Random Thoughts of Wuxia

[augster123]

Do we ever see Xiao Feng trying to improve his martial arts at any stage during the story? Or does he just fall victim to conspiracy, make friends, get into fights and drink through the year.

Not really sure since I've only read translated bits of DGSD. But near the beginning of DGSD '03, XF had not yet been promoted as Beggar Clan Chief.

So logically speaking, he wouldn't have learned Dog Beating Stick Technique as of yet at that time if the TV series were accurate.

[ByTmE]

When someone is injured internally or externally from a wound, how come they all have marked trails of blood from their lips though their wounds are different? Do people normally cough up blood like that from something like a sword injury or getting pawned from a fist fight? I have never had a sword injury, been in a fist fight, or been hurt internally; I rarely get nicks, cut, or bruises. Curious.

How come after coughing up blood, some characters take so long to die even though they've just been injured by some supposedly powerful superman-esque move? They almost always live long enough to give their last words or send their love around to those they left behind.

On the other hand, in Shen Hua, when Yu Shu died after being rescued by Yi Xiao Chuan fans were bereft that she didn't even get to say goodbye to her lover.

Was virginity or the appearance of modesty as important for a wandering wuxia maiden compared to the average ancient maiden? She is afterall still female. Men never forget this, no matter how buddy buddy they are with a woman. If so, how come she just didn't stay at home? If not, was it important to the potential wandering wuxia males who courted her?

[PJ]

How come after coughing up blood, some characters take so long to die even though they've just been injured by some supposedly powerful superman-esque move? They almost always live long enough to give their last words or send their love around to those they left behind.

On the other hand, in Shen Hua, when Yu Shu died after being rescued by Yi Xiao Chuan fans were bereft that she didn't even get to say goodbye to her lover.

As my friend CC would probably say, the outcomes are conjured due to plot needs. If the writer wants the injuree to say something before he dies, he will; otherwise, he won't.

Actually most of the time, they seem to die Just In Time: they've started saying something super important, but died before saying it all, leaving the hero and/or the audience hanging.

[Banh Mi]

When someone is injured internally or externally from a wound, how come they all have marked trails of blood from their lips though their wounds are different? Do people normally cough up blood like that from something like a sword injury or getting pawned from a fist fight? I have never had a sword injury, been in a fist fight, or been hurt internally; I rarely get nicks, cut, or bruises. Curious.

How come after coughing up blood, some characters take so long to die even though they've just been injured by some supposedly powerful superman-esque move? They almost always live long enough to give their last words or send their love around to those they left behind.

The idea is that wuxia martial arts is about dealing internal damage to the opponents vital organs, interfering with breathing etc. Ruptured organs are assumed to lead to internal bleeding, somehow making its way to your stomach and getting coughed up. I might be wrong, not a doctor.
Sword wounds don't make sense unless fusing energy into a sword makes the wound different somehow.

Modern martial arts are all about striking the person's head, because hitting the body while effective is not as guaranteed as striking the head.

[Ken Cheng]

By the way, any thoughts on changing the title of this thread to something more imaginative? How about "Wuxiagraffiti?"

[PJ]

Do we ever see Xiao Feng trying to improve his martial arts at any stage during the story? Or does he just fall victim to conspiracy, make friends, get into fights and drink through the year.

In the story, it was mentioned that while he did not make any attempt to improve his martial arts for several months, it improved on its own.

[PJ]

Lately, this guy named Mai Jing has been on my mind more than it should.

[Banh Mi]

In the story, it was mentioned that while he did not make any attempt to improve his martial arts for several months, it improved on its own.

Would we surmise that it was due to all the fights he got into? Improving by battle experience. Or some sort of cultivation that improves passively with time.

It's hard to imagine Xiao Feng reaching another plateau when his time is dedicated to saving people. Whereas other greats all had time to sit back and work on their training. Some even going into seclusion in their forbidden sanctuary to devote their time entirely to power leveling.

[PJ]

鸠摩智的武功此时实已到了登峰造极、炉火纯青的地步…

[PJ]

Would we surmise that it was due to all the fights he got into? Improving by battle experience. Or some sort of cultivation that improves passively with time.

His strength improved on its own, so I would attribute it to mostly auto-cultivation of his internal energy system.

It's hard to imagine Xiao Feng reaching another plateau when his time is dedicated to saving people. Whereas other greats all had time to sit back and work on their training. Some even going into seclusion in their forbidden sanctuary to devote their time entirely to power leveling.

Good point, but improvement seems to be a given despite circumstances (perhaps for plot needs). For example, some people argue Qiu Qianren shouldn't have improved as much as the other Greats in 16 years, b/c he should have been focusing on meditation. But judging by his lasting 12+ hours against GWM, it suggests he did improve just as the others.

[Banh Mi]

His strength improved on its own, so I would attribute it to mostly auto-cultivation of his internal energy system.



Good point, but improvement seems to be a given despite circumstances (perhaps for plot needs). For example, some people argue Qiu Qianren shouldn't have improved as much as the other Greats in 16 years, b/c he should have been focusing on meditation. But judging by his lasting 12+ hours against GWM, it suggests he did improve just as the others.

The examples I had in mind were of people who had a certain skill they wanted to dedicate their time to.

Zhang San Feng went into seclusion and created Taiji.
Yi Deng and Wang Chongyang went into seclusion together to work on their skills.
Ming sect leader went into seclusion to work on the final levels of whatever skill that was called, until he got distracted and died.
Zuo Lengchan spent over a decade working on his ice finger to combat Ren Woxing
During ROCH, the greats mostly had their skills there and were just refining it, I suppose it's not as easy as opposed to having a flaw or a new skill to work on.

But Xiao Feng seems to be a different breed. His main weapon is his dragon palms, he gets by everything else with just battle prowess. I have a feeling he got strong by fighting, not by practicing.
And that's how I would imagine Dugu to be like too. Dugu didn't strike me as the sort to meditate for a few years, come out to kick *** then meditate again and come out to fight again. I feel he kept fighting until experienced refined his skills to what they were.

[ByTmE]

How come Zhang Wuji couldn't marry all four ladies but Wei Xiao Bao could have all seven beauties to himself?

Is it because of Zhang Wuji's higher moral ground or that ZWJ was written to be a more politically correct character than WXB? Though it should be taken into consideration that the four HSDS ladies were potentially much more dangerous when trifled with than the LDJ ladies...esp that Zhou Zhirou.

[HuangYushi]

Lately, this guy named Mai Jing has been on my mind more than it should.

Have you been eating whale lately?

鸠摩智的武功此时实已到了登峰造极、炉火纯青的地步…

It's a bit too early. August is still a few months away.

How come Zhang Wuji couldn't marry all four ladies but Wei Xiao Bao could have all seven beauties to himself?

Because Zhang Wuji was written before Wei Xiaobao, and since JY presumably had people asking him why Zhang Wuji didn't marry all of them, he decided to let Wei Xiaobao do it?

[leorio]

I wish Jin Yong didn't create all these cool female characters just to have them die or merge into the furniture later on.
Such wasted potential.

Watching Mainland wuxia series, I sometimes get the feeling that the actors are already so tired (from long hours of shooting, from having to wear those wigs and elaborate clothes all day long, etc.) that when it's time to act, they just deliver the lines while hoping it's over already so they can collect their paychecks.

[wkeej]

1. anyone want zwj to go persia and save xz and marry her too?
2. anyone want yg to marry gf?

[PJ]

I wish Jin Yong didn't create all these cool female characters just to have them die or merge into the furniture later on.

What do you mean by that?
is that a new slang?

[PJ]

The examples I had in mind were of people who had a certain skill they wanted to dedicate their time to.

Zhang San Feng went into seclusion and created Taiji.
Yi Deng and Wang Chongyang went into seclusion together to work on their skills.
Ming sect leader went into seclusion to work on the final levels of whatever skill that was called, until he got distracted and died.
Zuo Lengchan spent over a decade working on his ice finger to combat Ren Woxing
During ROCH, the greats mostly had their skills there and were just refining it, I suppose it's not as easy as opposed to having a flaw or a new skill to work on.

But Xiao Feng seems to be a different breed. His main weapon is his dragon palms, he gets by everything else with just battle prowess. I have a feeling he got strong by fighting, not by practicing.
And that's how I would imagine Dugu to be like too. Dugu didn't strike me as the sort to meditate for a few years, come out to kick *** then meditate again and come out to fight again. I feel he kept fighting until experienced refined his skills to what they were.

Oh ok, I see what you're saying now. It makes sense.

[leorio]

What do you mean by that?
is that a new slang?

I mean they sort of disappear from the story. We know they're there, but they don't do anything worth mentioning.

[Dirt]

Laviathan called you out on treating anyone who believed YG had any good qualities was
a fanboy before, and Im going to say youre treating Dugu supporters the same way. Its annoying
and insulting to someones intelligence and work when they go through the effort of finding novel passages
and forming a theory and all you do is dismiss them because theyre biased or whatever it is.

I brought up the Zhang Wuji >= Xiao Feng because you keep bringing up Laviathan as a guru on all things, that his word is key to what we should think and believe. I wanted to see if you always followed Laviathan's word or only when it suited you.

So, do you believe that Zhang Wuji is equal, if not stronger, than Xiao Feng?

[tape]

I brought up the Zhang Wuji >= Xiao Feng because you keep bringing up Laviathan as a guru on all things, that his word is key to what we should think and believe. I wanted to see if you always followed Laviathan's word or only when it suited you.

So, do you believe that Zhang Wuji is equal, if not stronger, than Xiao Feng?

I brought him up once prior to your post, and I never said any of the things you're saying I'm saying. I said I was under the impression, because everybody here respects Laviathan's wuxia knowledge even though at first he was under constant fire for his radical idea at the time. I only brought him up because YOU said Dugu was mythologized and above Xiao Feng, when the forum consensus ever since then was that Dugu was above Xiao Feng.

I always follow his word? The forum as a whole came to accept that condor greats ~= to dgsd elites. I went with the flow because there was a strong amount of evidence supporting it, and I didn't have evidence denying it even though I personally feel Xiao Feng > Condor Greats by at least 10%. But logically and textual evidence wise I can't support it so I accept that view as valid also. His ideas are always well presented but I still disagree with some. Just because I agree with one of his ideas doesn't mean I have to agree with all of his. It just means I believe he has stronger evidence in one and weaker evidence in the other.

See that's the problem with a lot of debates recently. Back then, you have an idea, you find a couple passages that support your idea, you post it, and people discuss your idea with other passages that refute it or deny it.

Now, it's a whole if you can't prove it without doubt, then your idea has no merit. Forget that you have ideas based on events from the book and fights that support your idea. If you can't prove it completely, then haha you lose the argument case closed -- even though it was never an argument to begin with and more of a discussion. The whole winning the debate approach to this forum is really tiring, opposed to an open discussion like it ought to be.