A new hypothesis about the origin of Ode to Gallantry martial arts

[PJ]

I don't know if this theory has been proposed before. Previously, I had heard a hypothesis that Gallant Island may be the same as Huang Yaoshi's Peach Blossom Island, but no proof was provided. My current hypothesis is that the Ode to Gallantry kung fu may be a spin-off of the various arts of Xiaoyao Sect. I'll give you my reasons.

The Ode to Gallantry martial arts consisted of drawings on cave walls along with a poem. The nature of Ode to Gallantry is such that the more you want to learn it, the more you are unable to learn it. That is why in the end the only person to master this art turned out to be an illiterate person who had no intention of mastering it. All of these attributes are similar to Xiaoyao Sect's martial arts. Xiaoyao Sect also had drawings on the wall that were super hard to learn. The only slight difference with Xiaoyao Pai is that people could experience fire deviation easily, whereas with Ode to Gallantry people just don't get any/much benefits. Wuyazi was known (to readers) for his excellence in the traditional arts, and the way Ode to Gallantry is carved out resembles that. Furthermore, the poem that accompanies the drawings is there to confuse the practioner, making the art very difficult to learn. This is very similar to the chess game that Wuyazi designed, in which Su Xinghe invited many people to try out, and which no one who wanted to solve it could. We know that Murong Fu and possibly Duan Yanqing would have committed suicide on the spot due to fire deviation if others did not interfere. Only Xuzhu was able to solve the chess game because he did NOT want to solve it. He was trying it out of good intentions.

Hypothesis: the mysterious creator of Ode to Gallantry is Xuzhu. He wanted to pass on the martial arts of Xiaoyao Sect, but only wanted a person like him to succeed. That's why he blended the Xiaoyao Pai martial arts into one called Ode to Gallantry, and made the new art impossible to learn for those who wanted to learn it, but easy to learn for someone simple and innocent like the young monk Xuzhu.

Discuss!

[Ren Wo Xing]

Interesting idea....no real way to 'test' it though.

[shanghai girls are hot]

i dunno
but makes me want to watch the series again

[Han Solo]

I don't know if this theory has been proposed before. Previously, I had heard a hypothesis that Gallant Island may be the same as Huang Yaoshi's Peach Blossom Island, but no proof was provided. My current hypothesis is that the Ode to Gallantry kung fu may be a spin-off of the various arts of Xiaoyao Sect. I'll give you my reasons.

The Ode to Gallantry martial arts consisted of drawings on cave walls along with a poem. The nature of Ode to Gallantry is such that the more you want to learn it, the more you are unable to learn it. That is why in the end the only person to master this art turned out to be an illiterate person who had no intention of mastering it. All of these attributes are similar to Xiaoyao Sect's martial arts. Xiaoyao Sect also had drawings on the wall that were super hard to learn. The only slight difference with Xiaoyao Pai is that people could experience fire deviation easily, whereas with Ode to Gallantry people just don't get any/much benefits. Wuyazi was known (to readers) for his excellence in the traditional arts, and the way Ode to Gallantry is carved out resembles that. Furthermore, the poem that accompanies the drawings is there to confuse the practioner, making the art very difficult to learn. This is very similar to the chess game that Wuyazi designed, in which Su Xinghe invited many people to try out, and which no one who wanted to solve it could. We know that Murong Fu and possibly Duan Yanqing would have committed suicide on the spot due to fire deviation if others did not interfere. Only Xuzhu was able to solve the chess game because he did NOT want to solve it. He was trying it out of good intentions.

Hypothesis: the mysterious creator of Ode to Gallantry is Xuzhu. He wanted to pass on the martial arts of Xiaoyao Sect, but only wanted a person like him to succeed. That's why he blended the Xiaoyao Pai martial arts into one called Ode to Gallantry, and made the new art impossible to learn for those who wanted to learn it, but easy to learn for someone simple and innocent like the young monk Xuzhu.

Discuss!

I made similar suggestions in the past, for fun. Although, my speculation at that time, before the 3rd edition was out, was that XZ created the 9 yang, and DY created XKX's martial arts

[kidd]

The only slight difference with Xiaoyao Pai is that people could experience fire deviation easily, whereas with Ode to Gallantry people just don't get any/much benefits.

The Ode To Gallantry martial art is unique in that people did get benefits even when they learn it the wrong way. The 2 lords of Xia Ke Island have different interpretations of the poem, but they still became super powerful.

Wuyazi was known (to readers) for his excellence in the traditional arts, and the way Ode to Gallantry is carved out resembles that. Furthermore, the poem that accompanies the drawings is there to confuse the practioner, making the art very difficult to learn.

The poem was not there to confused the practitioners. Shi Po Tian learn the XKX martial art by following the strokes of the characters in the poem, not the drawings that accompanied the poem.

This is very similar to the chess game that Wuyazi designed, in which Su Xinghe invited many people to try out, and which no one who wanted to solve it could. We know that Murong Fu and possibly Duan Yanqing would have committed suicide on the spot due to fire deviation if others did not interfere. Only Xuzhu was able to solve the chess game because he did NOT want to solve it. He was trying it out of good intentions.

I don't think so. This chess game was set to find an intelligent person to learn Wu Yaji's martial art. The requirement for entering Xiao Yao Sect was that one must be good-looking and intelligent. That's why only people like Murong Fu and Duan Yu were invited. Wu Yaji was actually a bit disappointed that Xu Zhu (who was supposed to be not good-looking) was the one managed to solved the chess puzzle. So, I don't think the intention of the chess game was to find someone who has no intention of solving it.

Hypothesis: the mysterious creator of Ode to Gallantry is Xuzhu. He wanted to pass on the martial arts of Xiaoyao Sect, but only wanted a person like him to succeed. That's why he blended the Xiaoyao Pai martial arts into one called Ode to Gallantry, and made the new art impossible to learn for those who wanted to learn it, but easy to learn for someone simple and innocent like the young monk Xuzhu.

Xuzhu can be that creative?

Anyway, it's still a possible theory. The practice of writing the martial arts on the wall did resemble the Xiao Yao Sect practice and only people from a weird sect like XY Sect will be this creative (XZ not included) in passing down a martial art this way.

[kidd]

DY created XKX's martial arts

This theory is more possible. DY has the intelligence and the knowledge to think up such a way to pass down the martial art. DY is a scholar. So, he will also be more familiar with the art of calligraphy.

[K2Grey]

Well, Xu Zhu is Duan Yu's sworn brother after all. Duan Yu is quite intelligent and has great martial arts too, and if he ever changed his mind about learning martial arts, he'd be a great martial artist as well. Between them they can surely come up with all sorts of awesomeness.

[PJ]

How about this: Duan Yu AND Xuzhu worked together to create Ode to Gallantry.

The Ode To Gallantry martial art is unique in that people did get benefits even when they learn it the wrong way. The 2 lords of Xia Ke Island have different interpretations of the poem, but they still became super powerful.

They probably benefitted a little bit, but we don't know how much. It's possible that the 2 lords were almost as powerful before they started learning OTG.

The poem was not there to confused the practitioners.

Confusing (or misleading) the practioner wasn't its only purpose, but it nevertheless did mislead everyone except Shi Potian. Sure, they were supposed to study the strokes of the poem which corresponded to internal points, but no one one literate could get it.

Shi Po Tian learn the XKX martial art by following the strokes of the characters in the poem, not the drawings that accompanied the poem.

I think he learned the kung fu from the strokes of both the poem and the drawing. Here is an example where he was observing a piece of drawing:

他心中一喜，再细看图形，见构成图中人身上衣摺、面容、扇子的线条，一笔笔均有贯串之意，当下顺着气势一路 观将下来，果然自己体内的内息也依照线路运行。

This chess game was set to find an intelligent person to learn Wu Yaji's martial art. The requirement for entering Xiao Yao Sect was that one must be good-looking and intelligent. That's why only people like Murong Fu and Duan Yu were invited. Wu Yaji was actually a bit disappointed that Xu Zhu (who was supposed to be not good-looking) was the one managed to solved the chess puzzle. So, I don't think the intention of the chess game was to find someone who has no intention of solving it.

Yes, but it turns out that the ONLY chance to solve the chess game is if you don't have any desire to solve it (which Xuzhu did not). The book said that if Xuzhu did not make his blind move, it would take thousands of years to solve the puzzle. I see this as a parallel of how the Ode to Gallantry kung fu must be learned: without intention to learn it.

[kidd]

Yes, but it turns out that the ONLY chance to solve the chess game is if you don't have any desire to solve it (which Xuzhu did not). The book said that if Xuzhu did not make his blind move, it would take thousands of years to solve the puzzle. I see this as a parallel of how the Ode to Gallantry kung fu must be learned: without intention to learn it.

Still, this is not the intention of the chess game. The whole story about DGSD is people not intending to the learn powerful martial art getting to learn it. This is the intention of the author when writing how XZ and DY got their martial art, but not the intention of Su Xinghe. The intention of the chess game is to find people intelligent enough and can think out of the box enough to think up that move to solve the game.

Xuzhu happening to put the chess piece in the right place is an accident, a stroke of luck.

How about this: Duan Yu AND Xuzhu worked together to create Ode to Gallantry.

This is definitely a more likely scenerio.

[PJ]

Still, this is not the intention of the chess game. The whole story about DGSD is people not intending to the learn powerful martial art getting to learn it. This is the intention of the author when writing how XZ and DY got their martial art, but not the intention of Su Xinghe. The intention of the chess game is to find people intelligent enough and can think out of the box enough to think up that move to solve the game.

Xuzhu happening to put the chess piece in the right place is an accident, a stroke of luck.

I understand. I just imagined that Xuzhu (if he created OTG), after going through this lucky chess-solving phenomenon, might intend for a simple-minded person (mirroring the way he was) to learn his legacy. Although Wuyazi didn't originally design the chess game that way, Xuzhu with all his experience may just do that.

[kidd]

I understand. I just imagined that Xuzhu (if he created OTG), after going through this lucky chess-solving phenomenon, might intend for a simple-minded person (mirroring the way he was) to learn his legacy. Although Wuyazi didn't originally design the chess game that way, Xuzhu with all his experience may just do that.

Oh, I see your point now.

[Siven]

Maybe JY was being intentionally ironic when he conceived of that part of the story. Whole bunch of self-conceited wuxia greats wasting their lives trying to decipher a bunch of apparent jibberish. It shows when people are too obessessed over something the results can be quite unexpected.