Martial arts with particularly unsavory requirements

[Doc Kwok]

There has been a recent thread on favorite martial-arts, which referenced an old thread on hated martial-arts. So, how about martial arts which you don't necessarily like or dislike, but have particularly nasty entry requirements - I guess you could call them 'disgusting martial arts'?

• The archetypal entry is probably the Sunflower manual, which requires self-castration. 'Nuff said.
• The 1,000 spider 10,000 poison hand - you have to let poisonous spiders bite you to absorb their poison, which makes you look increasingly hideous as the poison accumulates.
• 9-yin white bone claws/heart-piercing palms - misinterpreted 9 yin (or not - hard to tell in the 3rd edition). Practiced by shattering a living practice target's internal organs with palm strikes, clawing holes into their skull, then cutting them open to see how well the palm strikes did. Lovely.

Going outside of Jinyong novels:

• The silkworm art from Reincarnated - before you complete it, your power comes and goes without warning (usually at the worst possible moment). To complete it, you have to be beaten to within an inch of your life, die, then be reborn. Alternatively, some else can learn it and then give it to you (losing everything in the process).
• The Yuan-yin art from the 80's TVB remake of 'The Legendary Twins' - you have to eat the flesh of your own blood-relatives to learn it. Jiang Bieke ended up eating his own son.
• There was a Hong Kong wuxia series from the 80s that I can't remember anything about (not even the name) except for the main featured martial art - to learn it, you have to cut off your own head. Of course, if you do it right, it can be reattached to your body again will no ill-effect. If not, well... Can anyone remember which series this was?
• In the novels of Liang Yusheng's Tianshan saga, all practitioners of 'evil' martial arts are guaranteed to fire-deviate in time, without exception, unless they acquire the inner-power formula of 'good' martial arts. Most of the practitioners know this (they actually openly call their own martial arts 'evil sect' arts) - yet they go ahead and learn it anyway...
• Jade-maiden art from The Final Combat - if a man learns it, they become a not-man, not-woman freak.

Any other notable contenders?

[PJ]

I'm not a fan of martial arts that require you to merge your life force energy (LFE) with the kung fu. Such as Xiaoyao Pai martial arts. If somehow you are, or want to be, deprived of your kung fu, you have to give up your life.

It has been speculated that most advanced martial artists (Great-level or above) have in fact merged their LFE with their kung fu. But to my knowledge it isn't confirmed one way or another in most cases, but for Xiaoyao Pai it is confirmed.

[tape]

Which arts make your merge LFE?

Xiao Wu Xiang Gong doesn't seem to require it (and its from XiaoYao) since Jiumozhi was able to lose his martial arts without dying.

18 Dragon Palms doesn't require it either, as Hong Qi Gong lost his martial arts as well and he didn't die.

Both should be Great level kungfu at the least.

I'm curious as to what you mean by merging life force energy. I remember the discussion about Xian Tian Gong merging life force energy, which is why Wang Chongyang died after over exertion, as well as causing Yideng to be greatly injured from using it in conjunction with Yiyangzhi. That does make sense, since Yideng can freely use YYZ but the minute he uses XTG he gets so gravely hurt. But I don't really recall any other arts much like this.

Wuyazi was likely using his inner strength to preserve his own life, so he died immediately after passing it on. I'm not sure that has anything to do with merging as it is passing on his whole life force/inner energy onto someone else when that was the only thing keeping him going.

I forget if Xian Yuanshan/Murong Bo lost their martial arts, but if they did, whatever they practiced I suppose doesn't merge anything either. Just trying to think of Great level+ fighters losing their martial arts but not dying.

[PJ]

It's not 100% clear who did merge LFE with their kung fu, and who didn't. As for Jiumozhi, here's what Athena speculated:

We figured that Jiumozhi started his Xiaoyao energy study rather late and it has not fused (entirely) with his own energy. Furthermore, in the new edition we learn that his primary energy basis is the Fiery Blade Skill.
Therefore, we assumed that this was the reason why Jiumozhi survived his ordeal with Duan Yu.

Also as CC added, Jiumozhi did not learn the whole Xiao Wuxiang Gong, so that could have saved him.

And for Hong Qigong, Athena believed he did not completely merge his LFE yet in LOCH, but may have done more in ROCH.

Personally, I think most advanced arts do not require you to merge your LFE, but people have the choice to do so, and if they do, they could experience some gain, but it will also present added risk for them.

[Banh Mi]

Seven Injury Fist sounds pretty unfriendly to me.

Passionless Valley art where you have to be a vegetarian.

Sad palms - I can imagine creating this art and being stuck with it. But I would hate to be a young upstart who is aspiring to learn an art that demands I be in grief in order to get any good.

TSTL - Growing back to a kid every decade or so, not really that bad, but also not great when you have enemies.

XXDF - It starts badly, you have to get rid of all your internal power. Then due to poor engineering and construction all your tetris cube energy doesn't fit neatly

[CFT]

The silkworm art from Reincarnated - before you complete it, your power comes and goes without warning (usually at the worst possible moment). To complete it, you have to be beaten to within an inch of your life, die, then be reborn. Alternatively, some else can learn it and then give it to you (losing everything in the process).

I thought that they had to retrofit this reason because the lead actor (Norman Tsui Siu-Keung) left before the 1st series was created. The replacement obviously was a different actor so they had to work this into the plot. I think it was mentioned that one simply had to dissipate the initial cultivation like the "Bridal Clothes" skill (Jiayi shengong/Ga yi sun gong).

[kyss of the sword]

It's not 100% clear who did merge LFE with their kung fu, and who didn't. As for Jiumozhi, here's what Athena speculated:

We figured that Jiumozhi started his Xiaoyao energy study rather late and it has not fused (entirely) with his own energy. Furthermore, in the new edition we learn that his primary energy basis is the Fiery Blade Skill.
Therefore, we assumed that this was the reason why Jiumozhi survived his ordeal with Duan Yu.

Also as CC added, Jiumozhi did not learn the whole Xiao Wuxiang Gong, so that could have saved him.

And for Hong Qigong, Athena believed he did not completely merge his LFE yet in LOCH, but may have done more in ROCH.

Personally, I think most advanced arts do not require you to merge your LFE, but people have the choice to do so, and if they do, they could experience some gain, but it will also present added risk for them.

there may be another reason why WYZ died, his body was crippled from the fall off the cliff and only his internal energy may have kept him alive. so when he passed all his energy away, his body couldn't keep functioning and died. he was also really old, over 80 and in really bad condition. TSTL and LQS were both 90trs old and seriously injured by each other so they died after their inner power was exhausted.

[odbayarb2000]

Gu Mu Pai martial arts - let go everything.

[Ken Cheng]

Gu Mu Pai martial arts - let go everything.

Not a single one of the sect's members succeeded in accomplishing this. In fact, ironically, the whole lot of them were attachment freaks in one way or another.

[AnhHung]

There was a TVB series in the 80's starring, IIRC, Michael Miu, called something like Dragon Sword. The evil martial arts in that series required you to find a person with a mole in his palm. Then you have to cut off your hand and reattach with thats persons hand.

[pannonian]

Not a single one of the sect's members succeeded in accomplishing this. In fact, ironically, the whole lot of them were attachment freaks in one way or another.

There were two readings of Ancient Tomb arts. Xiao Longnu managed to accomplish both, being entirely detached from emotion in her solo L/R-enhanced swordplay, and being entirely immersed in emotion in the Lovers' Swordplay. Yang Guo never shared the face values of the Ancient Tomb, and his reading of what the Ancient Tomb arts were really about was wholly immersed in emotion. It's a bit like those Victorian novels that are ostensibly staid costume dramas, but which are raging with feeling underneath.

[Dirt]

Sounds like Taoist martial arts require the merging of life force energy.

I wonder if there is a connection between merging life force energy and your energy growing even while sleeping.

[Guo Xiang]

Not a single one of the sect's members succeeded in accomplishing this. In fact, ironically, the whole lot of them were attachment freaks in one way or another.

XLN's teacher didn't seem that bad.