hi everyone, this is my first post so don't be shy. i don't care if you're harsh, just be correct. haha...here we go.
this topic has really become a twofold discussion:
1. guo jing vs. yang guo
2. guo jing vs. linghu chong
(and actually, also 3. why yang guo is better than everybody)
now it's time for me to throw in my two cents.
first off, guo jing (GJ) vs. yang guo (YG):
what we have here is really style vs. substance. honestly, in almost all of ROCH, YG's foundation is never really as good as the opponents he faces -- i mean, forget the 4 greats, he can't match up with even GongSunZhi, or the fighters at the mongolian camp with GJ, and so on according to his level in the novel. HOWEVER...he pretty much wins every battle he's ever been in (save the old quanzhen fights when he was little). why? one simple word, my friend --- style.
YG has always been able to defeat, or at least match, his enemies through either thorough analysis of their techniques (scissors vs. LMC), or by utilizing a new technique himself (sad palm, dogbeating stick, dugu techniques, the list goes on). the whole of ROCH is really about YG's kungfu genius...i mean, save HYS and HR (maybe ZBT), i don't think anyone was able to even come close to his ability to both learn and develop martial arts.
having said that, here comes GJ...the master of refinement. he's picked up what, 5 skills in his life? 9yin, HL18Z, some mongolian stuff he learned (like when he kicked himself up the wall to escape the mongolian encampment)...man, i don't even think i can name five. HOWEVER, he's practiced 9yin and HL18Z so profoundly that he's really unstoppable man, he's like a bull. yes, he's the master of peach flower island kungfu, but he never uses it...i really think that his internal strength is what carries him through. it could even make his HL18Z more powerful than XF's, considering he modified it with 9yin.
but here's the final point that makes it all count: the dugu training that YG received made his internal energy incredibly profound -- by the end of ROCH, he was able to match palms with GLFW without losing any ground. i think that would put him at least on comparable grounds with GJ, if not even higher maybe. remember, GLFW's internal strength had been higher than GJ's through the whole book, as mentioned at the heroes banquet...the only reason why GJ was able to hold him back with 70% at the mongolian camp was because GLFW was competing with the other guys to kill GJ too. even with 9yin training, i doubt it would be TOO much higher than either YG or GLFW.
now here's the big question: if both their internal energies are almost equal, who would win between GJ and YG? i mean, their sadpalm vs. HL18Z would be close, or so HYS said...
YG wins. his ability to adapt using whatever skills he had at the time has been proved time and time again throughout the book...heavens sake, it's the theme of all his fights! there's no way GJ could win with a weapon...either dogbeating stick technique or the dugu's technique would take care of any weapon he could bring.
the only way i could see GJ winning is with brute overwhelming of internal energy, much like OYF vs. H7G, but i already established that their internal energy is close.
looks like YG's got the edge...