The cicada sensed autumn before the wind stirred!
Zhou Mingjie was shaken, and his gaze on Xia Xu grew even more fervent.
Unlike the combat techniques of other countries, what he had learned was the Xia Kingdom's traditional martial arts. Compared with conventional hand-to-hand and weapons combat, which emphasized fitness and technique, Xia Kingdom martial arts placed greater emphasis on such mysterious concepts as force, form, and intent.
But these things were not merely attempts to sound profound. Although their names and techniques differed, their underlying principles were actually very similar.
Xingyi Quan, for instance, distinguished between Ming Jin, An Jin, and Hua Jin. Ming Jin was integrated force: coordinating and mobilizing the muscles throughout the body, using force transmitted through the waist, hips, and other areas to achieve greater explosive power.
An Jin was deft force generated through techniques such as shaking and twisting. In essence, these were also applications of technique.
Above these stood Hua Jin, its name referring to a level of consummate mastery. In the most basic sense, it meant freely switching between Ming Jin and An Jin, seamlessly integrating hardness and softness. Someone at this level could already be called a grandmaster.
In practice, however, among those who truly spent years practicing martial arts and fighting to the death, grandmasters who could integrate their force seamlessly and control their bodies at will had often honed their five senses to an extraordinary degree as well. Their techniques had long since transcended the ordinary, while the various schools' pursuit of mental states and imitative forms could also regulate the mind and temper the will, much like meditation.
As a result, many legends about people at this level had spread by word of mouth: the cicada sensing autumn before the wind stirred, or not even a feather being