Chapter 159 Deflecting a Thousand Pounds with Four Ounces

Here, the word "sick" was frequently used by them to mean "super cool" or "top-notch."

It soon started appearing in Hollywood films as well, which led trend-obsessed Bollywood stars to adopt it into their casual vocabulary with ease.

Donnie Yen, on the other hand, had spent his career striving in Hong Kong, and even on his occasional visits back home, he rarely came into contact with the local youth.

Of course, he watched Hollywood movies, but his focus was on plot progression and box-office trends, so he rarely noticed shifts in individual slang words.

Among those seated, only Liu Qingshan and Sammo Hung had a rather superficial understanding of English. Since they couldn't quite follow that conversation, they gravitated toward each other to discuss martial arts techniques.

Somehow, the topic drifted toward grappling arts. Buoyed by a slight buzz from the alcohol, Liu Qingshan sounded a bit self-satisfied when he spoke.

"Ancient grappling techniques have long been lost. True deflection of a thousand pounds with four ounces of force only exists in silk-reeling hands!"

Sammo Hung widened his eyes and argued, "Are all the grappling techniques, dragon-capture arts, and tendon-dislocating methods passed down today just fake?"

"I wouldn't call them fake, but rather incomplete. In fact, most of them are merely simple wrist-breaks, arm-reverses, elbow-supports, and finger-peels."

"Brother, I actually know a master of grappling from the mainland. He's a farmer from a remote mountainous area in Hebei province, but his authentic grappling technique is said to stem from a thousand-year-old family secret. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist! Furthermore, according to the local martial arts association, if that old gentleman were willing to grade for a martial arts rank, he could easily attain the highest ninth dan!"

"Can he truly achieve defeating a thousand pounds with four ounces?"

"Your skeptical mindset is the real lost art here. Besides, that's a kind of skill within Tai Chi combat that relies on a high degree of mastery and leverage rather than brute force. I know what I'm talking about!"

Liu Qingshan chuckled softly and said no more, raising his cup to defuse the verbal friction.

Sammo Hung wasn't genuinely angry. That was simply his personality—direct and blunt, especially after drinking, paying little heed to saving face for others.

Thus, instead of accepting the toast, he became even more argumentative. "What, out of words? Or are you the only one who knows how to deflect a thousand pounds with four ounces in grappling?"

Liu Qingshan smiled and said, "Big Brother Bao, consider it my nonsense, and let me offer a toast here to apologize to you!"

Sammo Hung seemed to realize it immediately. After all, he wasn't very close to Liu Qingshan yet, despite having admired him all along.

"An apology isn't necessary. I'm just someone who loves to split hairs, especially when it comes to martial arts. Jackie is often left speechless by my nagging."

He readily raised his cup and drained it in one go.

Liu Qingshan drank along with him, then said, "Those of us who practice martial arts should be rigorous about our techniques so that we can learn and improve from one another."

"You're right, I loved hearing that just now. But isn't there really no such thing as deflecting a thousand pounds with four ounces in grappling?"

"Without inducing emptiness in the opponent, one cannot deflect a thousand pounds with four ounces. When the opponent's force and momentum become fully exposed, you suddenly make yourself void and can directly uproot their center of power. Big Brother Bao, have you ever heard of this phrase?"

Having been repeatedly questioned, Liu Qingshan felt inclined to display a bit of his skill.

"Oh? Brother really hasn't heard of that!"

"Big Brother Bao, place your hand on my wrist."

Full of doubt in his eyes, Sammo Hung still extended his hand.

The moment his hand struck Liu Qingshan's right wrist, Liu Qingshan's left hand swiftly cupped the underside of Sammo Hung's forearm, while his right elbow rapidly pressed down in a smooth motion.

Then, with a twist of his left wrist supporting the arm, he captured Sammo Hung's entire back of the hand within his own grip.

Immediately following that, his right arm—which had been pressing the elbow—pulled back rapidly while simultaneously reversing the elbow and twisting the wrist. With a synchronized push from both hands, Sammo Hung was sent pitching backward in his seat.

Fortunately, Liu Qingshan's reflexes were lightning fast; he reached out and grabbed Sammo Hung's jacket, preventing him from actually crashing down.

What appears in words as mere detailed description was, in reality, a sequence of movements executed by Liu Qingshan as fast as lightning. To the onlookers, it happened in the blink of an eye.

Facing the flushed Sammo Hung, Liu Qingshan smiled and said in a low voice, "This is what deflecting a thousand pounds with four ounces in grappling looks like!"

The flush on Sammo Hung's face wasn't from embarrassment, but from genuine excitement—the intense thrill of someone who had just struck gold.

He knew his own physical stature best. Beyond experiencing it firsthand, he was painfully aware of his own massive tonnage.

Although Liu Qingshan's strike had caught him off guard, being able to send such a bulky body flying with just a few twists of the wrist and presses of the elbow required absolute, genuine kung fu.

Moreover, he knew deep down that even if he were fully prepared, he wouldn't be able to figure out the precise instantaneous counter-response needed.

Try to resist with brute strength? You've got to be kidding. The other person had already twisted half your arm around like a circus act, leaving your arm and wrist completely devoid of any leverage point.

Without any point of force application, you were naturally at the mercy of your attacker. Furthermore, all of Liu Qingshan's points of force were woven into a seamless series of redirecting and borrowing momentum, sending you tumbling away in a daze.

He even understood that if Liu Qingshan had used his full strength, his own frame of over two hundred pounds could easily have been sent flying a dozen meters away.

That was terrifying. Compared to the Thirty-Six Fists of Flower Boxing that Sammo Hung dabbled in, this pure-skill grappling was far more bizarre and impossible to guard against.

Donnie Yen had watched the entire exchange with exceptional clarity, and even those half-baked Indians were staring in dumbfounded shock.

They knew full well what a weight of over two hundred pounds meant. All their eyes had registered were a few flashy wrist twists from Liu Qingshan, which were enough to hurl the large and heavy Sammo Hung away. If this wasn't magical Oriental sorcery, what was it?

Unable to contain himself any longer, Donnie Yen ignored the astonished expressions of the other patrons in the small diner and walked right up to Liu Qingshan.

"Shanzi, execute that technique again. Let me see if I can parry it!"

Liu Qingshan didn't stand on ceremony. Sticking to the exact same technique, he sent Donnie Yen flying in the blink of an eye.

This time, both men were in a standing position, and Donnie Yen had come prepared, yet he still found himself utterly powerless to crack Liu Qingshan's lightning-fast maneuver.

The reason Donnie Yen was described as being tossed rather than slammed was, naturally, because Liu Qingshan had deliberately held back his power.

Sammo Hung also grew thoroughly excited, squeezing his way forward to ask Liu Qingshan to demonstrate a different technique.

This time, Liu Qingshan used a similar approach, but he increased the downward pressing force of his right elbow significantly. Instead of pulling back while reversing the elbow and wrist, he maintained the downward pressing motion.

With his wrist joint locked, Sammo Hung was naturally forced to lower his body in a desperate bid to ease the agonizing pressure.

Yet, Liu Qingshan swiftly executed another reverse-elbow and wrist-twist. This time, the sudden burst of force from both hands was no longer a push, but a sideways pivot and pull.

And so, Sammo Hung's massive frame tilted backward once again. Had someone not immediately stepped in to steady him, he would have landed flat on his back in a heavy sprawl.

A round of applause broke out in the small diner. Instead of feeling ashamed, Sammo Hung beamed with immense delight. "Shanzi, you were holding back before! You actually know real grappling!"

Donnie Yen was equally ecstatic. "Big Brother Bao, do you believe now that grappling really can deflect a thousand pounds with four ounces?"

Laughing heartily, Sammo Hung cupped his fists toward Liu Qingshan in a continuous salute. "I believe it, I truly believe it! My two-hundred-plus pounds couldn't withstand a few simple hand movements from you. The one who said 'just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist' was me all along!"