Are the martial arts getting weaker and weaker?

[darkshineknight]

If we think about it. DG9J = best rite?

then we go to WCY etc, they were great, but not as good as DG9J.

go down another generation GJ is strong, but hes the only real master in his generation, jin lun fa wang is good too really only 2 experts. down to YG's generation, only YG and XLN is really gifted...

keep going and we reach HSDS

as strong as ZWJ is, it is clear that ZZR can cause trouble for him "way weaker tho" but her 9Yin is so weak its not funny. that dude who only mastered 12 of HQG's 18 palms was reasonably strong even tho he only got 12 of the palms.

Yang Guo's disciples/daughters were obviously strong compared to outside world people.

we can keep going down, into SOD, DG9swords is probably weaker than it was in YG's hands, tho we dont know for sure. only person who is really strong is DFBB in this story, LHC probably lose to ZWJ as ZWJ is a master with palm techniques.

[Ken Cheng]

If we think about it. DG9J = best rite?

No. It's not even thought to be Dook Goo Kau Bai's best martial art.

Best, as far as we know, is whatever the hell the Janitor Monk (DGSD) uses.

[flamer]

If anything, its not the skills themselves getting weaker, rather its the practicioner.

Overall martial arts ability went from DGSD's XF/DY/XZ to 5 Greats to ZWJ/Z3F to SPW.

There hasn't been a lot of exact martial arts practitioners but proficient practitioners of exact same art such as GJ/XF/H7G remain pretty much similar. I think its more a thing of talents to study an art, rather than arts themselves getting weaker.

ZZR honestly wouldn't cause any trouble for ZWJ. He would've pwned her right there if not for his "compassion".

[PJ]

If we think about it. DG9J = best rite?

Uhh, no.

End of discussion

[Son of Light]

That would be the case for JY's works.
Especially in terms of inner strength.
If we just look at the two stories from the Manchurian Occupation, the inner strength.

While it depends on author, most of the time, the more ancient a martial art, the stronger.
And the older the timeline, the stronger the characters.
Reason? Most likely because it's a fantasy work, old stuffs are mystical and thus it's more cool to make them stronger.
Ever notice that about 90% of the strongest arts are from ancient masters, and even the best martial artist from song and after usually only invent a fighting style and not an inner strength?

[Trien Chieu]

That would be the case for JY's works.
Especially in terms of inner strength.
If we just look at the two stories from the Manchurian Occupation, the inner strength.

While it depends on author, most of the time, the more ancient a martial art, the stronger.
And the older the timeline, the stronger the characters.
Reason? Most likely because it's a fantasy work, old stuffs are mystical and thus it's more cool to make them stronger.
Ever notice that about 90% of the strongest arts are from ancient masters, and even the best martial artist from song and after usually only invent a fighting style and not an inner strength?

This is kinda unrealistic in real life as world records are being break by new comers all the times.

[Son of Light]

WuXia is fiction, it does not have to be realistic. ^^

[Foolworm]

In this short of case, it pays to look at the date of serialization for the works.

For instance, the chronological order is TLBB - SDYXZ - SDXL - YTTLJ - XAJH

But the serialization order is SDYXZ - SDXL - YTTLJ - TLBB - XAJH

When serializing, power levels increase due to readers' expectations. Simply looking at the feats achieved in each novel, this is the case.

It is not so easy to reconcile chronologically, however.

[PJ]

When serializing, power levels increase due to readers' expectations. Simply looking at the feats achieved in each novel, this is the case.

This is kind of true and I do see this in JY's evolution. The effect though is an inflation and devaluation of power. For example, LDA and SOATTA (sealing of acupoints through the air) were prestigious abilities early on, but in his last few novels, even mid-level fighters could perform them.

[Trien Chieu]

Are the martial arts getting weaker and weaker?

Yeah, not just the martial arts but the martial artists as well. Back in the ancient time, Chinese martial arts and their martial artists were the best in the world. Martial artists from all over the world looked up to them. They went to China to learn martial arts and steal their kungfu manuals. Pass forward to the present day, Chinese martial arts are no longer invincible as they used to since most of their best martial art manuals are lost/destroyed. Chinese martial artists are no longer the best as they used to; hardly any mma champion is Chinese. If ancient Chinese martial artists lived in modern time, they would be champions in every weight class. Champions like Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, GSP, ect... wouldn't stand a chance against them.

[K2Grey]

When I saw this thread and that TC had the last post, I instantly guessed that his post would be about how not only did kung fu in Jin Yong novels deteriorate with time, but also how ancient Chinese martial artists were superior to MMA fighters. It turns out, it is indeed so.