Do you think Gwok Jing ever used the Heavy Iron Sword in combat/for training?

[Ken Cheng]

At some point after ROCH, Yeung Gor transferred ownership of Dook Goo Kau Bai's Heavy Iron Sword to Gwok Jing. We know that Gwok Jing later melted the Heavy Iron Sword down to provide raw material for forging the Heaven Sword and the Dragon Sabre, but *before* that, do you think Gwok Jing ever actually used the Heavy Iron Sword in combat against the Mongols...or to further train/improve his martial arts?

The thought of Gwok Jing after ROCH, already one of the world's top two martial arts Greats, using the Heavy Iron Sword in combat is mind-boggling.

[tape]

This makes me think of the Dragon Sabre.

For all intents and purposes, it is superior to the Heavy Iron Sword. It's every bit as heavy, every bit as indestructible, except this time it's sharp. Nobody had trouble lifting it in HSDS however, and nobody experienced a fantastic martial arts increase from using it. Even when Wuji used it, he couldn't magically swing it and win. He almost got disarmed!

This is a testament to the technique of the HIS which is often overlooked I think. If Wuji knew how to use the Dragon Sabre like the Heavy Iron Sword, he would've demolished the Persian emissaries in one blow.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

Unlikely for the following reasons:

1) GJ was primarily a empty hand fighter. If he needed a weapon there was a whole arsenal at the city. If there was nothing he liked he could have had one commissioned.

2) As tape said the power of HIS was in the technique and not the sword itself. Without the Sword Devil's unique training method HIS was just a heavy lump of metal.

3) GJ martial arts had reached a level where it was tailored to maximise his personal strengths. I doubt there was any aspects of his martial arts he had not mastered.

I agree it would be awesome to see GJ wield the HIS but unlikely.

[Ken Cheng]

When people think of the Heavy Iron Sword, two characters generally come to mind: Dook Goo Kau Bai, who created the sword and was the first to use it, and Yeung Gor, who used it spectacularly during his later adventures in ROCH.

A fact that most wuxia fans know, but seldom think about, is that the Heavy Iron Sword had a THIRD custodian and owner: GWOK JING.

It's easy to overlook the fact that Gwok Jing was the Heavy Iron Sword's owner because we never saw him use the sword (though we never saw Dook Goo Kau Bai use it either). The only thing we know that Gwok Jing did with the Heavy Iron Sword was melt it down to reforge it into the Heaven Sword and the Dragon Sabre. Assuming that Gwok Jing had possession of the Heavy Iron Sword for quite some time before he melted/reforged it, however, do you think he ever used it for martial arts training or combat? The mind boggles at the prospect of how Gwok Jing, at the height of his martial arts prowess, might have used the Heavy Iron Sword as a training tool or melee weapon.

[Ken Cheng]

This makes me think of the Dragon Sabre.

For all intents and purposes, it is superior to the Heavy Iron Sword. It's every bit as heavy, every bit as indestructible, except this time it's sharp. Nobody had trouble lifting it in HSDS however, and nobody experienced a fantastic martial arts increase from using it. Even when Wuji used it, he couldn't magically swing it and win. He almost got disarmed!

This is a testament to the technique of the HIS which is often overlooked I think. If Wuji knew how to use the Dragon Sabre like the Heavy Iron Sword, he would've demolished the Persian emissaries in one blow.

Both weapons require a modicum of skill to be wielded well, but both weapons also give a considerable edge to anyone with a sufficient modicum of skill who has the Heavy Iron Sword/Dragon Sabre in hand. Even relatively "weak" fighters such as Yu Doi Nam, the flunkies of the Heavenly Eagle Sect, etc., were capable of doing things with the Dragon Sabre that they could NOT do with ordinary weapons.

[Dirt]

My thoughts are that Guo Jing did test it out in practice, found that it was great material but was too unrefined, talked to Huang Rong and she suggested they melt it down and make 2 weapons.

[tape]

Both weapons require a modicum of skill to be wielded well, but both weapons also give a considerable edge to anyone with a sufficient modicum of skill who has the Heavy Iron Sword/Dragon Sabre in hand. Even relatively "weak" fighters such as Yu Doi Nam, the flunkies of the Heavenly Eagle Sect, etc., were capable of doing things with the Dragon Sabre that they could NOT do with ordinary weapons.

Of course it gives an advantage, no doubt about that. The post was addressing the often overlooked HIS techniques.

Xie Xun with the Sabre only fought Granny Gold Flower to a standstill (of course he was blind).

People like Wei Yixiao and Yang Xiao were not afraid of Miejue with a similar weapon in the Heaven Sword except they were heavily injured.

Wuji had both weapons and couldn't make use of them despite his out of this world inner strength and other high level theories he learned by that point.


The HIS techniques were just brilliant and multiplied the power of the HIS by say 10x rather than something like 2x if someone else were to try to use it with just the "just swing at them" idea.

Edit: You're not reading the Coiling Dragon translation are you Ken? I don't think you are, but RWX is currently translating it and it's a huge coincidence that you bumped this thread about the HIS and in this very chapter just translated, the main character is realizing he needs to use a heavy weapon in order to release his full force heh.

[kyss of the sword]

Guo jing had reached the top level of inner power by the time heavysword fell in to his hands. His style was bardhanded fighting. Heavy sword wouldn't suit him.

[ToastedRossi]

An unusual weapon like the heavy sword requires a special technique to use. Guo Jing never learned any similar skills, and he's not exactly the kind of person who can invent new skills, so he probably never used it. I would assume that he would have played with it just to see what it was like, but there's a definite possibility that he wouldn't do even that.