Siu Yeun San's martial arts level at the time of Gate of Ah Mun Massacre

[Ken Cheng]

When Siu Yeun San's family was attacked at the Gate of Ah Mun, Siu's martial arts were already powerful enough for him to handle thirty of Chinese wulin's best fighters at the time. As impressive as this undoubtedly was, weren't his martial arts at that point considerably weaker than those that his son Siu Fung would achieve in adulthood? Some thirty years later, Siu Yeun San, whose martial arts would have ostensibly improved after thirty years of secret training at Shaolin, was only about on par with his son.

[sarakoth]

he wasn't even that good

he was just REALLY REALLY mad at them for killing his beloved wife

[PJ]

Recently (at another forum) there was a theory about Xiao Yuanshan's martial arts actually DECEASED--or at least to say, it didn't improve much--during the next 30 years, due to his incorrect and harmful training of advanced Shaolin techniques. I don't particularly subscribe to this theory, but I can't think of any evidence that would absolutely counter it either.

[CC]

Come to think of it. We often have the question of 'Which two?' can replicate the Xia Ke Xing feat of blocking Shaolin's gate for 7 days and 7 nights.

Given 1 single XYS's dominance over near 30 of the foremost Central Plains' exponents which included the supposedly 'Best' Shaolin Abbot, I would say 2 of him should easily do the job (during the pre-30 year timeframe).

[sarakoth]

Come to think of it. We often have the question of 'Which two?' can replicate the Xia Ke Xing feat of blocking Shaolin's gate for 7 days and 7 nights.

Given 1 single XYS's dominance over near 30 of the foremost Central Plains' exponents which included the supposedly 'Best' Shaolin Abbot, I would say 2 of him should easily do the job (during the pre-30 year timeframe).

fang zheng from SPW was the best Shaolin abbot ever

[kyss of the sword]

XYS was already a great martial artist at that time, through he was not as good as he was at the battle at shaolin thrity yrs later. but when he saw his tribesmen slaughtered and his wife killed, he went nuts and went all out with no reguard for his own life. the other experts couldn't handle him in that way. if it was a normal fight with no raged induced boost, XYS should not be able to kill all of them and would have been killed. at that time, other then the begger chief and the shaolin abbott(QZ seven level), (using condor trilogy comparison) the rest were probably at the zhao zhijing(considered an elite) level while XYS was already at the 'greats' at the first haushan turnament level.

[PJ]

..........

[Xiao Feng]

I've always believed that the emphasis on the skills/art in wuxia is too much. The practitioner/fighter is much more important in the equation.

XYS (and to a certain extent, his son XF) is the best proof of this.