kang-hyuk used to have—they were merely skin and flesh.

“Iron must be forged moderately to become stronger; if it’s overdone, it breaks. The same applies to the human body, Master Uncle.”

With a sigh, Mu-jin forcibly stopped Beob Gang’s training and began acupressure on his knees.

Having entered Shaolin eighteen years ago, this was the first time Beob Gang had been forced to stop training because it was important to rest, and he looked awkwardly at Mu-jin.

“This may hurt a bit.”

Mu-jin started more serious acupressure than in the dawn to relieve the overstrained knees and muscles around them.

“……”

True to his reputation as the incarnation of patience, Master Uncle Beob Gang bore the immense pain transmitting through his knee without changing his expression, enduring the agony.

“You can say it hurts if it does.”

But who is Mu-jin? Even through the fingertips performing the acupressure, he could keenly feel the extent of damage to Beob Gang’s knee and the surrounding muscles.

Naturally, he had a clear understanding of the level of pain that would come from there.

“Sigh. Who exercises to the point of breaking themselves? If you ruin your body, you’re the one who suffers. No one else will take responsibility for you. So please take care of your own body, Master Uncle Beob Gang.”

Mu-jin offered his heartfelt advice to Beob Gang.

As he was treating his knee, Mu-jin couldn’t help but be reminded of his days serving in the special forces.

The last years in the special forces when, despite being injured, he stubbornly pursued training until his body was completely destroyed.

Despite all that hardship, he ended up failing to serve a longer term and was forcefully discharged.

Perhaps it was because Beob Gang’s appearance and personality were too reminiscent of a soldier. Watching him ruining his body with excessive training reminded Mu-jin painfully of his own past.

After silently observing Mu-jin’s face filled with genuine concern, Beob Gang spoke with a tone of certainty after a moment.

“Mu-jin, I do not know what you went through while you were in the secular world. But there’s one thing I would like you to believe. Shaolin does not abandon its disciples just because their bodies are a bit broken. No, Shaolin is a place that never abandons its disciples, no matter what happens.”

“……”

For a moment, silently peering into the eyes of the young man who reminded him of his own youth, Mu-jin replied with an uncharacteristic smile for a child.

“Well, if that’s the case, then it must be so.”

Whether Beob Gang’s words were right or wrong, only time and circumstance would tell. Mu-jin decided it was unnecessary to argue over such a topic.

Misinterpreting Mu-jin’s smile as agreement, Beob Gang laughed heartily and began to ramble.

“Uhahahahaha. That’s why, from tomorrow, you should trust me and our Shaolin’s training methods, ugh!!”

Caught off guard by Mu-jin’s sudden and intense massage, Beob Gang couldn’t help but groan out loud.

It was the first groan he had let out in the eighteen years since he joined Shaolin.

* * *

After completing the Close-Range Spear Technique and acupressure spanning about two hours, Mu-jin dusted off his hands and stood up.

“You did well to endure. Master Uncle.”

“Heh. This is nothing to me.”

Beob Gang, dripping with cold sweat, continued to bluster, even though he was clearly embarrassed by his own words. He hastily changed the subject.

“Ahem. Sorry for taking up your time. It seemed like you were in a hurry, where were you headed?”

“Ah. I was thinking of going back to my quarters to practice the ‘Breath Control Technique’ I learned this morning.”

“‘Breath Control Technique’?”

“Yes. In order to master the ‘Buddha Mind Technique’, one must first feel the qi.”

At Mu-jin’s response, Beob Gang cocked his head, puzzled.

“Didn’t you already feel qi through your family’s internal energy cultivation technique?”

If Mu-jin had been an ordinary child, it would be one thing, but coming from a medical family that dealt with martial artists, it was likely he had learned his family’s internal energy technique.

Faced with Beob Gang’s question, Mu-jin managed his expression and laid out a lie.

“Due to family circumstances, I have not yet learned it.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Believing that Mu-jin had no reason to lie to him, Beob Gang pondered for a moment on how to help him.

The simplest method would be to transmit qi directly through ‘Direct Body Transmission’.

If qi was flowing through one’s body due to someone else’s doing, anyone with even a slightly developed sense of qi should be able to feel it easily.

The only issue was:

‘That would be a violation of our Shaolin’s rules.’

Why else would they have only taught the ‘Breath Control Technique’ in the morning training and not performed the ‘Direct Body Transmission’?

Feeling qi was also a kind of trial. A trial to select the true disciples.

Without assistance from others, only those who could feel qi through the ‘Breath Control Technique’ alone were eligible to be chosen as true disciples.

True to his dedication to the rules, Beob Gang could not defy such regulations.

Instead, he came up with an alternative idea.

“Ahem. In that case, how about you try practicing the ‘Breath Control Technique’ here instead of at your quarters?”

“Here, you mean?”

“I was about to perform qi circulation myself. Who knows? If I’m circulating qi next to you, it might be easier for you to sense it.”

While it wasn’t a direct infusion of qi into the body, the flow of qi created artificially by someone else was much easier to detect than natural qi flows.

Mu-jin quickly grasped Beob Gang’s intention and willingly sat cross-legged on the floor of the training hall.

“I’m ready, Master Uncle!”

“Hahahaha. Then I must begin my qi circulation. Focus your mind.”

Beob Gang also sat down in a cross-legged position and began to recall the intricacies of the internal energy technique as he inhaled the qi from the air through his nose. Following the Shaolin internal energy technique, the qi circulated through his body.

Some of the qi transformed into the majestic energy characteristic of the Buddha’s work through the technique, while the rest was exhaled with his breath back into the atmosphere.

However, Mu-jin, who had yet to feel qi, simply closed his eyes and focused on the basic breathing of the ‘Breath Control Technique’.

As his body began to mechanically repeat the breathing pattern, Mu-jin started to concentrate his mind elsewhere.

‘Master Uncle Beob Gang is currently circulating qi. There should be qi flowing around him. I have to feel that qi!’

Naturally, it was not an easy task. Especially since he didn’t even know what qi felt like in the first place.

With that realization, he thought deeply.

‘I must feel the difference. There has to be something unique around Master Uncle Beob Gang’s mouth and nose that I can sense.’

Instead of aimlessly trying to sense it, Mu-jin sought to discover the difference by comparing it to other areas.

As Mu-jin concentrated on Beob Gang’s breathing for a while, from a certain moment, the majestic Buddhist internal energy began to flow out from around Beob Gang, deeply immersed in qi circulation.

‘Is this it?’

Mu-jin, who was deeply focused, could easily feel that energy.

Feeling that energy, he realized that his own breathing also contained such energy.

‘Inhale as deeply as possible, drawing it to the danjeon at the center of the body.’

Recalling Master Uncle Hye-jeong’s words from the morning training, Mu-jin drew in the qi through his nose, visualizing the energy being stored in the danjeon, a vessel within him.

As he exhaled the air deep from his lungs, he tried to retain the drawn-in qi.

Of course, it wasn’t going to go well right from the start.

The frustration of the qi, drawn in through the nose, escaping entirely through the mouth, was indescribable.

However, Mu-jin was not the kind of man to give up over such a minor setback.

He continued to practice the ‘Breath Control Technique’, drawing in and exhaling qi.

After much repetition,

Out of the qi he inhaled, a minuscule fraction—

If he drew in qi 100 times, he managed to retain about 0.0001 of it.

It might have been less than a speck of dust, but a broad smile formed on Mu-jin’s lips.

‘Even if it’s just 0.0000000001%, if it contains truffle, it’s considered a truffle-infused snack, right! Yes!!’

Mu-jin reminisced about the truffle snacks he had eaten during his days of watching food vlogs on Neurtube.