Spear and bow were much more commonly used if I remember right.
Reverend Rongku prepared himself.
Suddenly, he toss his hands and screamed: "I am not human! I am an animal!"
The crowd startled at such a bizarre beginning to the story.
I've actually had the fortunate chance to encounter a few real modern descendants of Samurai as well as had discussions with many Japanese martial art practitioners.
What I've come to interpret is that the samurai fighting philosophy (only talking about their mentality towards swordsmanship) is very Zen in nature. There is the whole "becoming one with the sword so that you ARE a sword" type of stuff.
There are definitely similarities to Chinese Kung Fu philosophies. One topic we discussed was something like this-- "We are all one. In the universe, there is only energy. You and the opponent are actually as one, just energies of the same source (the emptiness). Hence you must defeat yourself first in order to be able to best the opponent. Once you master yourself, you see that nothing is apart and separate but yet distinct. Like an ocean, everyone is part of the ocean, but also individual water droplets"
So that kind of stuff makes Samurais very Buddhist/Daoist. And even to some extent, reaching the level of Dugu's "no sword > than sword"
And to answer the original topic, I believe that at the highest stages all MA is the same. Although that leads to a perplexing question in Jin Yong universe-- "once you reach enlightenment, is your internal chi boundless??"
Well the highest level a samurai can reach is the level of emptiness or no-sword. You should check out Miyamoto Musashi's Book of the Five Rings. Its samurai zen philosophy and techniques/strategies is eerily similar to Dugu's no-sword arts. It's all about finding the opponent's weakness and disrupting his natural rhythm while at the same time reaching the level where you don't even have to think or strategize about your next stroke, it will happen naturally and automatically. Its like reaching the level of formless-void where you can adapt naturally and be fluid like water.
I wouldn't be surprised if Jin Yong was influenced by Miyamoto Musashi in his creation of Dugu Qiubai. Even if he wasn't, the sword philosophy is very similar.
Last edited by munenori; 09-04-08 at 06:13 PM.
Did Dugu Quibai ever defeat himself?
Its BIxie Jianfa Gawdammit you guys!!!!
He should use L/R skill to divide his mind and then engage in imaginary sword fighting like in Hero.
Reverend Rongku prepared himself.
Suddenly, he toss his hands and screamed: "I am not human! I am an animal!"
The crowd startled at such a bizarre beginning to the story.
Well, the most powerful Taoist would be Zhang 3 Feng right?
I don't think he can beat the Janitor Monk.
I would argue that Xiao Yao Pai were Daoist martial arts.
And the strongest Daoist Priest is WCY, never having been defeated in kung fu in his life. ZSF's neidan Daoism is in WCY's tradition. I think having WCY be beaten in drinking by the Buddhist/Daoist/Confucianist was to make that connection.
Last edited by Dirt; 03-03-10 at 11:15 AM.
can zhang san feng beat wang chong yang??
You do know that it is just fiction, dont you?
By far? I don't quite agree. I think ROCH Greats achieved equal ability as WCY during their corresponding ages at best. When ROCH Greats passed WCY's dying age, they slowed their improvement due to age.
I dont disagree with you, but when comparing characters, we benchmark them at their peak. The ROCH greats and Z3F peaked at a very old age. So a 100 year old Z3F would be better than a 70(?) year old WCY.
Z3F and 4 Greats achieve Greatness the normal way and surpass a LOCH WCY great some time during ROCH.
Z3F with energy saving taichi would win over WCY (as would the rest of the ROCH greats). And IMHO, by far.
You do know that it is just fiction, dont you?