Cultivating From Obtaining Experience

Chapter 13: The Way of Five Animal Forms

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Practicing Tai Chi in the water did not show any results at first.

However, after a week, when he came out of the water and practiced Tai Chi again, he felt that the force in his body was much smoother compared to before.

It was as if there was an invisible guiding his movements and helped him exert strength.

Seeing that his Tai Chi experience bar was almost full, Wang An was filled with hope.

In the Intention Fist Martial Arts School, Wang An’s favorite thing to do was to spar with Li Xinzhu.

Li Xinzhu used Intention Fist against Wang An who used Tai Chi.

One was fierce, while the other was gentle. Both of them were formidable.

In the beginning, Li Xinzhu was quite enthusiastic. He wanted to show Wang An the wonders of Intention Fist and make him give up Tai Chi for Intention Fist instead.

However, he did not expect Wang An’s Tai Chi to be so strong, and most of his attacks were expertly deflected.

At first, he managed to land five to six solid blows, but after a while of sparring, seven or eight out of ten hits were deflected. No matter how fast or aggressive he was, Wang An stayed calm. He used softness to overcome hardness.

“Stop, I’m not training with you anymore. Tell me the truth, how many years have you been practicing Tai Chi?” Li Xinzhu did not believe that he was new to Tai Chi.

“I have been training for less than three months.”

“That’s absolutely impossible. You’ve already comprehended Tai Chi energy and the movements of Tai Chi. Without five or six years of hard work, it’s impossible for anyone to have this kind of mastery!” Li Xinzhu did not believe Wang An at all.

“You can believe whatever you want.” Wang An said with a smile.

Just like that, he diligently studied, trained, thought, and summarized. He was improving every day.

One morning, Wang An woke up and was about to go to the park to practice Tai Chi.

Suddenly, he heard a notification.

[Mission: A healthy body: Restore your body to a healthy state (A healthy body is the prerequisite for everything). Completed.]

[Reward: Five Animal Forms.]

His surroundings suddenly glowed brightly, and information of movements and chants appeared in his mind.

Wang An brought out the interface and found that there was an additional skill.

[Five Animal Forms (Advanced)]

The animals of the Five Animal Forms were the tiger, the deer, the bear, the monkey, and the bird.

The practice of the Five Animal Forms involves performing the movements associated with the five animals with focused effort. Sweating is used as a measure of effort, and when one sweats, they use powder to apply to their body. This practice was believed to help eliminate the effects of overeating, boost energy, and alleviate various health issues. Those who can consistently perform the Five Animal Forms were thought to be able to extend their lifespan.

The Tiger Exercise strengthened muscles and bones and increases energy and blood circulation. The Bear Exercise promoted stability and robustness, which enhances endurance. The Monkey Exercise increased agility and flexibility. The Bird Exercise cultivated lightness and gracefulness. These were some benefits gained with training in the Five Animal Forms.

By externally practicing the movements of the five animals and internally strengthening the five internal organs, training this way was indeed a marvelous method for enhancing physical fitness and promoting health. Moreover, The Five Animal Forms shared some common principles with Intention Fist, even though they are distinct martial arts styles.

After practicing the Five Animal Forms, Wang An found that it was easier for him to train the Intention Fist.

Wang An laughed happily. Having a healthy body was something he was very happy about.

Wang An hummed a tune and went to the park. He immediately started training his Five Animal Forms when he got there.

He went through all five animal forms.

The forms he went through were Tiger Raising, Tiger Pouncing, Bear Movement, Bear Swaying, Monkey Plucking, and Monkey Lifting.

The forms were quite strange, and they attracted the attention of the people passing by.

“What is this person doing? It’s like he’s trying to be a monkey.”

“Don’t bother me. I’m exercising. Yesterday, when I passed by, I saw this guy practicing Tai Chi with an old man.”

“Looking at the posture, could it be the legendary Muscle Tendon Changing Classic?”

“That’s nonsense. I’ll record a clip of him and post it online. I’m sure someone will have an idea of what he’s doing.”

Someone secretly took a video of Wang An practicing the Five Animal Forms and uploaded it to the internet.

“I bet the name of his martial arts is something crazy sounding.”

“What kind of technique is this?”

Wang An was so focused on practicing the Five Animal Forms that he did not hear the chatter not far away. The Five Animal Forms corresponded to the breathing method.

Every posture and movement was matched with his breathing. Every movement and breathing method of this set of Five Animal Forms had been deeply engraved in his mind. What he needed to do now was to display them and let his body adapt to it.

[Five Animal Forms experience +5.]

[Five Animal Forms experience +3.]

The notifications kept coming.

After practicing it once, he felt his blood heat up, his body warm, and his body perspiring. It was as if every pore had started pouring with sweat. Despite all that, he felt comfortable.

Li Juewen also came to the park. He stayed not far away and watched Wang An practice the Five Animal Forms. He looked a little puzzled.

“What kind of martial arts is this? It looks quite strange. Where did he learn it from? Why had he not practiced it before?”

After Wang An finished practicing the Five Animal Forms, he went up to greet him.

“What kind of martial arts are you practicing?”

“Five Animal Forms.”

“Five Animal Forms, the Five Animal Forms created by Hua Tuo?” Li Juewen asked in surprise.

Wang An smiled and nodded.

“Who did you learn this from?”

“I figured it out myself.”

“It doesn’t seem like it, but most martial arts are not things you can figure out so easily. You could make all sorts of mistakes if you practice without a clear direction. I know a few people who hurt their knees or injured their waists because they didn’t have anyone to guide them in Tai Chi,” Li Juewen reminded Wang An very seriously.

“Fine. I’ll remember it.” Wang An nodded. “Do you want to try?”

“Forget it, I’ll just practice my Tai Chi,” Li Juewen waved his hand and said with a smile.

After practicing the Five Animal Forms, Wang An immediately felt his coordination improve while practicing Tai Chi. The two had similarities.

He felt a little hungry when he left the park.

It had only been two hours, but he was already hungry.

He went to a congee stall by the roadside and ordered a bowl of lean meat congee and two meat buns. After eating, he walked to the dojo.

In the afternoon, besides swimming, Wang An started practicing the Five Animal Forms.

He had not noticed many other effects of practicing the Five Animal Forms, but there was one that was very obvious, and that was that he would get hungry faster.

Even though he had added an extra piece of beef to his lunch, he still did not have enough energy for both swimming and the Five Animal Forms.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, he had no choice but to start cooking. He stewed a pot of beef in a clay pot, stir-fried a large plate of vegetables, and steamed a pot of rice.

An hour later, he looked at the empty plates and bowls on the table.

“How did my appetite increase so much all of a sudden!?”

After eating, he went downstairs for a walk to digest his food. When he came back, he stumbled across a video of someone practicing lightness skill online.

The method was simple. The practitioner just walked on bricks. He stacked a few bricks together and walked in a straight line on them.

After he was done, he changed the shape to a triangle, then a quadrilateral, and finally, a hexagon. That was the beginning of the practice of changing directions.

After he was familiar with the movement, he began to practice standing up on a single brick. After becoming proficient with single bricks, the next step was to walk on water containers or baskets.

‘I can try this. However, I definitely should not be doing this in the apartment. The park should be a better place to do it.’ Wang An thought.

Tai Chi also had footwork exercises, but no one mentioned such a method.

“I wonder if this is an unorthodox method?”