Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 8
“Stand with your torso straight and shoulders relaxed.”
The hot and humid breath swept across the back of his neck, and Song Yang’s body tensed up like a string: “And then?”
Li Xun hooked his hand, and the arrow turned a circle between his fingers, and then poked Song Yang’s knee with the tail of the arrow: “Don’t bend your knee joint… Relax a little, I’m not a cannibal.”
The man’s voice was right beside his ears, with a rustling magnetism. It was hard for Song Yang not to be nervous. He rubbed his sweaty palms and said, “And then?”
“Then nock the arrow. If you’re shooting at a long distance, you need to use the arrow shaft to push down the signal piece. If the distance is short, just ignore it for now.” Li Xun placed his fingers on the butterfly arrow rest and gestured patiently and carefully, “The arrow shaft should be placed on the arrow rest, and the tail of the arrow should be stuck into the arrow nock. Then you also need to pay attention that the arrow feathers are also divided into primary and secondary feathers, one primary feather and two secondary feathers.”
“So particular?” Song Yang had never noticed the difference between just three arrow feathers before.
“Of course.” Li Xun held the arrow shaft and turned it gently. “Generally speaking, the feather that is different in color from the other two pieces is the main feather. The main feather piece must be at a right angle to the bowstring to ensure that the feather piece does not hit the bow body.”
While Song Yang was observing the arrow feathers, he inevitably glanced at Li Xun’s fingers.
The nails are thin and long, neatly trimmed, with rounded curves.
“There are three types of bow pushing: low pushing, high pushing, deep pushing, and shallow pushing. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages…”
Song Yang turned his head and asked: “Which one do you usually use?”
“Highly recommended.”
“Then I’ll use high push, too.”
Li Xun glanced sideways: “Players with weak wrist strength are not suitable for this method. You have just started playing, so I will teach you low push first.”
Boys are unwilling to admit that they are weak. Song Yang curled his lips and responded reluctantly.
“I’ll teach you how to push high later.”
When he heard the word “later”, Song Yang became excited again.
“When you push the bow, you don’t need to use force with your finger flexors. The contact area between the bow handle and your palm should be as small as possible.” Li Xun drew a circle on his palm with his fingertips. “Just put this area against the bow handle. When you finish releasing the arrow, your bow will naturally droop, forming a beautiful ending action, instead of standing upright in your hand.”
Song Yang nodded.
Li Xun stood face to face with him, slightly raised his wrist, and then tapped his chin: “The bow should be raised to the same height as your chin. The eye on the side where you draw the string should be used to aim. Keep the other eye closed.”
“Then why do I never close my eyes when I watch you play?”
“You looked very carefully,” Li Xun made a small circle with his finger, “At 70 meters, the target became a mosaic. What could you aim at?”
“Then how do you shoot?” Song Yang joked, “Do you rely on telepathy with the target?”
Li Xun hissed, “Let me correct you first. We usually use the word ‘放’ instead of ‘射’.”
“Then why is the Olympic Games called archery instead of archery?”
“…”
Song Yang defeated him with the same innocent look as Li Chuzhi, although he knew that Song Yang was not innocent.
“Long-range shooting depends on muscle memory and feeling, and also on the prompts of the signal piece.” Li Xun looked at him and said, “How high to raise your hand, where to aim, you will get a feel for it after practicing for a long time. Do you know the famous Korean archer Lim Dong-hyun? His vision is only 0.1, but he still won the Olympic championship.”
Song Yang’s mouth opened slightly. He only knew that the Korean team was strong, but he didn’t know they were so strong.
“Is he your idol?”
“Of course not. We in China also have a sharpshooter with a vision of only 0.1, who has won the Olympic championship in shooting and is now the head coach of the national shooting team.”
When Li Xun said this, his eyes and tone were full of pride, as if it was an honor to know such a person. Song Yang asked sourly, “Is he your idol?”
Li Xun didn’t understand why the kid was so concerned about something so strange, and emphasized the point: “What I want to tell you is that to shoot an arrow through a hundred steps does not depend on the eyes, but on the feeling. Athletes must reach the state of ‘no target in the eyes, but a target in the heart’.”
“It sounds like martial arts.”
Li Xun smiled and said, “If you really like archery, one day you will understand what I am saying.”
Thanks to Li Xun’s step-by-step explanation, Song Yang realized that he had problems with even the most basic bow-holding posture.
In fact, he had listened to the explanations of other coaches in the archery club before, but they did not explain in such detail, as if as long as the customers could hit the target and happily pay the money, that was all that mattered, and everything else had nothing to do with them. Some of them would even hesitate when asked questions by customers.
Li Xun is different from everyone here. He is calm, rigorous and professional. He knows the history of this project like the back of his hand and has infinite expectations for the future of the national team. He has the aura of a professional athlete.
When he started lecturing, you could feel that his original intention was not to make money, but to let more people understand and like this sport.
Just like dad said.
A person’s image and temperament can be improved through acquired efforts, but the past can never be changed. What a person has experienced and learned in the past are deeply stored in his mind, perhaps tempering his will or strengthening his courage, and ultimately forming a unique personality.
Making money is to earn a living and to make the spirit richer.
Is it easy to learn how to push a bow, draw a bow, and aim?
Simple.
Primary school students can learn it, and after one week of training they can teach others archery.
But professional athletes are not like this. They have been honing their skills for decades, and their souls are integrated with the bow and arrow. They can even have “telepathy” with the bull’s eye 70 meters away, and know when to pull and when to release. These most valuable experiences cannot be gained with just a little training.
That was more than ten years of youth and sweat.
That’s why he looks so different standing here today.
That’s why, after ten years, when everything in life has changed, I am still attracted to the aura that he exudes.
The wind blew outside the window, and the thin gauze curtain fluttered like waves. Li Xun pushed the window closed.
Song Yang relaxed his breath, and followed Li Xungang’s instructions to nod the arrow and raise the bow. When Li Xun turned around, he reminded him, “Release the arrow as quickly as possible, aim and release, otherwise your muscles won’t be able to bear it.”
Song Yang frowned.
Li Xun’s bow was very heavy, and the red center of the sight was trembling slightly as his muscles were pulled.
The moment he aimed at the bull’s eye, he relaxed his strength.
Only eight rings.
Li Xun narrowed his eyes slightly, confirmed the number of rings and smiled: “Okay.”
Song Yang didn’t seem very satisfied with the result. He drew the arrow again and pulled the bow, frowning slightly. His movements were fast and fierce, and there was a coldness in his eyes, which was very different from his blushing image just now.
If I have to describe it, it would probably be a white puppy that transformed into a snow wolf.
Li Xun was a little thirsty, so he stepped aside and sat down, unscrewing the water bottle, his eyes fixed on Song Yang.
The third arrow shot out, and the bow handle dropped naturally, forming a nine-ring.
Soon there was the fourth arrow, the fifth…
The little guy’s movements were coherent and smooth, and his movements of drawing the arrow became more and more handsome. He didn’t talk to him the whole time, and didn’t even make an eye contact with him. He was very focused.
Li Xun drank the water happily.
Song Yang is the only student he has ever taught who can grasp all the details and techniques and apply them in practice after just listening once.
This depends not only on memory, but also on body coordination.
Overall, this little guy is very smart.
The scores of the remaining ten or so arrows were all between nine and ten rings, and the worst one was just barely nine rings, which was obviously not the level of a novice.
“How long have you been practicing?” Li Xun asked.
“I forgot too,” Song Yang walked towards the target opposite him, saying as he walked, “I practiced intermittently, and only played occasionally when I went back to the countryside. The last time I touched a bow was during the summer vacation.”
“That’s pretty impressive.” Li Xun looked at him and commented from the bottom of his heart.
He also came from a bronze player.
Beginners have very poor muscle endurance, control and balance, especially when they have not exercised for a long time. As soon as they raise the bow, the bow starts to shake. The longer they raise their arms, the greater the shaking, making it impossible to aim accurately.
Generally speaking, the aiming time of professional athletes is about 2 to 4 seconds. If it exceeds this time, the results will not be very good. There are only a few exceptions, that is, their control and grasp of accuracy are different from ordinary people.
Song Yang spent seven or eight seconds aiming at the target in each round.
Still able to shoot accurately.
I haven’t practiced for a long time.
Each time it becomes more accurate than the last.
This is a bit scary.
“It’s really amazing.” Li Xun repeated it unconsciously.
Being praised by his idol, Song Yang was so happy that he ran over and asked, “Do you want me to go downstairs and get you another drink?”
“No need,” Li Xun put the water bottle back on the table and raised his eyes to signal, “You continue.”
“I have plum juice in my bag…”
Li Xun hesitated for two seconds: “Then let’s have some.”
Song Yang chuckled.
They were so absorbed in their practice that they didn’t notice the passage of time at all. It wasn’t until the receptionist came up and asked Li Xun if he wanted to go home that Song Yang’s heart skipped a beat.
He forgot to say hello to his family.
“Master, lend me your phone, I want to call my dad.”
Li Xun asked as he took out his phone: “Is your phone out of battery?”
Song Yang said embarrassedly: “It was confiscated by the teacher.”
“Ah, so miserable,” the girl at the front desk gossiped, “Did he play games during class? Or did he send messages to his girlfriend?”
Song Yang muttered softly: “I don’t have a girlfriend yet.”
The moment he raised his eyes, he seemed to see the corners of Li Xun’s mouth curled up, but the amplitude was too small and too short, so he was not very sure.
The call is connected.
Song Yang was prepared for a scolding, but he didn’t expect his parents were still on the highway. He thought quickly and immediately changed the story, saying that he was out for a midnight snack and would be back later. His parents didn’t say much and just told him to be careful.
The weather is bad tonight, it’s very windy and it looks like it’s going to rain. Everyone downstairs has left.
After locking the door, the three waved goodbye and walked in different directions.
Song Yang didn’t have a cell phone, so he could only wait for a taxi at the intersection. He secretly prayed that it wouldn’t rain before he got a taxi.
The street lights stretched his shadow very long.
Against the backdrop of thousands of lights, it looks a little lonely.
There was a taxi coming towards this side across the street, but there was a guardrail in the middle of the road. Song Yang stretched out his hand and waved for a long time, and the other party sped past.
Although the second taxi had its empty car light on, there was someone inside. The driver turned off the light after seeing him.
He regretted not bringing an extra coat today. The night wind was still quite cold, and his arms were covered with goose bumps.
The shops across the street were also closed, and only a few lights were still on in the office building.
Suddenly, a sound came from a distance, which was made by the wheels passing over the uneven road surface.
A car drove out of the underground garage.
There shouldn’t be anyone else at this time.
He couldn’t help but look back.
In the dark night, the SUV driving south suddenly turned 180 degrees and drove in the opposite direction.
The street lights were not bright enough to illuminate the eyes and brows of the man in the driver’s seat, but Song Yang had a hunch that he was looking at him.
Just like he always found out that someone was peeping at him during the day.
The car drove through the isolation belt and turned a corner. The driver hid behind the lights, remaining silent, but the lights made it clear that Song Yang had nowhere to hide. The car slowed down and finally stopped in front of him.
The passenger window slowly rolled down.
Li Xun did not ask him where he lived or how he planned to get back. He just leaned forward slightly and said decisively: “Come up, I’ll take you back.”
Song Yang was a little hesitant.
He had long guessed that Li Xun came back to send him back.
But he lied during the day.
His home was far away, at least half an hour’s drive. After the round trip, Li Xun got home very late.
He wanted to decline the offer, but the other party did not give him the opportunity.
Li Xun took advantage of his long arms and pushed open the passenger door and said, “Come up quickly. There are surveillance cameras here. You can’t park randomly.”
