The next day, the alarm clock rang at twenty minutes past four in the morning, waking Jian Ai from her sleep.
She got up, took a simple shower, and went out to the martial arts school with Si Yuehan.
The sky had just turned bright. The morning air in Baiyun City was still cold, but it made one feel comfortable.
When they arrived at the martial arts school, everyone had already gotten up. They only greeted the others before it was time to stand like a post.
No matter how many years one had practiced traditional martial arts in China, standing like a post was something they had to do every day. In the past, even the owner, Yang Jie, had to practice with them. However, he had injured a leg, so he was only in charge of supervising.
Eldest Senior Brother, Yang Xiaowen, stood at the front while the rest of the disciples stood in two rows. Jian Ai and Si Yuehan stood in the middle of the front row so that their master could correct their actions at any time!
“Place your left foot in the direction of eleven o’clock, and your right foot in the direction of one o’clock. Open your knee to ensure that your hip joint is open. This way, when you are performing the horse stance, you will meet the correct strength line for your knee joint!”
“Open your legs fifteen degrees outward, the same width as your shoulders. Then, squat down slightly, rotate your femur fifteen degrees outward, and place your hands into fists on the outside of your double waists. Do you understand?”
Yang Jie stood with his hands behind his back. As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze landed on Jian Ai. It was obvious that his actions were meant for Jian Ai to hear.
Jian Ai nodded and answered confidently, “Yes, Master!”
Yang Jie nodded expressionlessly and then gave an order to everyone. “Let’s do the horse stance for an hour. If Jian Ai can’t hold on, we can shorten it to forty minutes!”
With that, everyone moved at the same time and proceeded with a standard horse stance.
For these people, it was an action that was necessary every day for years, so they basically did it in one go. Jian Ai followed suit and moved. Her eyes landed on Yang Xiaowen in front of her, and she followed suit!
Yang Jie walked up to Jian Ai and reached out to correct her subtle shortcomings. “Your head should be parallel to the ground, and you should look straight ahead. Straighten your chest and back!”
As he spoke, he looked at Si Yuehan at the side. Seeing that his movements were standard and his lower body was very stable, he couldn’t help but look satisfied.
The horse stance was extremely boring, and it was something that martial artists had to practice every day.
This was also the reason many people gave up on traditional Chinese martial arts after foreign martial arts entered China. A large part of the reason was because the process was boring.
There were over ten martial arts schools in the surroundings, and only the disciples of Longxing Martial Arts School had to wake up at five in the morning to train. This was not something an ordinary person could persist on.
Time passed slowly, like a heavy shackle. Half an hour later, a thin layer of sweat had formed on Jian Ai’s forehead. Her legs were sore and numb, as if she was about to lose consciousness. She was even shivering.
As for the others, their expressions did not change. They were calm. From this, it could be seen that even if Jian Ai had mental cultivation techniques, her foundation could not compare to these people who had practiced martial arts for many years.
She initially did not want her master to treat her differently. She planned to complete an hour of standing like everyone else, but now, forty minutes was her limit.
It seemed that her master already knew her abilities from the beginning.
Jian Ai wanted to persist, but her legs were shaking so badly that she couldn’t maintain the standard posture anymore. There was no point.
Taking the initiative to ask for permission to rest, Yang Jie nodded and gestured for Jian Ai to rest for twenty minutes and wait for the others to finish before continuing the next task.
