Golden Wheel Monk and the limitations of training MA in isolation?

[Ken Cheng]

The Golden Wheel Monk is generally acknowledged as being the equivalent (or perhaps even superior) to the Greats in terms of inner power, but inferior to them in actual fighting techniques.

I wonder if this might be the direct product of the Golden Wheel Monk having trained his martial arts in isolation.

East Heretic, West Poison, South Emperor, North Beggar, Central Divinity, Old Mischief, Gwok Jing, Yeung Gor, even Kau Cheen Yan...over the years, they all had each other to learn from and test themselves against.

By comparison, the Golden Wheel Monk spent decades in isolation in Tibet. We don't know what kind of sparring partners/opponents he might have faced during those years before he first emerged in the Central Plains during ROCH, but it's doubtful he was practicing/testing himself against fighters who possessed Greats-level techniques.

Perhaps that is the reason that the Golden Wheel Monk, despite coming into wulin with Greats-level inner power and otherwise decent techniques, found himself flabbergasted whenever he fought against the Greats. Having trained in isolation, the monk had no exposure to any truly elite techniques and therefore, was limited in his ability to cope with them. He was the equivalent of the A+ student who has memorized all the theories and understands them thoroughly, but lacks real world experience and finds himself frequently confused and at a disadvantage as a result.

[Trien Chieu]

GWM doesn't care about fighting experience. All he really care about is winning regardless of how to win. Honor and dignity mean nothing to him as he is always into dirty tactics like out number his opponent or kidnaps their loved ones for bargaining chips.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

I think you might be on to something here Ken.

If we compare GWM to the other Chi power house, Zhang Wu Ji we can see a pattern.

ZWJ also started with powerful Chi after mastering 9 Yang but constantly loss to less powerful fighters due to his inexperience and bad technique.

This also helps answer your previous thread about GWM taking a 'heman pill'.

By the time of his meeting with the 3 Greats he had more practical fighting experience so was able to do better.

[tape]

I think this is a big point that is frequently overlooked on why Guo Jing advanced at such an incredible pace. Not only did he get teaching from Hong Qigong and Zhou Botong etc, he got to watch Greats spar and just sit there and analyze. He got to spar against them in both non threatening and threatening situations. He watched them battle in abstract ways like music, pure technique like Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng, and formation fighting with HYS against QZ7.

As Wang Chuyi said, 3 days of Hong Qigong's teaching might equal 10 years of personal training.

[Ken Cheng]

I think this is a big point that is frequently overlooked on why Guo Jing advanced at such an incredible pace. Not only did he get teaching from Hong Qigong and Zhou Botong etc, he got to watch Greats spar and just sit there and analyze. He got to spar against them in both non threatening and threatening situations. He watched them battle in abstract ways like music, pure technique like Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng, and formation fighting with HYS against QZ7.

...and for six months, Gwok Jing fought frequent battles against Au Yeung Fung when the latter held him prisoner in Central Asia. With every duel that Gwok Jing fought against Au Yeung Fung, Gwok Jing's martial arts grew and developed. I think this six month period represented the greatest period of martial arts growth for Gwok Jing during LOCH.

[tape]

...and for six months, Gwok Jing fought frequent battles against Au Yeung Fung when the latter held him prisoner in Central Asia. With every duel that Gwok Jing fought against Au Yeung Fung, Gwok Jing's martial arts grew and developed. I think this six month period represented the greatest period of martial arts growth for Gwok Jing during LOCH.

Most likely. Was he really imprisoned for six months? I don't remember the amount of time at all.

The only other time that might come close is when he met Zhou Botong. He learned L/R technique, Vacant Fists, the 9 Yin theories, and got to watch Huang Yaoshi duel Ouyang Feng as well as Hong Qigong duel Ouyang Feng. Again, I'm not sure how long this timeframe was but he went from being unable to defeat Ouyang Ke to being able to easily handle him.

As far as he was from the Greats, at this point he probably became the most powerful person in the world besides them (lumping in QQR/ZBT with the Greats).