Cultivating through increasing my stats in America-Chapter 126 - 125: Challenging Your Professional Players?
Taekwondo dan rankings are divided into one through nine, as well as the honorary tenth dan, all unified with a black belt color.
The minimum requirement for coaching is a black belt, professional athletes and Taekwondo masters are also black belts, so the depth of this rank is quite profound.
First to third dan black belts are called deputy instructors, fourth to sixth dan are instructors. Only those above fourth dan and at least 21 years of age are eligible to apply for international coach or referee, and qualify to be the head of a dojo or the head coach.
Seventh to eighth dan are Master Xian, and ninth to tenth dan are Master Sheng.
However, it’s not the case that the higher the dan, the more formidable the person, because after achieving first dan, one needs to wait one year to test for second dan. Similarly, one must wait two years at second dan before testing for third dan, and three years at third dan, and so on. As the rank increases, generally, the age increases as well.
Therefore, the higher dan rankings of a Taekwondo black belt are not greatly associated with strength but are more like a symbol of honor.
The Korean athlete entering the ring at this time is a third dan black belt, which means he has been at the black belt level for at least three years.
Wang Ming has a height of 182 cm and a weight of 78 kg; his physique is already one of the more robust types, but that Korean is still half a head taller than him, probably touching 190 cm.
This type of physical endowment is relatively rare among Koreans.
Since the two sides practice different combat styles, there aren’t many rule restrictions, apart from some basic prohibitions such as not striking vital parts or continuing to attack after an opponent has fallen. The rest is left to free play, hence there is no weight class limitation either.
Not long after the fight began, Wang Ming already felt the strain. It was clear that these Koreans had come prepared.
Putting aside the comparison of their striking techniques for the moment, in terms of physicality alone, he faced a considerable disadvantage.
The Korean’s legs were naturally longer than his, and Taekwondo specializes in leg strikes, so after several sweeps and kicks, he couldn’t even get close, only to be passively hit.
After enduring several kicks, he finally found an opportunity to close in and, acting suddenly, delivered two fierce blows to the Korean’s abdomen, making him break out in a cold sweat.
But in doing so, he left himself wide open and received a heavy blow to the solar plexus, falling to the ground, essentially losing his combat capability.
Once he realized victory was hopeless, this was the only strategy he could think of in a short period of time.
Otherwise, he would have slowly been worn down by his opponent, incapacitated by kicks, while his opponent would be largely unaffected aside from expending some energy, and would still be able to continue fighting.
The result of the first match was decided, and Li Yuanhao, sitting serenely in the middle of the crowd, barely seemed to show any desire to evaluate the match.
After a brief rest, the representative from the Taekwondo dojo was still the same tall third dan black belt.
Hunyuan Martial Arts School directly sent their head coach, Wu Song.
They had no choice. If they continued to hold back and sent someone else, the outcome would only be the same as before, or even worse. Losing to an unknown Taekwondo coach in succession would be embarrassing if word got out.
Although the outcome of this dojo challenge might not be ideal, they couldn’t afford to lose too badly.
Wu Song, upon entering the ring, acted very aggressively, perhaps out of tactical necessity or desire to regain some face for the martial arts school. He mostly used tactics that involved taking hits to give back hits.
This combat caught the attention of Li Yuanhao, who looked up for a few moments. However, he soon shook his head and said,
"Too many techniques and routines, not enough speed or strength!"
A three-minute round completed, the tall Taekwondo athlete, grimacing and wiping the sweat from his head, finally gestured to forfeit.
He was just a coach on a salary, not willing to risk it all like Wu Song.
After all, he was just the opening act, and there were still two others behind him, so he didn’t need to stand out on his own.
Hunyuan Martial Arts School finally pulled back a round, which also eased the atmosphere in the venue considerably.
But this was only a superficial easing. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Hunyuan Martial Arts School’s main forces had all been dispatched and had already expended a lot of their strength, yet they had hardly gotten a grasp on their opponent’s capabilities.
"Big brother, let me take the next match, the fight just now has got my blood boiling."
A young-looking fellow, who even seemed a bit underage, excitedly bounced up from the ground behind Li Yuanhao, ready to enter the ring.
Originally, the next player scheduled by the Taekwondo gym was not him, but as soon as he spoke up, none of the leaders of the Taekwondo gym dared to rebut him. Instead, they all turned their gaze towards Li Yuanhao.
Li Yuanhao looked at his younger martial brother somewhat helplessly and whispered:
"If you want to go up, then go have some fun, but remember not to get carried away, don’t hit too hard."
The reason he was not at all worried about his younger martial brother losing was that they were not even in the same training system.
Although they practiced the same martial arts as these Taekwondo gym people, one focused on performance, mainly recruiting students and selling classes, while they focused on an athlete system, primarily on competition and combat.
As professional Taekwondo athletes, although they were not famous players, competing against these martial arts school owners was simply playing at a lower dimension.
This younger martial brother may only be seventeen, but just the systematic training he had undergone for nearly ten years was enough for him not to see how he could lose.
However, from this point alone, one could tell that the Koreans had no respect for martial ethics at all. Everyone was running a martial arts school, yet they directly pulled in professional athletes to challenge the gym.
Wu Song looked at the Taekwondo fighter in front of him, who was exceptionally excited. Although the fighter was young and even slightly smaller in stature than himself, the pressure Wu Song felt was no less than before.
For some reason, seeing this player reminded him of Li Ang from the past.
Cui Zhongji gestured to him with a hooked finger, signaling him to make the first move.
Wu Song didn’t hesitate, knowing that his chances to strike might be really limited. He lunged forward in a swift step, his big arm powering a sharp slap, which, however, missed its mark.
Cui Zhongji merely stepped back slightly and was positioned just at the edge of his attacking reach.
Just with that move, Wu Song immediately felt the gap between them.
This was the sense of distance a professional player had, and many amateur fighters might not even touch the clothing of a professional with a flurry of Wang Ba Quan.
Seemingly interested in the forceful palm Wu Song had just thrown, Cui Zhongji signaled for him to attack again.
"Shoo!"
"Shoo!"
But the result was the same, several consecutive attacks were nimbly dodged by Cui Zhongji.
"Hey! I’m saying, Zhong Ji, stop playing around and finish the fight quickly,"
Li Yuanhao couldn’t stand watching any longer and urged from the sidelines.
