"Martial arts gym?"
"What kind of place is that?"
"It's a place where Chinese martial artists teach students."
Facing Mark's invitation, Pamela didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement.
The two went up the stairs and arrived at the second floor of the building.
Before they even entered, they heard shouts coming from inside.
"Hoo… ha… ho…"
Above the entrance of the martial arts gym hung a very old plaque.
On it were carved the two large characters "Jing Wu."
The main door was open, and looking inside, one could see a rather large dojo.
A middle-aged man in a sharp black Tang suit was teaching a group of disciples to practice horse stance.
The disciples varied in age, from teenagers to adults, all practicing with precision.
Seeing the two, an Asian woman standing nearby immediately came forward:
"Are you two here to learn martial arts?"
After an introduction from the woman, Mark and Pamela learned that the middle-aged man was Mr. Chen, the master of the Jing Wu Martial Arts Gym.
Their Jing Wu Martial Arts Gym's style was Xing Yi Quan, and they mainly taught Xing Yi Quan.
At this moment, Master Chen also noticed these two somewhat special guests:
"Hello…"
After conversing, Master Chen learned that Mark was actually of Chinese descent and could speak fluent Chinese, which made him even more enthusiastic:
"Practicing horse stance can strengthen your lower body and improve your balance. And standing meditation is also very helpful for developing your core strength."
"If you don't have time, you can come for a class once a week, or even take lessons online…"
So, the two enthusiastically experienced a class, getting a feel for the basic horse stance and Santishi standing meditation of Xing Yi Quan.
After the experience, Mark felt his body slightly warm up, and when standing on one leg, he clearly felt more stable.
This martial art really seems to have something!
Could it be that practicing horse stance and standing meditation can really improve his [Balance] and [Flexibility] attributes?!
…After a short holiday in Berlin, Mark and the Wolfsburg players returned to the team base to resume intensive preparations.
Because, in early April, they were about to face what might be the most crucial match of the season!
That was an away game against their direct Champions League competitor, "The Black and Yellows" Borussia Dortmund!
This meant they were about to travel to the most famous devil's home ground in all of Europe, the Westfalenstadion!
However, due to Leverkusen's surprising away loss to Hamburg in the League a day earlier, and Schalke drawing with Werder Bremen,
If they could get one point at the Westfalenstadion, they would be able to overtake Schalke 04 on goal difference and climb to third place!
Even if they lost, they would still remain in fourth place.
This greatly reduced their pressure.
However, upon arriving outside the Westfalenstadion in the team bus, Mark and the Wolfsburg players could see through the windows the eight huge yellow support structures surrounding the stadium, like golden swords, guarding the Westfalenstadion, making fans excited and visitors tremble.
For Wolfsburg, this match was a six-pointer that could very well determine their Champions League qualification.
And for Borussia Dortmund, this was a crucial match to secure their League runner-up position!
This season, after losing their attacking core Götze, Dortmund immediately brought in Armenian prodigy Mkhitaryan, Gabonese speedster Aubameyang, Greek center-back Papadopoulos, and other players.
However, the team's injury situation became a key factor in their struggles.
For this match against Wolfsburg, several key players, including Subotic, Sven Bender, Schmelzer, and Gündogan, were all out due to injury.
Even so, as the only team capable of challenging Bayern in recent years, Dortmund's starting lineup remained strong!
Leading the attack was Polish striker Lewandowski;
Reus and Aubameyang were on the wings, with Mkhitaryan orchestrating in the middle.
The two defensive midfielders were veteran captain Kehl and Kirch.
The four defenders were Piszczek, Hummels, Papadopoulos, and Großkreutz.
As for the goalkeeper position, due to veteran goalkeeper Weidenfeller's arm injury, Klopp started the team's backup goalkeeper Langerak.
Even though the lineup wasn't their strongest, pre-match media predictions still favored Dortmund to win by a small margin against Wolfsburg.
And in this match, a giant TIFO was unfurled in the famous South Stand.
The image depicted the team's godfather, Klopp, who led the team to two Bundesliga titles, with his arms crossed, gazing into the distance!
TIFO is a football culture, a visual feast.
It is also an effective way for fans to show their support for the team to players and opponents.
And the reason why Westfalenstadion is recognized as one of Europe's top devil's home grounds is not only because of its average attendance of 80,000, but also the 震撼 brought by these giant TIFOs!
"Welcome everyone to Sky Sports' coverage of the 29th round's 重點match of the 2013-14 Bundesliga season…"
"Dortmund is hosting the in-form Wolfsburg…"
"Let me introduce the starting lineups for both teams…"
It is worth mentioning that this match was also the first showdown between the true Reus and the new Reus!
Unfortunately, Mark did not start but was on the bench, awaiting his turn.
As the players entered the field, the stadium immediately erupted in cheers.
Especially when Reus's handsome face appeared on the stadium's big screen, the entire crowd chanted his name:
"Marco!"
"Marco!!"
"Marco!!!"
Yellow and black flags fluttered incessantly in the stands.
After Götze's departure, and with Lewandowski's dip in form due to transfer rumors to Bayern, Reus, as the attacking core, had to compensate for the lack of attacking vitality with more running, aggressive forward runs, and sprints.
Carrying the team's attacking banner on his shoulders caused the "Little Rocket," who already had a somewhat fragile physique, to suffer injuries.
Even though he missed some time due to injury, Reus still delivered an astonishing 15+15 in all competitions!
This was Reus's strongest year, no exaggeration!
"The Little Rocket is so damn handsome…"
"This Westfalenstadion is too noisy…"
These were Mark's only two thoughts while sitting on the bench.
In this match, due to playing away, Hecking still chose to start Vieirinha, who offered better defense.
After exhausting the opponent's physical strength, he would then bring Mark on to break through the defense.
A very reasonable tactical arrangement!
And right from the start, as expected, the home team Borussia Dortmund took the initiative and began a fierce attack!
In contrast, the away team Wolfsburg adopted a very humble stance, directly transforming their 4-2-3-1 formation into a 4-5-1, with the two wingers Perisic and Vieirinha retreating to near the halfway line, compressing the opponent's two wingers' vertical sprinting space as much as possible.
Dortmund's two wingers, one being "Little Rocket" Reus and the other "Gabon Speedster" Aubameyang, both possessed explosive capabilities.
And this targeted defensive strategy also, to a certain extent, limited their initial acceleration and breakthroughs…
....
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