In the world of traditional martial arts, different schools specialized in different fighting techniques.
Some schools specialized in punches, for example, while others focused on kicks.
But different schools could also share similarities in their fighting styles. In Eastern martial arts, the traits displayed by a school's techniques were commonly called its martial style.
Hard and Soft Combined was a style held in high regard. It combined strength and technique, drawing on the advantages of both. The drawback was that mastering both made it harder to attain true depth in either.
Other styles pursued the idea that overwhelming strength could break any technique, while still others prized the skill of using a small force to deflect a great one. Neither approach was inherently superior. Taken far enough, either could defeat an opponent.
History had seen grandmasters bring both styles to their peak.
The Tiger-Crane Double-Form Fist could not achieve either of those extremes. But its tiger form was fierce and powerful, while its crane form was nimble and graceful. By uniting two utterly different styles and allowing its user to switch between them at will, it produced a complex, varied array of moves whose power could not be underestimated.
The middle-aged man had fought Greedy Wolf in crane form until now, leading Greedy Wolf to mistake his art for a type of Xingyi Fist. He had no idea it was the distinctive Tiger-Crane Double Form.
So when the man switched to tiger form in an instant, Greedy Wolf was caught off guard and paid dearly for it.
The middle-aged man's fist struck Greedy Wolf square in the abdomen. The tremendous force behind it sent his blood surging and left his insides churning.
Even so, Greedy Wolf did not so much as furrow his brow. He struggled upright, and when he