Originally Posted by
tape
I never got the impression that Ancient Tomb sect martial arts was supposed to be stronger than the other Greats' martial arts.
Yang Guo never even semi-dominated in the way that Guo Jing did in LOCH pre Heavy Iron Sword; he was always losing in pure martial arts but escapes by craftiness. Guo Jing after the Peach Blossom Island arc pretty much completely wrecks anyone that isn't a Great; and even against Qiu Qianren (because of main character shield imo) he performs extremely well.
Yang Guo with bits and pieces of Dog Beating Stick can beat Huo Du, but his years of training in Ancient Tomb sect leads to defeat immediately. Granted, Huang Rong has a similar experience with Li Mochou in that she can beat her easily with it but is only on par when using her Peach Blossom kungfu, so perhaps Dog Beating Stick is just *that* good.
The general feel I get for Ancient Tomb martial arts is that it's based on lightness skills, crafty techniques, and perhaps has a slight illusion-like effect when it's used, but I never thought it to be superior even if Lin Chaoying was able to use it to great effect.