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Thread: Greatest "Hail Mary's" and "choke jobs" in wuxia history

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default Greatest "Hail Mary's" and "choke jobs" in wuxia history

    In sports, a "Hail Mary" play refers to one that is risky, daring, and unlikely to succeed, but is also the athlete or team's only hope of pulling off an improbable last minute victory. It's thrilling when it succeeds because the chances of success are quite low, and the stakes are so high. Hail Mary plays are essentially desperation plays, and successful ones have made for some of the most exciting moments in sports.

    On the contrary, the "choke job" refers to when a favored athlete or team is believed to have an easy victory at hand, but somehow improbably has a lapse that costs the athlete or team the victory to a much inferior (at least on paper) opponent. These make for the biggest upsets or disappointments in sports.

    So what are the great Hail Mary plays and choke jobs of wuxia fiction?

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    Senior Member mawguy's Avatar
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    hail mary: CLX's fights against yin ji and water matriarch.
    choke job: everyone losing the chess match to xu zhu.

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    Senior Member Loke-Gao-Zhu's Avatar
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    hail mary : Zhang Wuji vs Song Qing su in brightness peak

    choke job: Ren woxing vs Zhuo lan chen when he got freezed at the end

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    Banned strife_au's Avatar
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    Xiao Feng's massacre of those pitiful fools.

    Choke: Most of Wulin couldn't overpower DonGuo Xian Shen, DongGuo Gao and Feng San

    :]
    Last edited by strife_au; 11-07-06 at 11:59 PM.

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    Hail Mary: YG vs. GWM & co at the Heroes Meeting in ROCH.

    Choke: ZWJ on various occasions.

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    Senior Member Ardor's Avatar
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    Hail Mary: Linghu Chong beating Taichi sword's one stance.

    Choke: BWM, really, you want an actual fight?
    Burying his Dugu 9 Jian manual under an epitaph, Dugu Qiubai felt he has left his legacy for the next generation. He then moved to Shaolin to study Buddhism, sweep floors and tap elite fighters.

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ardor
    Choke: BWM, really, you want an actual fight?
    The Golden Wheel Monk wrote the book on choke jobs.

    Contrarily, his primary opponent, Yeung Gor, seemed to enjoy the most Hail Mary's.

    There's got to be a correlation there.

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    Senior Member CC's Avatar
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    I'd vote XYS vs Le Creame of Central Plains as the funniest Choke Job.
    Its BIxie Jianfa Gawdammit you guys!!!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Cheng
    In sports, a "Hail Mary" play refers to one that is risky, daring, and unlikely to succeed, but is also the athlete or team's only hope of pulling off an improbable last minute victory. It's thrilling when it succeeds because the chances of success are quite low, and the stakes are so high. Hail Mary plays are essentially desperation plays, and successful ones have made for some of the most exciting moments in sports.

    On the contrary, the "choke job" refers to when a favored athlete or team is believed to have an easy victory at hand, but somehow improbably has a lapse that costs the athlete or team the victory to a much inferior (at least on paper) opponent. These make for the biggest upsets or disappointments in sports.

    So what are the great Hail Mary plays and choke jobs of wuxia fiction?
    Hail Mary: CMK fighting on the Ming Peak. In the HSDS86 version, he estimated that by himself, he would be unable to overcome the numbers of the 6 sects.

    Hail Mary: Xiao Yu Er pretending to die so that Yao Yue would be fooled.

    Hail Mary: Huang Rong pretending to be Ying Gu and causing QQR to almost drop
    baby Guo Xiong on the ground.

    Hail Mary: Wong Chang Yang last Yat Yeung Finger shot on Au Yeung Fung.

    Choke job: Golden Wheel Monk in most of his fights. He had the wulin leader thing won and could not overcome Little Dragon Girl.

    Choke job: Yao Yue thought she had what she wanted, but it backfired on her.

    In the case of Yao Yue, it is a big choke job. Similar to Boston Red Sox in 1986.

    Boston had their first World Series in 68 years seemingly won. They were up by 2 runs, bottom of the 10th, two outs, and two strikes on the Mets hitter. Mets eventually won that game and the World Series.

    Yao Yue waited 20 years for the fight to happen. She celebrated way too early. She started to brag and boast about her winning. Then it all backfired in a single moment.
    Last edited by Felix; 11-08-06 at 02:57 AM.

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    I think the funniest choke job may be world-reknown Black Wind Demon Chen Xuanfeng getting killed by young Guo Jing in one move~!
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ
    I think the funniest choke job may be world-reknown Black Wind Demon Chen Xuanfeng getting killed by young Guo Jing in one move~!
    I don't know if that was so much a choke by Chan Yeun Fung as it was Gwok Jing getting really, really lucky. Chan Yeun Fung wasn't doing anything *wrong*, per se; he was a victim of Main Character Mojo.

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    seems to fit the definition of choke job --> Mr. Demon Wind thought he had victory on his finger tip, let down all defense, and got stabbed in the stomach.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ
    seems to fit the definition of choke job --> Mr. Demon Wind thought he had victory on his finger tip, let down all defense, and got stabbed in the stomach.
    I thought that point on his stomach was Chan Yeun Fung's only weak spot, which had no defense other than Chan moving away from an attack or using another body part (i.e. his hands) to block.

    Surely, he couldn't have expected a six year old child with no martial arts training to hit him in the one spot where he was vulnerable.

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    It was said that he normally never lets any weapon near his weak point. But since he saw Guo Jing as a harmless kid, he let down his guard, and of course it killed him instantly. Definitely a miscalculation on his part.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ
    It was said that he normally never lets any weapon near his weak point. But since he saw Guo Jing as a harmless kid, he let down his guard, and of course it killed him instantly. Definitely a miscalculation on his part.
    Yeah, he had the Mother of All Bad Nights.

    It's too bad, not just for him and Mui Chiu Fung, but also for us. We barely got to know the guy.

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    Hail Mary: Yang Guo when he gets back his Sad Palms on GWM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by K2Grey
    Hail Mary: Yang Guo when he gets back his Sad Palms on GWM.
    That was a Hail Mary (for Yeung Gor) and a choke job (for the Golden Wheel Monk) happening simultaneously. Kismet.

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    Default hail mary

    hail mary : Zhang Wuji vs Song Qing su in brightness peak

    choke job: Ren woxing vs Zhuo lan chen when he got freezed at the end

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    I don't know if these can be considered choke jobs, but ZWJ who had the best medical training in his time twice failed to recognize that a supposed corpse is actually not dead yet. Once with Cheng Kun when he pretended to die at the Ming Peak and once with Yin Lee when she was injured by ZZR.

    The first mistake especially had significant consequences later on.

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    Senior Member ChanceEncounter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    The Golden Wheel Monk wrote the book on choke jobs.

    Contrarily, his primary opponent, Yeung Gor, seemed to enjoy the most Hail Mary's.

    There's got to be a correlation there.
    I think there's a point, if it happens enough, that it's no longer a choke or a hail mary.

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